Habitual Lying Re-Examined

In this paper, the authors discuss the phenomenon of habitual (or automatic) lying and compare it to the standard criterion of lying. First, two cases are presented. Habitual lying seems to occupy the middle ground between telling the whole truth and telling a lie with previous intent to deceive. Finally, the authors try to answer some of the most probable objections to such a criterion of habitual lying – that the criterion itself rests on the basic distinction between an intent to deceive prior to the act of uttering a false sentence as being true (or vice versa) and an intention implicit in the very act of uttering a sentence. In the conclusion of the paper, the authors offer some practical consequences and groundings, particularly for the case of corporate social irresponsibility.