Lying and Truthfulness
A Thomistic Perspective

Draws on the thought of Thomas Aquinas to provide an innovative approach to the ethics of lying and truthfulness.

Stewart Clem (Author)

9781009261401, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 January 2023

228 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.9 cm, 0.49 kg

'Stewart Clem's book is at once an important piece of Aquinas scholarship on truthfulness, and an original contribution to contemporary discussions of the morality of lying. For readers interested in either topic, it is not to be missed.' Christian B. Miller, The Thomist

In this book, Stewart Clem develops an account of truthfulness that is grounded in the Thomistic virtue of veracitas. Unlike most contemporary Christian ethicists, who narrowly focus on the permissibility of lying, he turns to the virtue of truthfulness and illuminates its close relationship to the virtue of justice. This approach generates a more precise taxonomy of speech acts and shows how they are grounded in specific virtues and vices. Clem's study also contributes to the contemporary literature on Aquinas, who is often classified alongside Augustine and Kant as holding a rigorist position on lying. Meticulously researched, this volume clarifies what set Aquinas's view apart in his own day and how it is relevant to our own. Clem demonstrates that Aquinas's account provides a genuine alternative to rigorist and consequentialist approaches. His analysis also reveals the perennial relevance of Aquinas's thought by bringing it to bear on contemporary social and ethical issues.

Introduction
Lying and Contemporary Christian Ethics: A Thomistic Critique
The Ambiguous Legacy of the Eighth Commandment: 'You Shall Not Bear False Witness'
Aquinas on the Sins of Speech
Aquinas on the Virtue of Veracitas
Lying, Asserting, and Evading: A Linguistic and Moral Analysis
A Thomistic Framework for the Ethics of Lying and Truthfulness
A Thomistic Theory of Bullshit
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Christian theology [HRCM], Religion & politics [HRAM2], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]