The Varnished Truth

By David A. Nyberg

Book Overview

Everyone says that lying is wrong. But when we say that lying is bad and hurtful and that we would never intentionally tell a lie, are we really deceiving anyone? In this wise and insightful book, David Nyberg exposes the tacit truth underneath our collective pretense and reveals that an occasional lie can be helpful, healthy, creative, and, in some situations, even downright moral.

The Varnished Truth takes us beyond philosophical speculation and clinical analysis to give us a sense of what it really means to tell the truth. As Nyberg lays out the complexities involved in leading a morally decent life, he compels us to see the spectrum of alternatives to telling the truth and telling a clear-cut lie.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226610527
• ISBN13: 9780226610528
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Smart, funny and persuasive.

This book challenges current conceptions of truth telling and deceiving by exploring their logical and moral complexities, and by providing wry and often funny examples of ways in which deception of certain kinds might actually work to improve the moral character of our relations with others. This is the way good philosophy for non-philosophers ought to be; accessible, witty, humane, unpretentious and free of jargon.

Good Look at a Touchy Issue

Nyberg addresses the fact that many know but few are willing to admit...that is...as a society and as individuals we all lie. We not only lie, but we condone lying and we often require it from ourselves and from others. Nyberg does a very good job of looking at the concept of lying, and looking at it's beneficial aspects as well as it's harmful ones. Nyberg never slips over the edge into "preachiness" nor does he go too far into radical territory (in either direction). NOTE: The book is written in a relatively easy to undersatnd style, but it is not written at an 8th grade reading level. If you want a good book that sheds light on the issue of lies and how we all function using them and hearing them...this is the book for you.