Naked truth

The truth about lying lies somewhere between 2 and 200. According to various scientific studies, this is how much you and I lie in just one day – honestly! “Everybody lies all the time,” the Swiss writer Charles Lewinsky (76) told me a few years ago in an interview about his novel The Stutterer, about a master liar who writes. Is Lewinsky himself one of them? Certainly!

Are poets allowed to lie? asks the Austrian philosopher Konrad Paul Lissmann (69) in his recently published book Big Lies, and immediately responds: “Not only are they allowed, it is their business.” The professor emeritus at the University of Vienna publishes over 80 essays, columns and commentaries in an anthology that he wrote between 2016 and 2022 mainly for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the Austrian Kleine Zeitung.

“Every word is an abbreviation, every sentence is an interpretation, every language image is a poetic fiction, every description is at best an approximation, if not an obvious invention,” writes the philosopher. Does this mean that we must abandon the distinction between truth and falsehood, between fact and fiction? “Not at all,” says Lissmann. But he calls for greater self-control in the fight against fake news, opinion bubbles and conspiracy theories.

“Reviewing conspiracy theories not according to their true content is of little use, but according to their artistic potential would deprive them of political leadership without condemning them with the indignant tone of moralizing know-it-alls,” writes Lissmann. Then one would quickly see that some of them have what it takes to make a good thriller or deep romance in terms of their effort and sophistication. But this is just a handout for people who are not receptive to conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theorists, as a rule, are not joking or playful and see in their rough constructions the naked truth, which, like religious dogma, should be followed. But the naked truth existed only for the unsuspecting in paradise, as we know from the biblical story: As soon as Adam and Eve bit the apple from the tree of knowledge, they realized their nakedness, were ashamed of their nakedness and covered it with a fig leaf.

“Nudity suggests the clarity that our present craves, having forgotten how to cope with ambiguity,” writes Lissmann. But is it worth striving for a simple, naked truth? The philosopher doubts: “Public gatherings of nudity reveal an unpleasant secret,” he writes, “because the average naked human body is rather unsightly.” Hiding it from the eyes of others can also be seen as a demand for courtesy and attention.

Konrad Paul Lissmann, “Many Lies – and Other Truths”, Zsolnay

Source: Blick