Conrad and Lying
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| Title: | Conrad and Lying |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Joanna Skolik |
| Source: | Yearbook of Conrad Studies. 16:111-121 |
| Publisher Information: | Uniwersytet Jagiellonski - Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, 2024. |
| Publication Year: | 2024 |
| Subject Terms: | wishful thinking, white lies, lying, self-delusion, 0602 languages and literature, half-truths, Joseph Conrad, 06 humanities and the arts, 0603 philosophy, ethics and religion |
| Description: | Conrad’s attitude to lying appears to be unequivocally critical. Closer inspection reveals, however, that his approach is more complex. Writing about his life he intended to present it as coherent and ordered, with nothing left to chance and everything imbued with meaning. Thus white lies, compromises with the truth, half-truths, wishful thinking, and so on, are treated by Conrad as simply human. In his books Conrad presents different varieties of lying, and although he does not claim that lying is always wrong he proves that people are always responsible for the consequences of their lie and must bear such consequences. Some lies are noble, harmless or redemptive, bringing good, while some are destructive and corrupting. The most dangerous is self-delusion. The consequences that man has to face in case of such a lie are unexpected and irreversible. |
| Document Type: | Article |
| ISSN: | 2084-3941 1899-3028 |
| DOI: | 10.4467/20843941yc.21.008.19298 |
| Rights: | CC BY |
| Accession Number: | edsair.doi.dedup.....00970298c9d7d2bbab4a24862717c03f |
| Database: | OpenAIRE |
Nájsť tento článok vo Web of Science | Abstract: | Conrad’s attitude to lying appears to be unequivocally critical. Closer inspection reveals, however, that his approach is more complex. Writing about his life he intended to present it as coherent and ordered, with nothing left to chance and everything imbued with meaning. Thus white lies, compromises with the truth, half-truths, wishful thinking, and so on, are treated by Conrad as simply human. In his books Conrad presents different varieties of lying, and although he does not claim that lying is always wrong he proves that people are always responsible for the consequences of their lie and must bear such consequences. Some lies are noble, harmless or redemptive, bringing good, while some are destructive and corrupting. The most dangerous is self-delusion. The consequences that man has to face in case of such a lie are unexpected and irreversible. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 20843941 18993028 |
| DOI: | 10.4467/20843941yc.21.008.19298 |