[Ads-l] Quote: liars might be divided into three classes - liars, great liars, and scientific witnesses

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Tue Mar 15 21:03:15 UTC 2022


Laurence Horn wrote:
> is straight from Thomas Aquinas, who doesn't seem to be credited in the
> text cited. The terms (pernicious/jocose/officious, or the Latin
> counterparts thereof) are his. Maybe his estate could sue for plagiarism...

Excellent point, LH.
A translation published in 1922 of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica
contains a section titled: "Whether Lies Are Sufficiently Divided Into
Officious, Jocose, and Mischievous Lies".

Year: 1922
Title: The "Summa Theologica" of St. Thomas Aquinas
Translators: Fathers of the English Dominican Province
Part II, Second Part
Publisher: Burns Oates & Washbourne, London
Quote Page 88

[Begin excerpt]
Now this division is made according to the intention of the effect:
for a jocose lie is told in order to make fun, an officious lie for
some useful purpose, and a mischievous lie in order to injure someone.
Therefore lies are unfittingly divided in this way.
[End excerpt]

Aquinas then presented a more elaborate division of lies into eight
types which he attributed to St. Augustine.

[Begin excerpt]
Obj. 2. Further, Augustine (Contra Mendac. xiv.) gives eight kinds of
lies. The first is in religious doctrine; the second is a lie that
profits no one and injures someone; the third profits one party so as
to injure another; the fourth is told out of mere lust of lying and
deceiving; the fifth is told out of the desire to please; the sixth
injures no one, and profits someone in saving his money; the seventh
injures no one and profits someone in saving him from death; the
eighth injures no one, and profits someone in saving him from
defilement of the body. Therefore it seems that the first division of
lies is insufficient.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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