Upload
stephendavis31
View
238
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
1/361
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
2/361
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
3/361
A HITY F FALEH
1h£ r's 1ai£
JEREMY CAMPBELL
WWOO & O
ok ondon
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
4/361
Copyrgh © 2001 by Jeremy Cmpbell
l ghts reeedPinted in te United States of AeicaFirst pubshed Noron pperbck 2002
Excerpt on pge 54-55: Reprned by peron o he publher nd he Tutee of he
Loeb Clc br omPl Vl oeb Clc Lbry Volume L65, trled byW. R. Lamb, Cabrdge M Had nversy ess, 92 The oeb Clsc Lib ®is a registeed tadeak o te esdent and Feows of Had Coege.
or noton ou permison to reproduce selectons rom h book, wre o erssons, W. W. Noton Compy Inc. 500 h venue New York 10110
Te ext o h book s compoed n Legacy Ser
wit te dispay set in Gody Tet and Aveni BackCopostion by Se Casonuacurng by Quebecor reldBook desgn by Cloe Stubroducton age Jul Dsn
Lib of Congess Cataoginginbication aa
CampbelJerey 1931
The lar' e a sto o ehood / by Jeremy Cmpbell.p cm.
ncdes bibliogapic reeences d ind.SBN 0393025594
1 Thlness and lehoodso Te
B1421 C35 20011 3dc21
2001030286
W W. Noron & Copany nc 500 h Avenue New ork N. 10110noroncom
W. W. Noton Copany d, Csle Houe7/76 Wes Steet, ondon WT QT
2 3 5 678 9 0
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
5/361
For Judith and Robert Martin.
Good companions and good times,
in magical places
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
6/361
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
7/361
(trts
g
Introduction 11
The Horrid Doubt 17
The Evoluton of Cunning
Enter the Logos 4
The Absolute Talker 5
The Double Truth 74
TheImp of Falsehood
1
The Suicidal Tendencies of Reason
nterlude: The Simple Truth 11
TheInner Light 17
Truth at Arm's Length 141
The Pleasures of Falsehood 157
1
A Cloak for Qute Dierent mpulses 7
Curing by Fction 1
Pretty, Shining Les
A Life ofIts Own
Playing the Truth Game 5
Ging Truth a Bad Name 5
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
8/361
guge Md Me Do 266 A Ce Kd o Mdess 285
Good Beg Hu 32
oes 315
d 45
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
9/361
H IA A
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
10/361
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
11/361
�todu[tio
Kai Fami Fouo rod ha rou g mig am o iura omai i orr o ur a mbumfor ram h iia bli o b a A mo iabli ha uh ig dd o our ubard ar wou b roubau iuran omai ar o loa o aro i ram.
-he New eplc
May ago of ro whih ar mli ai oroi or
ag ar hl o lgal a'' [ilig] lial hlaw ha imfa ha ar o
-Leg ef ed y Pesde Cnons wys o ommee he Aks peme which ecmmeded h hee dsed "ses mcod
P A R O F V R S S S F A K A
ugly demonstration of hate hanging a black doll from a
noose in a tree The studens are black Their fabricaion
is exosed neverheess, i is hough worthwhie a a
means of highlighting the issue of race reaions on cmus One
way of looking at the incident is to call it a piece of theaer a drama-tizaion of something that migh have happened; d in ll forms
of art he ction seems more signican more importan even more
oy o ife, h mere fac The frauduence of the ho is a pey
consideraion aongside is arger inten o highight a iece of socia
inustice.
Alteatively, one could call it a barefaced lie.
ollege authorities tend o take the view hat citious drati-
zaions mquerading ln fact are more effecive hn ruh in
oing the universiy body ino facing up to mgnncies in heir
midst. Fasehood in a good cause h a vaue that reiy lacks.
There are things much more imortant han civiliy A poliiclournalis quotes this statement with aproval lamenting he fact
that a revival of polieness undermines radica forms of ani
estabishmen dissent. Good mnners, he thinks are a kind of men
1 1
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
12/361
Jnuon
dacty a vhcl of fashood a thatr of oratons to conca th
wrongdong of thos n owr Smlary t s a crng sumton
at th start of a nw mllnnum that thr ar thngs mor mor-tant than truth.
In tsl ths s nothng nw. Socrats wa told much twntyv
cnturs ago by a man of th thatr. But th da that truth s a
gmy a mdgt a dullard and a bor n contrast to th scntlatng
and traordnary nvntons of falshood s mor fhonabl now
than t ha vr bn.
Davd Stoll a rofssor at Mddlburg Collg amnd an auto
bograhcal account of th cv war n uatmala by Rgobrta
Mnchu who won th Nob Pac Pr n 99 socal dmocrat
wth no artcular to grnd Stoll lstd an mrssv numbr of
aggratons and fshoods n th book. brothr th author sadsh saw starv to dath s actually alv and wll n uatmaa. Hr
dcton of chldhood ovrty and lltracy comorts oorly wth
th fact that sh attndd two rvat boardng schoos. Yt acad-
mcs of hgh rut wr furous wth Stoll for uttng obstacls n
th ath of justc for th orssd and sstng th c of U.S
mralsm. Whthr hr book s tru or not dont car wrotWllsly Colg rofssor Maror gosn W shoud tach our
studnts about th brutalty of th uatmal army and th US
nancng of t h Nobl Pr Commtt also c to th rscu:
ll autobograhs mbllsh to a gratr or ssr tnt. Th
author of a bograhy of Ronad Ragan bad by th oaqu sur-
fac of hs usv subjct rlng undr th bana and trt matrals
of th rsdntal dars nvnts a ctonal narrator as a way of ro-
vdng th human dra th rodgalty of manngs that bar
facts ar unab to suy
To rfus to mblsh s to ru out ossbts whch ar th
sourc of nw manngs. Four cnturs ago Montagn wrot thatwhl thr ar an nnt numbr of falshoods thr s only on
ruth Whn art taks hod of hstory t may rarrang t n ordr to
lbrat da mor llumnatng than thos lf grudgngly dsns-
s nw dramatc gnr thatr as mtabograhy uts Frud n
a room wth Salvador D and has Orson Wls convrs wth
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
13/361
nuon
Vivien eigh. Though these encountes may have taken lace unde
othe cicumstances acts can always do with a little imoving n
metaiogahy we ae tod lives ae tansomed astacted andmythoogised in usuit o moe essentia tuths"
Psychoanalysis w ased on the idea that alsehood and illusion
ae useul clues to undestanding the mystey o human esonality.
Feud took with many a inch o salt what his atients told him
unde the heading o unvanished act ut he held the view that lies
ae oten moe inomative than liteal tuths. In an odd way they
ae ivileged inomation
The emegence o modenism a movement that lted o moe
than hal a centu coincided with a time o widesead disiusion
with olitical action. Modenism tended to ize the ats as suei
o to the sciences what is moe the ats asied to be at least theequal o the Philistine wold o olitics and commece in thei owe
to emake society Modeism was a lineal descendant o the at o
at's sake cult o the late Victoian ea one o whose actitiones
alte Pate taked about aesthetic tuth" a new sot o veacity t
o a wod o civilized atice a wod whee the given tuths o
natue ecede and the inventions o cutue equie us to seach otuth by an entiely dieent oute Picaso waed this thought in
a amous aado: t is the lie that makes us ealze the tuth."
In the modenist novel lies and lias olieate eecting a dee
susicion o the vaue o tth in its lite ublic om Oscuity
becomes a tademak o modenist witing a device that obliteates
the easy attunement between the mind o the autho and that o theeade and endes susect the notion that tuth is singe o sime
that it can e communicated at a though the susect vehice o
language o even that it is desiable to do so
ate twentiethcentuy intellectu ashion caies these tenden-
cies to egegious etemes. shit o emhis om tuth to me-
ing in lay since the eighteenth centuy acquies antastic new
dimensions t o at's sake becomes language o the sake o lan-
guage which is now the chie ocus even the osession o hiloso-
hy. anguage ecomes a centiuge thowing out untetheed
meanings. t oses its connection with ogic whee a oosition is
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
14/361
nuon
eher rue or fae Word do no refer o hng, or o e on
e, bu ony o oher word. The dea e hod ha guage
no rary ounaon, ha reaherou o he nen-on of he auhor, o ha roe a a vehe of nery and h
faay oroed Deonon he erary u of o-
ode a fo of oe readng whh ee anguage a una
be o he ore, rven by ne on breakng u no ayer of
eng ha never ernae; eanng oehng ha e
, overow, ee, fro one ex no a rofuon of oher
One auhor one nereaon no enough o a our era
aee for obe refeene for he new and urrng
over he faar and obvou Roger Shauk argue ha wha he
a he Deon of Orgnay deand naaby an ende u-
y of nereng on In he Mdde Age he word orgna"ean ha oehng had exed fro he begnnng bu n he
egheenh enury ook on he ene of ong no exene for
he r e of beng enrey dferen fro anyhng ha wen
before An orgna eron w bzarre exravagan. Today he need
for he new o nene a o foer a dere o annhae everyhng
ha no new. Phooher a for an end o hoohy. on-oune he nruen Ren Deae rued o deve ruh by
ubrang obe, now an obruon, an eden The
oodern hnker Roand Barhe d ha ony aboue new
ne" gve h fu afaon beaue weaken onoune
era heng ay even be a yo of ena nadequa
c a na defe, a anfeaon of he abnora. Au hdren urn ou are handaed by an naby o e o reend
and onea. au hd ak a heory of nd" by e of
whh heahy hdren are abe o arbue eran beef and
dere o oher eoe, and hu rk he no fae beef There
a referene for aene an averon o novey an avodane of
dfferene. Paren oee fee a dn ene of reef when
her au hd, oeen n oher ree e h r u
y e n h een
The hee of h book ha, for beer or wore, yng, unruh
no ara devan, or denabe feaure of fe Naure
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
15/361
j( 5
egages , somemes wh remarkable geuy. r, wh s
ellg of beauful urue hgs, h a mes so domaed he
md of a perod hkers ould serously argue ha lfe may bedersood ruhfully oly aeshe erms he mpulse o ra-
se mere era fa ours hroughou aure. Que humbe bo
logal orgasms evolve a semble, als; a por rederg
of some oher less vulerable orgasm Mgh we o say for exam-
ple ha spees of Cyloptera ses ha resemble leaves rompe
doel maserpees whh mgh have bee paed by a seveeeh-
eury uh mer, perfe oor, shape, ad se, eve om
plee wh mao ves ad fugus spos, are works of ar?
I s a seduve hypohess ha fsehood s o he sde of lfe"
s he lubra ha makes soey ru, whle ruh a be harsh,
dagerous ad desruve; oo smple oo aked, for he omplex-es of weyrseury soey, heror of oe of he mos bu
a hudre years he hso of mkd o suve suh a
soey, hum begs have evolved, Nhol Humphreys phrase
bor psyhologss," aural mdreaders, whose sghs o
he houghs of ohers eable hem boh o ease her fears ad o
mpuae hose oher ms wh he subes ks of eepohe rse of evouoary psyhoogy he beef he urave pow-
ers of o he ee o aep wha ough o be rue f were
rue have all orbued o a almos upreedeed olere of
falsehood.
Fredrh Neshe alled he world ruel, oradory ms
eag, a seseess, a oue ha we need es orer o vewh suh an abhorre rey ha lyg s a eessy of lfe s par
of he errg ad problema haraer of esee. We have
ome full rle from he ae hess ha ruh ad goodess are
separable ws. he oo embeded our ulural audes s
ha humany wou ever have saye he grueg ourse o s pre
se hgh plae o he evoluoary aer o a e as h mea
ger he ruh We seree from wh ourselves," wroe George
Seer, he grammar he myhologes of hope of fay of self
deepo whou whh we would have bee arresed a some rug
of prmae behavor or wou og se have esroye ouseves."
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
16/361
nuon
Th rony of cours s that lying cannot ho to succd n its a
unlss tth s th noal ractc of a socty n th nntnth cn
tuy th was a sns that docacy o than oth fos of go-nmnt ndd tuthfunss if it was to incas and oush that
mndacity in a oitician was mo to b dod th y oth cat
goy of offns. Th cons of that iw is that in a syst which
daws uch of its strngth fom cdor is a a th mo c-
t all th o nsidious Fo that ason so this agunt gos
thy wll nr b rod fro our ty of docratic countyBut f lyng bcos th nor on th thsis that t softns th cru-
lty of l t dfats ts own uros. Truth ght thn bco
or owrful than untruth n Gog Orwlls buraucratc
nghtmar 9 whr a son who dard to sak th truth was
so dangrous to th stat as to b n ugnt nd of liudaton
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
17/361
C H A R O
hr lod Boubt
I a We ehc and heolo puor he exiene of oe eau eoe o ben oh and ho and al are alway he be pohow are we o pn he oence a ubiquioune of ehne anddecepon -mil enzel
A R A A R ? A B R A R O V O C A
tve oenng. Yet Charles Darwn dededly not a
rovoatve erson y temerament or nnaton, sg
=gested t mght e he when tryng to nderstand
how natre kees the enterrse o e n sness and engneers hernew and wonder rodtons to thnk o her, not as the emod
ment o a Creator's truth, ut artly nsnere a harorng a
roensty or heatng
Evoluton theory an aommodate the dea o ooeraton n
whh lke tells the tth to lke, ut t must also ae u to the harsh
er ats o ometton where rules o ar lay d honesty need notaly, or o atual war, n whh raud s a ostve aset The sder
s not olged to wa ts nset vtms o ossle health haards
they make ontat wth ts we nor need the ox eel adly aot
shammng dead when t s really very muh alve, and hungry When
wnnng s the mortant ator deetulness s a knd o eth
small les servng natures larger trth the grandeur" that Darwnsaw when rom the war o natre, rom amne and death, the most
exated oet whh we are aae o onevng, namey the ro
dton o the hgher anmas, drety oows."
7
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
18/361
8 H R T
n he wrld f life even frly primiive life Darwin recnized
ha falsehds and chicanery are par f he ame f suival Wri-
in in he Deent f Man he cmmended s admirabe a paper byhe enmis Henry Waer Baes n mimicry in naure pub-
ished in 82 Baes ha accmpied red Waace he cs
cverer f evuin n his rs rip Suh merca makin a
speci sudy f he brihy clred insecs f he mn fress
he paper Darwn sd hrew a d f lih n many bscure
prblems ivin new suppr his hery f naural selecinMimicry in eec was a preense a frm f yin a means f ainin
a ede n survival by deceivin predars he real characer
f heir penial vicims huh f curse n inellience wuld be
invlved Darwin w sruck by he marvelusy decepive appear
ance f cerain bueries bserved by Baes which imiae hemarkins f he Heline a species which precs iself by secre-
in a nxius subsce disusin predars he sripes and
shades f clr n he wins f he impersnars are aminly
realisic freries resemblin hse f he Helindae s clsey hany a experienced enmis ike Baes cd e hem apar
huh perfecy ebe hey dupe birds in avidin hem underhe miscncepin ha hey are hruhy unappeizin
heain seen an evuinary sraey heped Darwin sve
he puzzle f why sme me bueries f he rder f he Leplehave wins f which he upper half is a pure whie while he res is
barred wih back red d yellw in imiain f anher species
he answer is ha his buery usualy hides he whie pach by cverin i wih he upper wn excep when i is curin a female wh
nds he enuine markins f her rder mre allurin ha he
spurius nes prclaimin he me be smehin he is n
dapain he cndiins f life which Darwins hereici-
philspher clleaue Herber Spencer cnsidered basic all ehi
cal prress c and des invlve decepin ha is a majr heme
f evluinary sudies day ern species urishin nw mih
be exinc if hey had depended n ruhfulness increse and mul-
iply Mck shws are p f evluin's sck in rade Orchi
mimic he lk f femae insecs and hus invie plinain by
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
19/361
oub 9
mles. e lyhers muere helors y keepg me
sere ple herey seug ususpeg femles o sup
posg hem sgle n herefore me mer There s roplsh lle ley oee rkser whh mpersoes sh
kow s leers hese perform serve o lrger sh y removg
prses from her oes The rue leer he hos sh re
e o eh oher pr of rl seleo The mposor
ops vv srpes o he ler surfes of s oy resemlg he
leer. Lurkg he reves of roks oes o le pssg
sh u se rps off pees of her esh
Cukoos ly eggs h mm hose of he br o whose es hey
gerh. A ree wrler wll ep urure gree egg pl
e here y ukoo whh spees foolg suh hos o
provg free ommoo moherg; meow pp ske y rown n spoe oes. gres l he hks h
hh from hese ouerfe eggs promply hrow he geue
eggs ou of he es. Whe fully ege hey mke off whou so
muh hk you o o memers of her ow spees hey hve
ohg furher t o wh he hos pres, who ever umle o he
f h hey hve ee upe.Que reely h ee fou h er geus of eele
Pllobaenus h fou wy o rk pl o feeg prvlege prevously hough y bologss o e resee exlusvely for
sgle spees of Pheole bos The s rese se he smlropl ree of he geus Pper whh proves hem wh foo
sheler The se surfe of he ree proues foo whh s ken gve o her lrve. The foo ppers oly whe Pheole s re resee sppers whe hey re se. s s f hese pre
ferre guess possess oe sor of memershp umer whh
uloks he soure of ourshme There s goo reso why hey
re persona a. They prove her hos wh foo he form ofe s mprove he helh of he pl y seppg up he
mou of ro oxe. Somehow o oe kows exly how he
rkser eeles hve fou wy o rek he oe h ms ns
o he fe They hve sole he memershp umer my free-
lo wll f oes, hey smply rush s he. Suh ppre
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
20/361
0 H L T
iation! And thy do nothing to rturn hospitality to th plant thy
hav invigld.
Fraud may b th rason why som animal bhavior is mor omplx than it would othrwis b. Th volution of surprisingly intri
at ommuniations among Amri ris sms to b th
rsult of hroni dption. Firis h in distint pattrns to
attrat a suitabl mat Eah spis h its o uniqu od. Crtain
rlis hav bom spialists in imitating th signals of othrs so
to pry on thm Th typial sxual ommuniation squn isan xhg of ashs btwn a ying mal and a prhd fmal
and is so simpl it an b opid by a human arryng a ashlight.
Othrs ar highly omplx. Most intriat of al is th lahing of th
rly Photus whos fmals imitat th mating signas of fmals
of othr ry spis lur mas, d promptly at thm Thsshming and wily impostors will somtims hid in tall grs dim
thir hs, and answr a signal only som of th tim so th oa
sional unsophistiatd mal annot asily dtt th trik. His fat isto b atn.
Som m ris ar just dvious. Thy mimi a mimi, dis
guising thmslvs as a prdator, thus frghtning o rivals for thfavors of a ontstd fmal. Som ingnious fakrs will prtnd to
b both an availabl fma and a narby rival mal thrby ntiing
a omptitiv mal to los in making a mal of him Ths
dplorabl russ probably xpln why th mssag systm ofris
is so laborat in som spis. Th bologist Jams Lloyd thinks so.
suspt that most ofth oding and omplxity that w rad todayin ry signals ha om about not baus of sltion in th on
txt ofrprodutiv isolation or vn sxual sltion but baus of
slon by signtraking prdators that ulld out simplr straight
forward signalrs" Lloyd says n fat, omplxity, inluding rd
tap may b a univrsal ountrmasur for or onsqun of da
ing with divrs in al sorts of biologial systms. This ida, aftr
volution by mans of natural sltion may b on of th most
important gnralizations that an b mad about ommuniation."
Hugly ingnious too ar th highth spinning skills of spidrs,
thos mastr nginrs and subtl prdators. Som of thm wav
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
21/361
d
subtl intrica spcia cs optical illusions tha ac dathtraps
for thir unsuspcing icims h cunning silr Argiop spidr
uss slks that ar amost nsbl an spns ts wbs n brght sunli placs whr hy ar mor ily sn. All spidrs produc silk
bu this on uss highly old kinds o silk tha ar ranslucn
Dious as thy com th Argiop mbroidrs th wb with striking
gag patts that strongly rct ulraiolt lgh nsct s
hoodwnkd into mistaking hm or th strips an chrons on
h ptals o lowrs hir intndd sination. h sign is
changd ry nigh lik h ky to a miliary ciphr to furthr con
us th nsct pry I may b tha th sk us rcng ultraolt
ligh tha h Argiop was in is wbs ar a dic o ool inscs
ino thinking" thy ar sailing into opn spac sinc h sky s th
only natural sourc o such lightDan apprcatd h paradox ha th ry chansms o
cption ha on spcis uss to draud anothr acualy hlp h
scinist o arri a th immns hypohsis o naural slcion.
h small unruhs o inscts wr a gud to h as nw truth o
human orgns. Otn prsonng natur wh a nn pronoun
Darwin rgard hr not as a moral agncy, cranly but as a soro ricky x mor lik a dci sory or h Time crossword pul in whch crtan clus wr plant hat should ha tpp o
alr nstgators to th corrc soluton much arlr only thy
had bn smar nough o spot thm On such clu w th xs
nc oli orms hat dissmbld and blud thir way o surial
in rialry wh othrs who wr apt to blu back.Naur, Darwn sa may b s to ha takn pains to r hr
schm" Far rom bing a libra liar h ol girl actuly wnt
o som roubl to gi away hr scrs. How or ampl coul
naturalss ha bn so obus, so dns not to ha drawn h
omnous concluson rom th prsnc o archac now uslssorgans in crain spcis such as mbryonic th in h uppr jaw
o th unborn cal hat nr cu hrough h gums showing a clos
olutonary lnk btwn rumnts an pachyrms Or ro h
shrild wings o bls clar idnc hat hy old rom ar
lir craturs?
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
22/361
H L I A R T A L
Useless ogs e so commo thoughout tue sid Dwi it
would be impossible to d oe of the highe imls lckig udi
mety o tophied pt of its tomy Me mms fo exmpe, possess wothess ipples. I skes oe obe of the lugs sees
o pupose whtee. Bids he btd" wg tht is udime
ty digit i some species the etie wig is so udedeeloped it
cot be used fo ight
hese futile ogs Dwi speculted, e like supeluous lettes
i the wods of lguge which e eetheless etied i thespellig Such emts see o pupose; they e ee misledig
fo the pupose of poucitio, but they gie cue to the dei
tio of wod Obsoete ettes do ot coespod to yhig e"
i tems of soud o meg but suggest the wy i which wod
h lteed oe the couse of time hey e ifomte to histoy.ht is the cse too with obsolete tomical fetues. hey gie
the eolutioy gme wy. Dwi getly mocked Cetiomid
ed histois who thought useless ogs wee thee fo the ske of
symmety," o to complete the scheme of tue," fo tht would
ioe some kid ofdeceptio o tice o the pt of the Ceto.
He efused to eteti such hypothesisPublc opiio w Dw's coe o this mtte s becme
eidet i the stge ffi of Philip Gosse, who ws i lte middle
ge whe the Orn of pee bust upo the scee Gosse espected zoologist d membe of the fudmetlist eligious sect of Ply
mouth Bethe, w discoceted, s wee may of his pees, to
otice tht the ew geologic eidece showig the Eth to be milios of yes od ws i ioet cotdictio to the ty biefe
timetble gie i the Bible which Achbishop Usshe clcuted to
be hi loge th fou thousd yes the wold hig got
udewy o Octobe 2 4004 B ttempt to ecocile the two
esios, Gosse dced the thesis tht the seemigly gdul eo
lutio of ogic life idex of the ths much moe eeble
ge ws ctully ilusio fud pepetted by the Autho of the
Wold who deceptiely plced fossils i the ocks t the momet of
cetio to mimic the ppece ofsow, eobyeo eoutio he
itetio w to test the fith of mots wekmided eough to
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
23/361
d Bb 2
a h hsy oa aioss osmos This did o si w wih
Vioia ads, who xpd God o pay wih a saigh ba
yig" okd Thom Cay, is o pmid i his uis"Th pado w ha aus uhuss abou h oigi o
spis ad widspad aky o h pa o h podus o
ha ouioy poss. Th oio ha gui ad is ispaab
pa, suspiio, migh b pa o h oma od o higs,
bam appa as soo au w ipd o as ig
h mid o a Cao, bu a ompiio amog spis o hssiis o is.
Som siiss qusio whh uh is a bi isi amog
iig higs. s aud my paiia o uh? O a w say ha
uuh is h mo udam o h o? aiy sms o
ha a i o is ow i h og soy o ouio I my asdpio may b mo h u ha h pio Fiis a mo
ap o b sigad mdaiousy ha uhy ad som spis o
bids sd ou s aam as mo o ha gui os Th
is a di, buii saaio o di amog owy spis
Wa happs is ha h mo o a swid is paid h mo
is is h sio o is dio whih i u is s-io o mo pausib kids o di. Uimay, a w so o
ashood mgs by aua sio sdpio, whih, by
oaig om h pd h a ha i is pdig, maks
h ps sm a h mo auhi o h idiidua big
did.
A agum h b mad o h is o a isi ouh i h dphs ohuma bioogy, bd o h hoogy oh
i do. Aodig o his hsis h bai may b a u p-
ju, bu h body gis h bai away Th mdi siis Lwis
Thoma aims h poygaph shows ha a huma big ao
a i, a sm o, wihou sig o a kid o smok aam
somwh i a dak obu o h bai, suig i h sudd s-
hg o impuss o h sudd oupouig o uoho-
mos, o boh." Tha mas yig is sssu o us hums,
wha ou mois, sig o waig aams ha somhig
h go wog
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
24/361
H L I A R S A L E
It maks a kind of biologi sns, homas thinks, to say that
tuthtlling is a gnt ndowmnt, a bithight natual to
human bngs faths a to b o sas to sh. h dt-to woks baus w annot vn t a an untuth, btay a tust,
wthout sang som at of ou own bans Aft f tthf-
nss s my a habt of ubngng ad th us of ou utu,
wh s th a utu n whh yng s atid by a ts mmbs
a matt of ous? Who h v had of suh a ommunity,
xt has in th nightma fantay of an Owll?
h h Mahiavllian intllign" has bn usd by sin-
tists to dsib th dtiv tatis of anmals in th wild d in
ativity. h may b mo to this mtaho tha mts th y.
Niolo Mahiavlli th sixtnthntuy Italian statsman andhilosoh, found of aolitik took a adially natualisti viw
of human natu and soity utting olitis loos omltly fom
th huh and xloding th blif that th institutions that k
soity in businss a mad in th imag of and mio th osmi
od stabshd by God Pat of th shok t of hs magnum
ous e Pne s du to th fat that n that wok h hghights thanm haat of human bngs. Mahav ookd at ota
bods muh Dawn gadd sis, not tmss manifsta
tions of mind, but natual ouns that volv, ouish and
day at th my ofhanst o otun" in th Rnaissan
sns of an agny unning, whimsial, unditabl and dsing
of a fmnin onoun.n Mahiavlli in Dawin, natu is st against natu. Founa,
imsonal blnd h th agny of oods, havowaking
stoms and lagus, onfonts vi, th ow of mind to outwit thntoi, lvling tndnis of hysial fos. h ssn ofvi
is to b lv and stong and it is thially nutal A statsman
must ombin th qualitis oflion and fox th lion fo but fod th fox fo guil slynss and doubldaing in th at of vad
ing tas A Pn must b a gat fign and faud Nith Foruna no vi is on th sd of th angs. Ootunism us nMahav in Dawin, baus al s unstabl and mmannt.
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
25/361
1hr d ubt 2
Th stat is not th handiwok o God and anno b undstood in
tms o goals and ultimat aons Evn th bst onstutd soi
ty, vn Rom ould no sa dlin and dah. Likwis, sisha on lodd i ov h ah bam xint Founa xin
guishd thm.
Mahiavlli ad Dawin had this in ommon thy both disustd
unwoldly attituds l a ioi inils aloof fom aual obs
vation. Mahiavlli saw histoy as an ndlss oss o uthoa
omtition in whih th only mativ is to sud. Mankinddos no ossss instint fo uh Tuth is what woks in a-
i, vea euale ad Mahiavlli blamd wllinniond sas-mn suh as Savonaola o ausing misy to his omaios by
tying to la a sussul fashood with a intual tuth
Mahiavli talks abou th tuth o Chistianity, bu ss it asdbilitating to th halth and stngh of th wold. Th is a tuth
that s tu than vy oth tuth and that is woldy hono: mn
must b stong, amd and ady o dnd thi stat. Eo aiss
om waknss Th inn is ha i Chsianiy ha waknd
humaniy i no b ly u
Lik Mahiavlli Dawin is a ivoal gu in h amn ofalshood a ast o th wod o b takn siously. Th fous
o h ightnthntuy Enlightnmn of whih Dawin wa in
many sts an inhio, had bn on tuth ad on, th wo
bing vitually inthangabl and on Nau a sou of tuthRason had a natua anity wih vaity with laity with th
ansany o a mind laking muky dhs ad obsu nhgions awin ognizd ha h is an immns din
btwn volution ad dnyand h w an minnly dnt
son. H did not blv that human bings hav an instint to b
tuthul, any mo ha thy hav a inbon bli in God. Many
instanes h wits ould b givn o th nobl dliy of savags
towads ah oth but not to stangs ommon xin usti-
s th maxim o th Saniad Nv, nv tust an ndian Th
lov o h h nod is no uniom aoss humaiy. Cain sav-
ag tibs adh o i mo han do ohs, d i h aly bn
hought a sin to li to stgs. n a oosiv id, minisnt of
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
26/361
H E L R S L E
Machiavllis commnts on th uthlss and suspicious chaact of
th diplomacy of his tims Dawin nots th usful ol playd by
ying, addig th histoy of mon dipomacy too paiyshows.
In his wtings, ason sms to mg with instinct, th ngin ofvolution. Dawin spnt considably mo ink on instinct than on
o an wot pansivy on th conctio btw istict
ad tuth. Both h and th ightnthcntuy potoDawinist
JanBaptist amack thought th istnc ofinstincts mad a thoy of th oigin of spcis mo difcult to dfnd sic thy sm
to tai an itignc i atu that ps ahad, that cacuats
Yt it is th vy ssnc of an instinct that a catu folows it
gadlss of ason. amacks sw w that habits acquid i
th iftim of individuals bcom hitabl in th fom of an innatispositio. hat w so commossica it w ou to b wog.
amack mad a point of saying that instinct, unik intligc
canot dciv ad is adaptd dicty to a goal H mad a clan sp-
aatio btw instinct, as inhtly abovboad and honst in itsopatios, ot a ia o a chat, an itigc, o, which is
capabl of al kinds of sham an atic.In th 1830s, Dawin w a amacki. H suggstd that acci-
dtal altations in th nvionmnt could poduc nw habits in
aimas, oganizing thi bioogica stuctu, that th moi-
cations w inhitd by th nt gnations In tim such stuc
tual innovations would sult in a nw spcis As Dawn's
thinking pogss h cam to gad insticts, not as paagons ofocitfuss, as amack had biv, o as istmts of
tuth in th sns that thy nabld animals to hamoniz pfcty
with thi suoundings but mo analogus to pats of anatomy,
which volv to t th ogaism to its habitat. Whn h cam to wit
th , h had gv up th ia that spcis a compty adapt-
d, with a sot of ngiing pcision. In that spct h ha
bcom a ativist. Th t btwn a idividual and its miiu os
ot hav to b act fo th catu to ouish. It oy ds to b
tt adapt tha its comptitos. Natu sctio w ot a p
sv of th status quo, a ybtic foc pushing and puling
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
27/361
1hr od out
spis to kp thm onstant d stabl but a hil of nolty
somtims produing lif forms of startling n biarr originality.
Abandonng s bf in a prft mat btwn bioo andnronmnt Darwn grw nrngy ntigud by msts od-
ts datons ad nongruts Wr amak ad mad mu
of th ronablnss d trutfulnss of natur Dan saourd
its ntriitis and uirks n oionaly its sillinss H lookd
for th marginal th outofkiltr to bolstr his argumnt for nat-
ural sltionWllam Paly th ading natural thologian of th day ond-
d that som of th mhanisms of adaptation wr traordinarily
ungainly and ndlssly umbrsom Why for instan is th y
suh n intriat riggdup ontrian Surly an allpowrful al
wis God ould ha gin his raturs th gift of sight at onstrok by diin ommand h planation said Paly must b
that intriay in anatomy is a dlibrat rus on th part of th Cr
ator to st up an analogy btwn ron in t workings of biology
ad on in th thougt prosss of t uman mind W nd
natur ntlgb baus t s dsgnd n ways that mmi our own
r mahns.Darwn who a young man had bn mprssd wth Pays
argumnts drw th oppost onluson. h y s ngnious r-
tainly but it is not a prft pi of nginring lt alon a work of
whih th ltimat Mind old b proud. Darwn uots with i-
dnt rlish from th Grman physiologst rmann on Hlmholt
wll known for his hostility to mtaphysial spulation: Onmight say that natur has takn dlight in aumulating ontradi-
tions in ordr to rmo all foundation from th thory of a pr-
isting harmony btwn th trnal and intrnal worlds. Hr w
ha th uintssn of Darwnism. No spial ration no prft
adaptation no gin attunmnt of mind to world t w prisly
th disharmonis that aught Darwins fany
Just anatomial faturs ary nabling sltion to sift th t
from th unt so nstnts too ought to ary from on nddual to
anothr Naturasts of Dawns tim pointd out tat instnts do
ary somtms to a rmarkabl dgr h onyb for amp
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
28/361
8 H L I A R S A L
hs bout thirty diffrnt wirdin bhviors ch on tightly con
strind. n tht cs thr must surly b suprnnutd instincts,
nogous to th rchic rics of obsot bodiy orgns, usss ndso in viotion of th mrckin critrion for truthfunss: bioo
tht hrmonizs crtur with its wordCn th instinct of b to sting b cd truth"? Onc, th
sting ws n instrumnt for boring, srrtd ik th dg of stk
knif. Now usd to poison nmis, th dvic, onc insrtd cnnot
b ily withdrwn nd oftn kills its ownr by tring out its viscr A dog tus round svrl tims bfor lying down to slp,
vidnty bcus fr bck in th mists of th volutionry pt, its
ncstors md thir bd by tmping do high grss. ody, tht is
futil gstur Instincts c bcom fs in thir t with th world,
nd sinc Drwin dcidd tht intllignc nd instinct hv common b, thr must b thoughts tht r so fls in th sm wy,
but hld with ul strngth nstincts r vry bit bl to dis
smbl d dfrud th most dvious intllct f th mind is n
orgn tht vris ovr gnrtions som of its vritions prsrvd
nd othrs discrdd w r sury mistkn in supposing it to b
uniu instrumnt indpndnt of ntur, rriving t truth" by privigd rout
Som of th minds id my b suicidy wrong, th mnt
uivlnt of th sting of b n lttr ofuy 3, 188 Drwin
wrot: with m th horrid doubt lwys riss whthr th convic
tions of mns mind, which hs bn dvlopd from th mind of th
owr nimls, r of ny vlu or t l trusorthy Aftr ll hcould not ry on his ys whn dcivd by optic illusion. How
thn, cn w dpnd on th mind to know th world s it rlly is
whn it volvd hphzrd from rudimntry origins dvic for
dging out th comptition in somtims violnt nd dsprt skir
mishing for survivl?
A rcurring thm in Drwins writings, not oftn mphsizd in
th multitud of books bout him, is th rsistnc of th mind to
nw nd mor ccurt id bout rlity Fls blifs my com to
sm ntur bcus of th history ofth mind or brin which h
rgrdd th sm thing. Ntur sction simpy dos not cr
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
29/361
£ d ou
bou gvng us meculously ue d compehensve nsgh no
he nue of hngs sys he Dwn schol Mchel Ruse f we
bene bologclly by beng deluded bou he ue nue offomlhough hen so be
Mes ofSuspcon s he phe Pul Rcoeu ppled o hee
hnkes who lef o ou me legcy ofmsus ofhe hum nel
lec Kl Mx Fedch Nesche nd Sgmund Feud Ech n hs
own wy looked sknce conscousness d clled flse Hence
foh o seek meng s no longe o spell ou conscousness ofmenng bu o decphe s expessons Wh mus be fced hee
foe s no only heefold suspcon bu heefold gule
sugges Dwns nme should be dded o coeus ls of he
unusng modens As one of hese suspcous nellecs he w
exceponl n hs nspen openness of mnne gulelessnesslmos mounng o nve Ye he s undenbly hnge gue n
he nson o he msus of conscousness whch h culmn
ed he un ofhe mllennum n he posmoden suspcon ofln
guge deceful nd selfsevng vehcle wh no ncho n
uhful menngs lodged n he mnd
hom Hxley n n obuy of hs heo publshed n Naue nApl 88 comped Dwn wh Soces Soces hd been
pupl of Achelus who could n lmed sense be clled n evolu
ons n youh Soces w songly dwn o fhonble heo
es of he unvese wh s mde o how begn Le he becme
dsenched wh ll such speculons d los nees n physcs
nsed he se hs mnd o he ueson of cvlon of howhumn bengs should lve ogehe n socey Polcs nd lnguge
ngued hm s well decen conduc nd vld eonng
Cceo sd Soces ws he s peson who summoned phloso
phy wy fom mysees veled n concelmen by nue hesel
Dwn's ce w somewh dffeen He ws conden h he
seces of he mel wold evenully could be unlocked by scence
nd he shed Hley eveence fo scenc uh Bu he h
boed no such opmsm o wh hve been clled he ge
ollng hemes" of donl phlosophy uesons ofdeemnsm
vesus fee wll he ogn ofevl he exsence of God A dog mgh
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
30/361
0 H E I A R A E
wll spulat on th mind ofNwton h on sad Dawin was
th lutant sassin of th dotin of divin ation alady sik-
ly and fagil in th loudd aftnoon of high Vitoianism lti-
matly h may also hav bn a onspiato in th mud of anoth
totting Vitoan ppt th ida of an assud ospondnbtwn th human mind and th utimat tuth of things
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
31/361
C A P T T W
hc Eoutio of ig
O of the ot poant thng to realze about te of anal councaon that th are not te for the denaton of the th.
br vr
E X S T E C E F C P T S U A
gd sal in loa and fauna is an initmnt o think
of natur as possssing a dvious kind of intlli
gn and from hr o ap to h obvous ontur
hat human hany is somhow invitab a bi omponn ofbiology.
Si Fanis Baon polymath popht found of modn sin
in England had found it nssary to imprss on his rads tha
naur s snr; sh s no ou o mak a fool of h nurng mind.
W g nau wrong baus ofh fas mrrors" ofour snss and
our ingnd tndny to bliv what w wish to bliv Two nturis lat it was still possibl o talk in mtapho about whth o
no h univrs is a hat n on of his most minutly parsd pi
gams Albr Einstin o sd God s sophistiatd bu h is no
malious by whih h ma ha physa naur h world tha
Nwton rathr than Darwin mad intlligibl in an ntirly nw way
is not unning or dupliious dos not ngag in bluf Th univrsmay onal its mysris by ason of its inhnt loftinss and
gandur but it will no do so out of manspiitd guil not out of
shr prsy.
3 1
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
32/361
H R .
But i unning i th rul n o many pi that ar impl and
annt how an w rit th tmptation to ay that natur hrl
raty, wi opn th door to t hry tat ha a mnd, tath know whr h going? Som tinkr who ommandd a
rptul audin in th lat Vtorian ra did uumb to that
lur.
Whn Darwinm wnt into tmporary p around t nd o
th nintnt ntury, awaitng ru by th nw in o gnt
i Fortr Darwin mannd by mbattld dndr o th gratnaturalt ud th known at about th dituln o p to
botr th a or th tmporary unaionabl thoy o naturl
ltion hr ad bn a good dal o prmatur daning on th
grav o th lton hypot vn though th onpt o volu
tion tl wa aliv d wllLamark ad dd n ptou irumtan twotrd o a ntu
ry arlir, blnd blittld and impuniou th butt o a mortiing
nub at t hand o Napolon who mad it lar n th mot pub
l hon that onidrd Lamark work on wathr orat
ing a lot o nonn Now howvr, in t vauum ratd by t
unpopularity o natur ltion rtain pt o Lamarkaount o volution bgan to look quit tmpting Darwin himl
had not lod o th poibility that ltion might not b th on
and ony mhanm, bomng nraingy opn to th poibiity
that it wa augmntd by othr uh th inritan o abit a
amarkan ida
Lamark propod that an animl dvlop nw or modid parto t anatomy aordng to what t nd to ouri n a partular
habitat A ort o ubtl lud alway in motion at to produ nw
organ or improv xitng on a man o atiing tho nd
t not a qution o imply willing uh innovation to om into
tn Nd ar ratd by th nvronmnt, and th dtr
min how a givn anim wll u it body i it mak pi u o
an organ tat organ wll draw mor ud and mor uid man
thr will b uul hang in th organ. h anmal oprng
nhrt th hang and n t our o many gnraton an ntir
ly novl organ an mrg. Gra, by Lamark lgt wtd to
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
33/361
c Eooluon of nnng
at lavs on th uppr branhs oftrs and th wight of gnra
tions of wting produd th rquisit longr nks
Thr w prious i t in th way ofvidn to support this thory bu i gav som omfor to hos who found h dorn of th
surviva of th s too harsh for hr st I has bn suggs
that th rvival of Lamarkism at th turn of th ntury at lt in
Amria was pary du to a quirligious prfrn for a story
showing natur as purposful rativ" rathr than blindly
stumbling onto sussful forms of lif by aidnt Aording to apopuar inrpraion of Lamark spis ar n th drvrs sat
guiding volution by a sort of privat ntrpris though ways
indbtd to th bnvolnt wisdom of th Crator
Th inidn of trikry d disguis in th imal worl with
spis prtning" to b othr and diffrnt spis for thir ownavantag provdd som ammuniton aganst th nms of nat
ural sltion Nauraists working in th d oftn gtting wt an
old opposd to sintists sitting warm and dry at laboratory
bnhs wr awar of what animals atually got up to in th om
ptitiv arna of th wil and som of it w quit undrhd Ths
obsvrs aah hgh mportan to apts of naur h noorxpmnrs nd o gnor On suh faur w gographi
isolation as a fator in th origin of spis Anothr w fraudulnt
display and dption
Lamark ha spokn of omplx lif forms s having beoinns" and nw kins of nds mgh ars if h nvironmn
altr A nd ar what h ad an na fng" or en-men ineur, whih in turn st o th ation of th subtl uids.Suh a nd ws prssing" in Lamark's trm Th word enimenhas bn translatd onsiousnss" or mor vaguly lif for"
Languag of this sort oupld with Lamarks loosly organizd
mho of prsnng hs viws invt radrs o onu that
transformations of anatomy during volution wr instigatd by a
kind of mntal opration smaking of purposful inllign and
dlibrat hoi.
Samul Bur an amatur psionatly moivat aniDawin
s wih a prva nom a shp famr turn novst a
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
34/361
H R S
rii dvlopd his own vrsion ofLamarksm dawing also on h
idas of Darwn's polymah grandfahr Erms Blr spn na
y a dad uaing wih awin had rad h On of peieavidly whil srondd by Nw Zaland shp Bak n England n
h 180s Blr fond h w smply drivn no" dfndng
Lamark wllynilly H dismissd Darwns hory of naral sl
ion a op of sd" lswhr h ad i an soi doin
and if ha rriad arwn, so mh h br
Blr sd h word nning" o dsrib h sragis ofLamarkian organisms n adapng o h nvironmn nning a
opposd o soks ofuk" I aid h sggsion of somhing
dvios d no i abovboard
Th nsini rm was o rsona byond h aniDarwin
prod Th wnihnry philosoph Karl Poppr aknowldgd ha nning dos xis in naur hough h abd i o
h rsl of slion rahr han o a bas a pror fo driving vo
lon Blr lss aosly asrd h xisn of a mind ad
inllign hrogho h nivrs" n his Unoniou Memopubishd in 880 h ommndd h ad o s vry aom n
h nvs as living and abl o fl and o mmbr b in a hmbl way" Th nhrian of aqird hararss by sding
gnraions was ffd by a kind of nonsios mmory wa
askng oo muh of h adr Bu ondd, o pa himsf on
h sam moral plaform as a son" Sfn js o ag ha h
son ha a moral plaform of s own, prhaps involving lil mor
han a pofond rsp for h laws of graviaion Wh hsuprm ondn of h nonp bolsrd by hs onsidab
lrary gifs, Blr ddd ha onsiosnss prvads h nir
ram oflif In Luk or Cunnin?, pblishd in 188 h wo: Thhory ha lk is h man mans of organi modiaion s h
os absou dnia of God whh is possb fo h human mind
o oniv"
On pson srongly arad o Blr's ida w GorgBrnard Shaw who dvord h pags ofLuk or Cunnin? siingup wh i a a ngh and akng i wh hm on waks in yd Park
H rviwd i favorably ndr h glfl hadlin: Darwin
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
35/361
' Eoouo o g
Dnound" h book suid Shaws mysia viw o fvoluion ad
rsonad wih his omplain ha Darwin had banishd mind from
h univrs. Shaw w uny wih h ida ha lif ws us a oloss aidn Suh an aoun signd a haoi oss of onro
whih lld him wih drad. Early on Shaw ws a admirr ofMarx
who argud ha hangs in soi and onom ondions w no
h rsul of han bu of a univrsal prinipl. Shaw prfrrd h
wful d puposv pu of f drawn from Lamark and
spousd a philosophy of h Lif For a unning and raivagny ha sruggls o bom onsious of isl parly hrough
id ar and liraur. Hum bings ar an xprimn by h Lif
For md a making makind ino God, a gigani rsarh pro
j o produ ndvduals of hghr and hghr qualiy. Fom m
o im h Lif For is lvr nough o bring forh a gnius of hod of Shaw hmsf s a so of pvw of omng araons.
Par and parl of bing godlik is prf knowldg full om
phnson posssson of h uh Fo Shaw w a a soy ha
opras undr ovr of a srn of lis ha is spd in hyporisy
h bn nod ha Shaws works ar full of words lik humbug"
sham imposur" prns." By onras wih soiy h Shavan Lf For is ssnially hons on h sid of ruh and
adamany opposd o fraud spay whn i is a fraud w pp-
ra agains ourslvs h prson who is ruhlssly larsighd
abou himsf a bom somhng k a god In Man and upman DonJuan insiss ha voluion works n h dirion of high
and hgh ndvidus h id ndvdu bing omnponomnisin infllibl and wihal omplly unilluddly slf
onsious; in shor a god."
f Darwin had banishd mind from h univrs h prvan of
prns d dissmbling in h animal world posd h qusion of
how naur an b unning" and y b xpland wihou usng a
lguag of psyhology h dba w had on boh sids.
Edwad ouon profsso of zooogy a Oxfod mad a snuous
as for mindlss" slion as h hif ngin of voluion and h
usd h obsrvd fas abou anmal mimiy o bols his argu
mn Poulon sidd srongly wih h ld nauriss agains h
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
36/361
H E L A R S A E
ivory owr horiss Nauraliss who wahd a rs hand h
sruggl for xisn ralizd ha h way a spis looks is ofn
onnd wih vry grav issus oflif d dah. Poulon ook hpigmnaion of raurs sriously no as an irrlvan many of
h bnhbound siniss did H wro abou h maning of h
olors of animals h informaion somims usfully mislading
hy onvy as par of hir ffivnss in h daily k of saying
aliv. A h sam im h argud ha i woud b absurd o suppos
raurs did o in hmsvs in a rain way undr h guidan of a amarkian inrior snimn. All suh alk of mindful
nss and purpos w so muh nonsns. Would w wan o
aribu unning or h dlibra saisng of dsir o inss
who ak on h apparan of wasps, nobodys favori mal hus
avoiding bing an by birds? Or rgard a inllign h grashoppr a whih imprsonas h bombadir bl Pheophuanathu a raur famous for is onspiuous orang lgs and isnasy habi of squiring a ausi liquid whn ups? Poulon ould
s no logi in ha lin of argumn Th giraff surly did no
xnd is nk ou of a raional piraion o obain ass o lavs
so high as o b ou of rah. Tha soundd almos as silly as h spulaion of Shas frind Edward Carpnr, ha h lark alrd h
shap of i s wings by h mr lov of soaring and singing in h fa
of h sun." Wha happnd was ha giraffs whih us happnd
o hav longr nks han ohr giraffs ndd o surviv and rpro
du in grar numbrs
Many biologiss a h im disikd h noion ha olors onanimas man" somhing prfrring o s hm as a oinidn
or uk. Thy pu suh id down o ovraiv Darwinian imagi
naions" How for insan oud h hory of frauduln imia
ion lif insuran xpln h olors on h inide of a snails shll?Surly ha would argu for oloraion bing an aloghr inrn
affair Ohrs hough h similariy in apparan in diffrn
spis oo los, oo prf o b h rsul of rdom sion
n ff, siniss lik Poulon mad hir for h difu
nss of nar by rminding hir opponns: s a jung ou
hr aboraory yps ould poohpooh h hory of proiv
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
37/361
'r lutin f unning
lying baus thy had no ra undrstanding o th awul strans
and prssurs imposd on raturs in th r world. Lamark had
tan a strangly oand atttud toward th trrors oompttionin th wld rgarding th attrition olss sussul animals by mor
sussul ons as a sort o prudnt systm o husbdry naturs
way o kpng numbrs down to managabl sz On should not
l too sorry or th losrs. Yt th study o mimiry did hlp to kp
th am o Darwnism aliv until th arrival o a sur sin o
gnts and it warrd aganst th nnaton to suppos that sombnign orm of mntism th opraton of som mystrious ntl-
lgn, guidd th oprations by whh sps adapt to nw r-
umstans
Mntalsm rpt bak nto th study o dit at a mor sophisti-
atd stag o noDarwinsm, whn th twntth ntury w wadvand Th obsrvabl at that raturs do not spnd thir
whol tim omptng aggrssivly, on indivdual against anothr
in ndlss rivalry, but ar somtims unslsh and oopatv ld
to soiobiology a disiplin that mad room or altruism and sari
aongsid th stn o ruthlss omptton Evoutonary
suss in ths vw is not just th rsult of a brut struggl to stayiv, but is somtms a mor subtl mattr o passing ons gns
on to th nt gnration. That n b ahivd by assstng rativs
to brd rathr than brding onsl n olonis o ants and bs
thr ar rtan workrs unabl to brd who spnd all thir tim
hlping rtl brthrn who an Th mphasis is on rprodution,
not bar suival.Soiobologsts talk about gns and or th most part shw
trms that suggst an anma has intntions and thoughts. t has
bn notd howvr that thy an b quit r n using th lan-
guag o onomis whn dsussng rprodutiv stratgs, nud
ng suh words as osts, bnts nvstmnt, budgts
ny, monopoly, and advrtisng l this onvys
imprsson o dlibrat alulation, a sort of unnng although t
s mant to liminat any imputaton o human attituds This is
spiay th as whr dption is nvovd. En Crst ponts
out that whl soiobologists largly avod mntalisti trms, aith
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
38/361
H R E
fu h n ha animals d n hav minds an inmin y
cun cpin hs ul is a dg f willingnss aibu
animals ih h innin dciv and manipua hshwd abiliy wigh advanags and disadvanags" Th spii f
Machavlli pps hugh agan
Cnsid h c f h nspnd scklback oteu punucdd by Rb Tvs a Unvsiy f Califnia bilgis
Mas f his spcis buid nss shapd lik sma pips n which
fmals swm lay hi ggs. Smms whil n fmal isspawning in a mas ns anh fma appas a sh disanc
away. Th mal swims h and invis h in hping dubl hs
pduciv pwss h fmal is suppsd ay h wn cuch
f ggs whupn h mal mvs in and filizs as h fndly
suppss bh cuchs Fld yu On sm ccins h scndfmal is acually a mal wh snaks in and filizs h s and
nly cluch f ggs h ick s wkd by h imps aling is
bigh bding cain which advss is mascuin gnd
h dingy cypic nnbding clain f h fmal This ds
hns bhavi is knwn in h ad as cping h inud is
s hugh in his chicany ha vn whil filiing h ggsffcivy cuckding h h unsuspcing ma h affcs h
psu f a fmal laying ggs
Jus wh mindlss Dawnian dcpin lavs ff and inn
inal fashd bgins is a ma f dba. n sm spcs i
smbls h incnclusiv cnvsy v whh n nnhu
man pimas hav u languag Rsachs wh sudy dcpinnd clba h uefulne if n h accuacy f aing animas as if hy hav minds Smhing picss was s" w sci
niss gfully cnclud whn adcal bhaviism iumphd
v mnalism in animal psychgy. Sm bsvd fms f
lying n h wild d suggs sphisicad innins and an und
sanding f h mnaliy f h animal bing dcivd Gffy
Basn cald vluin a mnal pcss" whl Rb Michll
cauiusly asss ha an animal psing anh s f spcs
invvs naua scin and sm (h) mn pcss
Tha sms cv all h bass Wha s inigung is ha fauds
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
39/361
r Eutin f unning
v misladig apparas suh as h bury wih wigs rsm
blig is ow had so ha prdaors programmd o go for h had
ak a sl of wg sad, ar so p so wll d o hds ad prpios of ohr aimas i h virom. Som
formal similariy Mihll says, xiss bw h produs of a
ua slo hos of huma ao or md.
Mihll ss four lvls of dpio i aur. A h rs sim
ps lv a sps dvs baus i ao do ayhig ls bu
div A viroy bury wih markigs ha mimi hos of amoarh, oious o blu jays is a posur al is if A vl wo h
mdaous a ours oy wh h s som oh au h
viiiy o b dupd as i h as of h ry whos fak sigas
d h rspos of ohr ris arby o ahiv hir rsul A
vl hr dpo is o auomai bu a b lad by a adrror Lyig bhavior is modid aordig o whhr i works or
dos o work s hough, fo xampl, ha som bids lar o
o sog bu a rproir of diffr os o ra h io of a
dsly rowdd habia disouragig w birds from akig up rs
d arby Or, a dog may aff a sham mp whupo s
huma owrs ar ap o smohr i wih aio ad sympahy.Suh falshoods ar o prprad baus h aimal has isigh
io h mids of hos who ar divd by is bhavior A h
divr kows for sur is ha h riks work ad his a b
ard by pim a ha Oly a h fourh ad hghs
v dos a iio o div o simpy o maipula, our.
Hr misadig aios ar modid aordig o wha hy mao ohs big msd. Hums l a hs yp of faud bu
himpazs a aso bom qui good a i spially afr rai
ig wih huma arakrs Fras d W has foud amog himps
a pasiv disorio of iformaio i oras o h simplr
dpiv prais of maaqus
h Ama phosophr Dai D o hough ha
v h mos advad ohuma aimals ik himps or dogs
wruabl o r blifs abou h blifs ofohrs, or dsirsad fars abou h dsrs ad fars ofohrs abils idspsab
if o is o ruly div. D was ovid ha oly h uiqu
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
40/361
E I A R S A E
human ss whos uniqunss rsids in h fa ha i an ak,
is abl o hav blifs abou h blifs of ohrs Animals wihou
languag ar naab of suh sohsiad nsghs for h srason ha hy anno hav blifs abou Friday or ory." Lar
nn w no so rain H bgan king around for sors
abou animals ha smd o hav insighs ino wha w going on
nsid h hads of ohrs, inluding humans Among h vidn
h found h mos owrful dal wih anma dion A frind
wro o him abou h oion whn on vning h w siing ahom n h only har on whh his dog was alowd o sl Th
dog drivd of ha omforabl so, lay whimring a his f.
Whn ha sm and hons form of oron did no work h dog
sood u and walkd o h door whr sh ould b aily sn by
hr masr Sh srahd a h door, a ar sgna ha sh hadgvn u ing o whdl hm ou of h har and had didd o
go ou Bu ha wa a li Th momn h unsusing ownr wn
o h door o l hr ou sh samrd bak aross h room d
la ino h vaad hair whr ossssion was ninnhs of h
aw
Hr" says Dnn i sms w mus arib o h dog hintenon ha hr masr believe sh want o go ou" h n an
mal is aming o aus h human anima o do somhing h
would nvr do f hs bfs abou wha wa going on wr aura
and ru Dnn sulas howvr ha a dog migh simly
know sh has ondiond hr mr o go o h door whn sh
srahs i in whih as i is a of siml bhavorism fsh hadrun o h window and lookd ou growling susiiously a novl
shm no rid bfor, vdn of a ru don woud hav
bn srongr
Mor srkng s h of Ausin, a him n avy sudd by
Su Savagambaugh and Klly MDonald Ausin was h viim
of rough ramn by anohr, argr hm namd Shrman a
ommon bully. Lik many bullis Shrman had a owary srak in
his a vry si on h w ard of h dark Ausin who
had no suh fars usd o sli ousid afr nighfall and mak noiss
on h wall of h slng room whih soundd lik an inrudr
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
41/361
£ olution o nning
sapng or poundng on th mt tryng to bak n. H would
thn surrpttously sdl bak n and start to pr out as tyng to
s whr th suspous noss orgnatd Th t on Shrmanwas dramat. Vagu ntmatons o a mna lurkng n th nght
w nough to bng out a hs uakng s so muh so that h
atuly turnd to Austn hs browbatn subordnat or omort
and huggd hm Ths trk was not a suddn nspraton howvr.
Austn prtd t ovr sval yars
Nonhumans vn th v ons sm to possss a sttdrpror o alshoods Th plovr or ampl s a ondpton
sps t an mslad a potntal ntrudr by lyng away rom ts
nst o dglngs and ths sms to b an nbo dsposton But th
povr dos not smary dstat a val away rom a wng mat o
a p o matra or buldng a nst Aps and monkys ar morvrsatl n thr rang o rauds but th anmal psyhologst Davd
Prmak suggsts that th hmp an undrstand only rathr smpl
stats o mnd sng wantng ptng. B whh s a hghy
ompl mntal ondton s mor doubtu anmal wll not
attrbut to anothr a stat o mnd t annot hav or know t has
Languag s smply an amplr o suh omptns makng thmo pow
t has bn notd that raudulnt bhavor n prmats othr tha
humans tnds to rvolv around th trmly unntrstng bus
nss o gttng and prvntng othrs rom gttng ood n on o
th most potnt myths o human orgns th rst man and woman
mad th prptous dsnt rom prt nnon to gult andsham by th at o atng an appl That atul laps was th nalo drama playd out aganst a bakdrop o msnormaton. Wth
n tt mor than a wk o th Craton" wts Nho
Humphy v had bn bguld by a subtl srpnt sh had
tmptd Adam and God hmsl had bn aught tllng ls But o
th tr oth knowldg ogood d vl God had sad thou shalt
not at ot o on th day that thou atst tho thou shat suly d But th srpnt had told th woman Y shall not surly d.
And v had atn th appland sh had not dd nor had Adam
Mn womn and Gods too t sms wr dvrs v God had
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
42/361
H A R S A E
sad that n th da" that thy at it thy wud prsh but Adam
livd b 0 yars ldWhr simplr spis disgus thmslvs with brwd
plumag, w bfusat wth wrds, pant dubts in mnds w ar
abl t rad; th subtlty f ur minds and th mplity f human
sity mak it all but invitabl that w shuld d s At vry
v" said th shlar flanguag Gg Sinr, fm but
ulag t pti visin th lingusti apaity t nal, misinfrmav ambiguus hypthsiz invnt s indspnsab t th u-
libium f hman nsiusnss and t th dvlpmnt f man in
siy
W ar sti aryng n vs, and th spnts, wrk
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
43/361
C A P T R R
nt thr ogos
t i muh ea to reoge r tha tod ruth the fo le o the urfae thi i qute maageabe. he tter reide the deth ad thi quet i oteo bue oee
S U S P C O T A T T U V R S S M A
cious in Einstins sns and th many ingnous
fforts to ay that suspcon to rst ar xtrmy
ancn n h hisory of though A makd ndncy is
to ntrprt th univrs as bng in tun wth th human mnd, insom sns consucd along smla lns so hat f h mind s sn
cr and tuthful th unvrs wll rspond with honst answrs
instad of sly vasons. Going back many cnturs n tm w cans how dpy attractiv yt how pron to rbutta is this da of th
mindful cosmos d ts corolary, that truth s part of th natural
od of hingsSinc ts bgnnngs phiosophy has spit much ink and spun
many ngnous argumns n h sach fo answrs o a par of
ratd qustions s thr a prfct t btwn th mind and th
world guarantng truthful knowldg of it? And scondly s such
a corrspondnc part of th gvn ordr of thngs, or is it a human
contrvanc? Putting it anothr way f human bngs ar by naturphlosophcaln Astols dom, bon wh a ds o knowo
what xtnt s th world thy inhabit phlosophca gving back
answrs ha sais th nborn nd o undsand Is h wold
3
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
44/361
H E L I A R S A L E
nherenly hospable o he nures of human reason, and beng
hospable never leadng us asray?
In he epc poems of Homer, here are suggesons ha he worlds anphlosophcal, acually ressan and obdurae o he effors
of humans o undersand Homer does make hs unverse nell
gble n he sense ha hs gods and goddesses behave very much lke
human bengs enablng hs audence o feel a home n hs world n
ceran respecs, Homers dvnes are no more oherworldly han
characers n a dayme elevson soap opera Hs explanaon fornaural happenngs s herefore que accessble bu s far from
sasng o he phlosophc mnd Homers celesal personages are
no fully n command of he forces of naure, and here are many
compeng gods and powers Zeus supreme among he gods has
desgns d plans, exers hs wll, and makes nellgen decsonslke he CEO ofa Forune 00 company or a prme mnser bu he
Faes he moa seem o play an ndependen role as forces of necessy, schedulng hs or ha even, such as when a gven ndvdual s
o de. he Faes are mpersonal n a way ha Zeus s no and hey
are denely no reonable as he hum mnd s reasonable. hey
represen Necessy, bu no a cosmc nellgencehe mporan role of rcks and ruses n Homers poems suggess
a world so domnaed by a ruhless necessy and by semblance
raher ha plan dealng ha cheang and arce may somemes
be he mos raonal way o dea wh Odysseus n hs wanderngs
evades he necessy of deah a every urn by swndles and shams.
He s he man of many us poopo he cunnng escape arswho manpulaes fae, renvens hmself alers realy o hs own
advanage. He wears dsguses even when here s no pressng need o
do so. Bu hs falsehoods are usually ehcal n he archac sense of
deng fae worsng one's enemes and proecng ones frends.
Lyng suggess he lar has a superor nellgence, s a praccal and
ngenous person, creang alernave versons of realy, as he poes
do. When Odysseus cooks up a pece of con o hde hs rue den
y from Ahene who s clad n he dsguse of a shepherds boy
Ahene, seeng hrough he ho mmedaely, says wh obvous
apprecaon of hs powers of nvenon
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
45/361
t r 008
v g and y b harpand gilfl a nak vn a gd
igh w y n way f dlanY Y haln
B bag f k H in y wn nrywd y n giv yr raag a rr p pndng fr an nan
Ahn add ha h knw h ar f ilading wll a
Odyu ang h gd h fau fr dpn and p.Bu Odyu' w i a Darwinan rai ha bring hi afy
hrgh h prl f hi wandring i bddd in hi naur,
digi i brn in h haln and fr uh h a ran
M pan, Odyu i a f rky anguag k Hr
, h rikr gd inkd diful niain. H i an
pr n h u f wrd vil invigl, and . Hi digi ar
aplihd n nly wih b wih languag; h wav
nal bigaphi f hf a a prv anuv W w
ra Ody' ui n n ur" wri h
hlar Pal Vivan w wuld hav lk fr in h hr vial
iy f hi naurhi inn rviv, lv b fr. Hr rafn bu bau a way afy vy, i b
kill ingniy invnvn"
Whn hinkr f aniuiy did akl wha Hr lf
nhd, naly, a Thry f Evryhing," aib huan
n, a h urn f h h nuy akng bd gu as
wha r f ff h wrld igh b ad h anwr hn f whhr h wrld inlligbl ind wa a Y b
" S f h r hri wr hildih as h f h
yhakr wh h as f gd and nyph, bu f h ar
h nw phyikoi r dn f h naur f hing vrd awayf rdinary n n. Aril fauly d philphy
bgin in wndr, whh an i n pbly b nn wih
lam bvu anwr ha nv ad b ru S 200
yar afr h arly Grk narali bgan pla abu wha
h wrld rall i, Brrand Rll in hi roblems of hilosopwr ha h ruh abu phy bj must b rang may
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
46/361
6 H I A R T A
b uninbl, bu f ny philosophr bivs h hs nd i,
h f h wh h offrs s h ruh is srng ough no o b
md ground ofobon o hs opnion. Th nw brd of Grkphysikoi wnd o onsru h word no in rms of blind nssy bu s somhing profoundly nurl und o s humn
inhbins nd undrsndbl in humn rms w shoud no
nd o rik or i o i in ordr o g by Aording h lssi
sholr G S Kirk, hs hinkrs wr no siply ying o xpin
h world s i is bu rhr h world s mn nds i o bunidomprhnsib nd ulmy symphi" Ths innion o
s h osmos in rms of nds Kirk gos on nvr b nir
ly rdd from humn hinkng bu w srongr for h
Grks hn for h nw siniss of h Rnissn or hir mod
rn sussorsBy rdiion h ris of hs invsigors w Ths of Mil
us mn of Phoniin dsn in his prim round 8 BC Evidny h ws briin Though no h rs of h Grk nur
philosophrs h ws so fr hd of his prdssors h hy fdd
ino obsuriy. Thls w by rpuion polymh, n ronomr
who prdid wih rsonb ury n ips of h Sun usingBbylonn bs of solr nd lunr orbs. A prl mn h
rpudly md onsidrbl moun of mony by using his sro
nom knowhow o prdi bumpr hrvs of olvs king r
o ornr h mrk in oiv oil prsss ry in h yr nd
swihd h ours of rivr nbling h rmy of King Crosus o
ford iThs prsnd h srling hypohsis h h arhe h rok
boom prinp of h word s bs or orign s wr H sid h
world os on wr lik ship Whn popl sy h i quks"
h s uly du o h roking moon of h wr. Shors
hink his prfrn my hv somhing o do wih h f h
wr hd spl sgnin in h nn osmogons of h
brws Egypins nd Bbyonins. Ths lrnd gomry
from Egypin priss nd ws probbly au fait wih Bbyonin rdiions H ud gomy from simpl sysm of murmn
ino dduiv sin On h on hnd of ours his hory ws
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
47/361
Ent t
dpy rdons. Wr s h smpls of h lmns w lso
omnprsn n h lvs of popl n hls vny, splly h
onn rdrs who rrd o hr ommrl vs on hs A h sm m, h Thn arhe was no mry phys ws hogh o b nmd d dvn whh nkd o myh wh
s glry of gods nd goddsss. Aordng o Arsols hrsy
on Ths hld h l hngs r fll of gods. h ws om
pbl wh h Grk propnsy o r h world lvng orgn
sm rdng nd fmlrzng s ohrnss wh rsp ohm f. Mnd nd w r boh d d kslvrsh,
ssmng n ndlss vry of forms Ths h wr hypohss
md h word nlgbl srfrndly, no p o dv s sn
plind n rms of somhng ry ommonp Th
world dos no py rks on s, so w do no hv o ply rks on Y nobody old s Thls of pnng n n ms of
how pprs o h nord y or h rlmndd brn.
wod no or o mos popl o l h nvrs.
Wh Thls hr s n nspokn prms h h mnd s so on
srd h s ry nd hrfor h bln onnon o
rh, b no n h wy h mn n h sr mgh p On ofhs ppls Anmd h s o s h wod arhe a phosophl rm, wn frhr nd rgd h vn hs w oo op
ms vw of hmn knowldg n prlr ovrsmd
h fny bwn lngg nd h word. Odysss hd shown
how y wods b md o msprsn, o mk on
wolds, fk rsms, dns nd dsgss.n dnyng hm ss o m rh Anmndr sms
o k h vw h mysry n nvr b mnd from lf nd
nr. Hs nm for h arhe ws h ndn" to apeiron, somhng whh hogh mrl, w nno vn lk bo, l lon
obsv, sggsng no ony h h world s nphosoph o h
or b lso h h whol nrprs of phlosophy s bsrd s
ponlss o dsss orgns hogh w sll go on wh h spr
l d sondr work ofdsrbng pprns. Anxmndr
on sholr spls, rlly nndd o sy h h world s know
bl b ony mysy whh hdy mks mh of n dv
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
48/361
8 T A R S A
on myth. h whol point ofto apeiron i that it annot b apturdin word
hi n of diloation of a diffrn bwn rality and whatw an ay about rality immrd in prSorai thought and burt
io h op wth a vga a o Dpag from ommo
n thy did, th rt pomythologial atural philoophr
ould not imply tat thir thori of how th world wa mad in
ordinary, a, proa languag h ida bing bizarr and faniful,
thir word ould hardly b pdtri Anaimn, a tudn ofAimad who wa bo abou h m ha hal w h
pm, h ha h arhe ar whih whn ad bom whn ondnd bom wind, thn loud, thn watr arth and
naly ton Air formd th arth and in it rard tat mad h
havnly bodi. Animn uggtd a ort of orrpondnbw human hg d h va omo by ma of poti
aalog. h ou wold w a mapho for h in if of ma,
and vi vra. h tar h ad mov around th th, ut a
turb wind around our had" And h dribd th un a at
lik a la Ar i th brah of th world immorta and divin a
our of god A broad lat hallow world rt on air a ha ofhal oad o wa. Amn aid ha h huma ou,
bing air, hold u togthr and ontrol u o do wind and air
nlo th whol world. h u of mtaphor wa jut about th
only way h ould hav put hi mag aro that w and th un
vr ar mad of th am tuff and play by th am rul Latr th
ida ha nf b mad fom th mroom o h maoom bam a ttd dotrin information about th on ould b
ud to inra undrtandig of th mor mytriou othr
h t btwn thought, languag and rality bom para
mount in th work of Hralitu who livd in Ephu an onian
iy of Aa Mo a ast a gnaio ar han Animn pob
aby durg h rig of Dau 1 o 487 BC Mo of th or
about Hralitu, om of thm quit piquant m to hav bn
mad up. But th lavor of hi known writing i arati lvr
nigmati prikly riddling aritorati introptiv not th work
of a ma who uff fool o mak onon o fho or pop
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
49/361
Ent th gs 9
ular whim Polial orrcn w no hi yl Mor h
Anaximn, Hraliu wa a o wih a o air for kng
lar of h obviou Ann ommnaor ndd o brand him anob who k h m a arm lngh by wriing in a dlibra
ly ryic ad difcu y H wa fond of concaing hi ma
hy in h languag of h Myri omland Clmn of
Alxandria Sora rmarkd ha would ak a Dlian divr o
g o h boom of h ida Admirr of Hracliu argu ha h
wro for grou and ak adul mnd o ara hmhr com a ag in on ina dvomn, ay Phii
Whlwrigh whn raliy aually nounrd m oo dark,
oo riddling, ambiguou and irrduibly manyidd o b r
bl n ordinary lan rm and omm a wll hon arado
com clor o rrning our rind viw of h world hanany logical idin an acomih If i i aradox you wan, Hr
aliu i your manCalld h dark on for hi obur bu hghly uggv aho
rim ho hrough wh an rony ha m amo la wnih
cnury n acdi owr o dconruc h familar, Hracliu
oday noy a ruaion amo gra if widly arciad in ia im Wha mak hm a hing gur i hi u of h
word Logo whih onvy h ida ha a kind of ron or mind
fuln n nar and on h am wavlngh a human
hough and undrandng Tha i xaly h conur Darwin
rfud o nrain So on ha hi docrin rovd, howvr
ha a a a h cond haf of h wnih cnuy h movmnknown a dconion hough i worhwhl o aim much of i
nllual arllry a hi ancin da of a naura cononanc a
guarad coming oghr of h ruur of h undrandng
and h ruur of h world
Originay a rm of mahmai Logo a Homr ud i ha
h n of ouning or rckoning h knd of rodur in u
bfor h arrival in Grc of fully abra dduiv raoning n
Grk h word am from h vrb [o whih arly on man ogahr and hn o collc oghr hing ha hav om con
ncion wih on anohr Wih h dvomn of ur mah
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
50/361
50 '
mphzing sruur and orrspondn and a onworld uni
d ordr rplaing h Homri onfuson of physi powrs d
agnis Logos aquird anohr maning a a prinipl no only ofordr bu an inlligibl ordr ha xss hroughou h univrs
and s assibl o h human mind for h xln ron ha i
s also in h human mind Logos ould aso rfr o onnd ra
sonabl sph and hough. Aording o h sholar Grvill
Hnry Logos w rs givn maphysial saus by Hraius as a
prinipl of sabliy mur and ordr in a world ha sms o bunsabl and dsordrly forvr uuaing and hrfor unrli-
abl rraional and mslading. Obviously w no alk abou h
ruh of naur unss i bhavs n a onssn fashion Logos
aording o Hralius is also h ruh of rligion h on d ony
rou o a moral xsn Evn oday somhing of h samimporan is givn o h rm by modrn hologians. n h pro-
logu o h Gospl of S John says h sholar C. H Dodd Logos
h Word is h ommand of God bu a h sam im h man-
ng plan or purpos of h univrs onivd as ransndn as
wll immann
n h wrngs of Hralius h Logos is n h knowr muh i s in h known H mphzs h immar houghlik
asps of h physial world suggsng ha h arrangmn h
sruur and rlaion of hings s mor impor han h suff
hy ar mad o Hralus hos as hs arhe h lmn of r bu
a radr migh b forgvn for supposing ha i s h Logos isf
mnds uff h Shaksparan mn of mruria hough andfany lik r aways ring is shap bng and lapng kr
ng daning gurng subsding n smoky mbrs Mor h
war or air Hraan r s a form of inlign ha srs h
world and h an afny wih h mna agliy of mn and womn
A rs gan Hraius sms o b saying ha vryhing in h
word s always n a sa of nvr sling down for an ns
subvrng h ingry oflanguag in suh a way ha s imposs
bl o say somhing dni abou anyhing h nx momn i
mgh hav hangd ino is opposi Lar Arisol showd som
mpain wih h foowrs of Hralus who bam a lirary
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
51/361
En 5
lsi his dah h adhns of h ga ddl aid his
pa of his don o laughabl xms spially Caylus of
Ahns who ddd ha h wold w so unsabl wods wmo o lss usss d manings, nd ommdd simpy
movig a g isad of spakig. his ws a viol afo o
Aisols o blif n h aiy of subsan h suff ha
ndus ina hough s aibus migh a, and in h impo
an of h ul ha o say Evyhng boh is and is no maks all
hings u and hfo all philosophy poinlss In fa, Aisosuggss ha Halius migh hav b simpy bowing ho ai a
his ads alking fo h sak ofking Wha a man says dos no
nssaily psn wha h blivs
his of ous w a avsy of wha Halius was aually y
ing o g aoss Wha is qui asing in his wings is no h
ubiquiy of , bu h piip of od udyig h u, h
aion inlgn ha ds h univs nsug ha som
hngs main h sam whn all s s hangig Fo Halius h
Logos supplis h hamony; i maks sns ou of h appan non
sns. Bu wh h luuang nonsns s asy o b awa o
h hidd sns is muh mo diful o fahom ad som popv do disov i. uh is o handd up on a pa Haius
psns h paadox ha Logos s unvsal ommo o al
xndig fom h mos ahs of h osmos o h umos
dphs of h human psyh and y immsd in i, shaing in i
h majoiy, v h famous ad ga do o v aliz i xiss
h ida ha uh is o hig avaab oly o a s i andha h wold is uld by a sgl piipl of od no by mulipl
gods s in som sps an aisoa pon of viw Logos is p
fly uswohy and uhful bu i is mo fom h quoidian
and h odnay. dos o opn islf o h lialmindd
baus i dos o wa maning o is sv quis ip-
aion of a spi kind muh mo inia han h laivy y
sk ofuaglng h ods of Hom On mus diph h sigs,
and ha aks ffo bains and ulu Eys and as a bad w
nsss o mn havng babaian souls a handiap of anguagsi babaias ypiay do o spak Gk
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
52/361
2 T R T
Languag fr Hralitus is a sign that nly hints at maning t
nals s muh t dislss lik his wn nigmati fragmnts
H spaks in nundrums smtims shruding maning rathrth illuminating t prhaps t mak th pint that languag s nt
transparn. His mpl abbrviatd sntns prss a parad:
Lgs maks th wrld intlligibl t mind, but thr is nt a tight
t btwn languag and th truth h prds his audins t sk
Natur lvs t hid and s ds Hralius bhind a ltrary man
nr that is purpsfully abstrus H put mind int th univrs asrmly as Darwin lng aftrwards was t tak it ut and fr that vry
rn th univrs nds t b intrprtd nt mrly bsrd.
Th sam gs fr languag baus it ds nt math ralty
atly a ky turns in a lk. Ths h th fft fdsngaging l
guag frm th dpst kinds f truth making t indpndnt, sparat ad slfsufint lik th rlusiv and snbbish Hralitus
hmsl
Anthr aristrati thinkr in his prim at abut th sam tim
Hralitus was Parmnids f la Lk Hralitus Parmnds
taught that rsn is th rad t truth and h lnkd rasn t lan
guag n that sns h was a blivr in th pwr f th Lgs. Atth sam tim h mad mr btrusiv th unsttling da that thr
is a mplt ruptur btwn lguag and rdnary prn
Parmnids was nt a pur ntmplativ h did prvid admirabl
laws fr Ela t with him thinking bam an abslut t was hs
arhe H w a ratinalist bliving that rasn s mr trustwrthy
than anything th snss tll us baus th snss an and d playtriks Parmnids w knwn n antiquty as Aphyiko th Antnaturalist baus h dnid that ything an b knwn by study
ing th wrks f natur H was th rst t argu in a frma fashin
dduing strang nlusns frm slfvidnt prmiss Whras
thr phlsphrs had startd with smthing familiararth
watr rh bgan wth thinking and austrly lgial thinking at
that. Fr Parmnids thught and Bing ar n and th sam Fl
w a han f rning t its invitabl nd and yu hav th truth
abut rality Sin truh is dnd as smthing that is thnkabl
and nly what is hinkabl an b Bing it is impssibl t knw r
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
53/361
te e g08
spak about what dos not xst o say Nothing xsts s a ontadition t is nonsns. Th wod oud not ha bn atd out of
nothing baus th is no nothing, and sin Pamnids took itfo gantd that aty s on it oud not ha bn atd out of
somthng th, sn th s no somthing s," ony what is
Any dstution of what xists is out of th qustion dstoying
woud man onting att into nothng whih s mpossib
Thfo hang annot ou. isity s a ton and samnss
us th unisn th shapst ontt to this passi sptatos w of th
wod a sot of at objt s th Gk onpt ofMes th typ ofintign that is unning and dious and shwd that is adaptd
to th pious okying fo suss n a highy omptit soity
usng ws and uss whn sh but fo is on th oth sd Annti book has bn dotd to th subjt by two shoas Ma
Dtinn and JanP Vnant who oppos this kind of inti
gnMahiaian ntgn n th oinag of modn tho-
ogiststo th phosophia band that mgs fom th wok of
Pamnids and oths who ook fo unatab o tuths bhind
th sufa phma of th wod. t is an ntign say thsauthos whih, instad of ontmpating unhanging ssns is
dity nod in th difutis of patia if with a ts isks
onfontd with a wod of host fos whh a distubng
baus thy a aways hanging and ambiguous." A tuy awin
ian situaton.
Mts onnots ai wsdom subtty dpton soufunssoppotunsm. And t woks bst n situations that a tansnt
shifting dsontng and ambguous hady th Pamnidan
unis h pont s to b fft and untuth an b of gat
sistan n ths task aso an mag, haunogns fauds
fints and iusions Zus th king of th gods, had Mtis in abun
dan baus h itay digstd it Mtis wa th nam of Zus
st wf, moth ofAthn, qua ofOdyssus n unnng. Ifsh had
bn spad, Mtis woud ha podud a son mo powfu than
Zus stong nough to topp th od man fom hs thon Zus
fostad that shm by atuay swaowing Mtis, making hm
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
54/361
5 H I A T A
sl mor Mahallan than al hs rals sn l trky dsgns
whrr n th osmos must rst ross hs Mtsmprgnatd
mnd. hanks to th Mts wthn hm, Zus s now owarnd oythng, whthr good o bad, that s n stor or hm
Th Trojan Hors s Mts So ar th dsguss o Odyssus who
h bn lknd to an otopus, th ratur omany ols that loaks
ts prsn by adoptng th olor and shap o th rok to whh t
lngs n th Mnlaus an tak by surprs rotus th god
o my shaps, th oan dnty th annt o th salt sa,rrutng hm s a gud or hs homward oyag only by mpos
tu, by dapng hmsl and hs ompanons n salskns, o o
tus w ry partal to ss a stong dsgus; oh ys trbly
strong rall th stnh o thos damnd sals Would any m
l snug wth a sa monstr? Thank goodnss th daughtr o rotus took pty and dabbd ambrosa undr ah mans nos, a pr
um drownng out th bstal odor. Whn you ar dalng wth a
kaldosop god, bng obous and truthul wll not gt you ry
ar You nd Mts, and plnty o t
Th manyood shmmrng natu o Mts s a mak o ts
knshp wth th ddd shtng world o multplty n th mdsto whh t oprats Dtnn and Vrnant wrt ts suppnss
and mallablty g t th tory n domans whr thr ar no
radymad ruls or suss, no stablshd mthods but whr
ah nw tral dmands th nnton o nw ploys th dsory o
a way out oro that s hddn. Conrsly, th ambguous, ds
parat unstabl ralts wth whh mn attmpt to om to grpsmay, n myth tak on th appaan o poymoph monstrs,
powrs o mtamorphoss whh dlght n th unnng to dsap
pont all xptatons and onstantly to bal th mnds o mn."
Th nun o ar mn ds on latr phlosophrs was mmns
spally n log and dalts but hs bnt or arryng logal
argumnts to bzarr xtrms lt a lgay o playulnss a tast or
nonsrous trng wth th mahnry o thought that was to pro
dply subs t s a short stp om sayng thnkng s Bng
to takng th poston that y s anythng w say t s, a tah
ous ap toward anahy guag boms mor autonomous and
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
55/361
ogos 5
orgn than anythng n th thought of Hraltu. Fl Cl a
ontator on th prSorat philoophr on a word to
drb Parnd a glooorph oon who dngaglguag fro thought t how that languag wild a frghtful
way or an.
Hr th Logo h old nto othng qut rot fro th
ida of a natural attunnt a prtablhd harony btwn
on knd of ntllgn and anothr Languag whh n Hraltu
ndd a pal knd of ntrprtaton f th tuth to rg habo an ndpndnt ntty abl to ak hay of our ot on
dnt aupton about ryday ralty. Parnd ay tho
aupton howr uful ar l. Thy ar ton hr
fla Th ordnary pron rpl that f thy ar fa thy ar
abolutly indpnabl for noral funtonng n th world. What to ha happnd that aftr th planation of thphyskowho took a ular w of a world prouly n through th appa
ratu of yth and dinity Hralitu and Parnd ga abun
dant ondraton to it athti haratr Anan ut ha
bn thnkng n th a tr whn h ud uh powrful ltr
ary artllry. Parnd wa a pot d Hraltu wrot anythngbut proaly Ltn to th ual quality of h diton Mort
ar ortal and ortal ar ortal th on ling th othr
dath and dyng th othr lf Hraltu ad God undrgo
altraton n th way that r whn t d wth p nad
aordng to th nt of ah of th.
Myl Burnyat profor of annt phloophy at th Unrityof Cabrdg thnk Hraltu lk any a odrn bard dlbr
atly pok n rddl o a to ak u fa up to th difulty of
grapng unfalar truth lurkng bhnd d that w tak a ob
u That ay b why h writng lik potry way trainng
agant th lt of n nr o daphanou to allow t on
tnt to b apturd ply by paraphraing it in dffrnt word Th
pgra of Hraltu y n th fa of a nturiold tradton nWtrn philoophy that thr a lo afnty btwn ltral
anng d truth On holar aintan that w ut rad th
not a nght into th on raty but rathr wido a arh
8/17/2019 Jeremy Campbell - The Liars Tale A History of Falsehood.pdf
56/361
5 6 H R T
fo commo udstadig hs vw w to uc boh Pao
ad Astot, ad th da that phosophrs sk udstadg as
much as tuth is o that rmas attractiv.Othr commtators ar ot so sur hy do ot shar th opi
io that truth is icdtal to ad sparat from udrstadig
Plato w o grat champio of commo ss but h was uhap
py with a tdcy i part a ractio agaist th way th doctris
ofParmids higd so crucially o a poi oflaguag to ssum
that laguag ca b mad to do aythg w wat it o do, hat aliy s wha w thk o say it s h mssag of Pamids s that
h oly way w c kow th structur of ralty is va th structur
of thought ad lagag. But if a clvr logici ca play such gams
with laguag to mak o aspct of th world itlligib at th
ps of mg vythig ls look lk oss what hsbcom of th Logos that guarats as a mtaphysical pricipl
tha ou mds a tu wth h tuth of th wold?
oaha Bas, pofssor of acit phosophy at Oford,ags tha som of Pamids agumts a patty fas for
ampl th appartly prvrs statmt If somthig dos ot
st t caot st H writs that th whol systm rsts o asad foudatio Stil Bars modrats his crticism by sayg
w should ot igor th sductiv powrs that crtai falshoods
may hav wh thy ar statd iformay ordiary Egish or i
odary Grk o sduc of cous, suggsts a lmt of aic
ad dvous alur of plus tha hav a udto of h icit,
of Cicik dssmblig ad th cstig of sps ov th atioalmd Summig up, Bars ssrts that Parmids was wrog w
ca ad do talk ad thk of thgs that do ot st Wh did you
last mto th tooth fary? But h gos o to commd th Elat
ic philosophr just th sam for rasos that ar cadidly asthtic
tratig Parmids if h wr a artist or a wavr of litrary
mags. s ids, says Bas a ot my atiu hibis i th
oomy musum of phlosophcal fos: h agumts h adducs,
though usoud ar igious ad admirab thr cocusio,
though fas has a strag pausibiity ad attractivss Aristotl
himslf suggstd that Parmids coud oy b tak sriously if