Philosophy for Children Part Nine: Jean-Paul Sartre and lying
Can we lie to ourselves? Telling the truth, even if it’s hard at times, is a better way to live.
Jean-Paul Sartre was a famous philosopher who said that lying is a bad thing. He thought that when you lie, you are not being honest with yourself or the person you are lying to. Sartre believed that when you lie, you are trying to hide the truth and this is not a good thing.
Imagine you have a certain toy and your friend asks you to borrow it, but you tell them you lost it. This is a lie and Sartre says it is not fair to your friend or yourself. He believed that telling the truth is very important because it helps people trust each other and build good relationships.
Sartre thought that when you lie, you may feel guilty or anxious. Telling the truth, even if it’s hard at times, is a better way to live. Sartre thought that by being honest, you can live a more authentic life and be true to yourself.
So Sartre’s message about lying is that it’s better to tell the truth, even when it’s hard, because honesty helps us build good relationships and live more authentically. Lies can rob people of trust in each other and cause problems in relationships.
Think Station:
In previous articles, we have discussed whether it is permissible to lie or not. In some situations, it may be possible to give a special reason for lying to others. But can anyone lie to himself?
This time we want to give you an explanation to understand the concept of “self-knowledge”; Something that is very important in our life and can make us a successful person.
Sartre has a book in which he examines various issues of human life. One of these issues is called “bad faith”. When we lie to ourselves, we are in bad faith. It means that we know that something is not true. But we convince ourselves that it is true. For example, we know if we get a good grade by cheating on the test. It is not the result of our efforts or the sign of our knowledge, but we say to ourselves, this is the result of my efforts.
In order to be able to distance ourselves from the situation of “bad faith”. We must know ourselves very well. The phrase “Know thyself” was engraved on the entrance of the Holy Temple (Oracle) during the time of Plato and Aristotle. Achieving self-knowledge is a difficult task. Because we like to combine what we want with what we need.
How well do you know yourself?
“When we lie to ourselves, we lie louder.” – Eric Hoffer
