Lying as a transaction of value: explorations in semiosis and communication from a new perspective
Abstract
In the first part of the paper I introduce a new, complementary approach to understanding the deep question of lying, a question that has concerned the major philosophical figures of our tradition - Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Montaigne, Rousseau, Kant, Derrida - to mention only the most prominent. This new approach considers the lie as an act of value transfer similar to theft. In the rest of the paper I develop a basic dichotomy to distinguish the two typologies of value abused by lying (although in the real practice they most often go together): instrumental and ego values. In instrumental lying the liar’s gain is commeasurable with monetary or economic value, whereas in ego lying the universal currency is recognition, according to the way Todorov defines this intriguing notion. Probably the most original contribution of this chapter is its reflection on the dynamic relation between these two types of value in our everyday life, of which the analysis of lying makes more explicit and evident but glosses only one part.
Abstract
In the first part of the paper I introduce a new, complementary approach to understanding the deep question of lying, a question that has concerned the major philosophical figures of our tradition - Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Montaigne, Rousseau, Kant, Derrida - to mention only the most prominent. This new approach considers the lie as an act of value transfer similar to theft. In the rest of the paper I develop a basic dichotomy to distinguish the two typologies of value abused by lying (although in the real practice they most often go together): instrumental and ego values. In instrumental lying the liar’s gain is commeasurable with monetary or economic value, whereas in ego lying the universal currency is recognition, according to the way Todorov defines this intriguing notion. Probably the most original contribution of this chapter is its reflection on the dynamic relation between these two types of value in our everyday life, of which the analysis of lying makes more explicit and evident but glosses only one part.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Theoretical advances
- Communication, listening, non-functionality 13
- Difference and similarity in the I-Other relation: between two individuals or two singularities? A semioethic approach 29
- Global semiotics and its developments in the direction of semioethics 59
- The relevance of the encyclopaedia. From semiosis to sedimentation and back again 97
- Cultural narrative identities and the entanglement of value systems 121
-
Part II: Applied Semiotics
-
A The digital age in semiotics and communication
- Lying as a transaction of value: explorations in semiosis and communication from a new perspective 151
- Effective affective campaigns? An analysis of campaigns centered on Roma 163
-
B Political semiotics and communication
- The semiotics of extremism 181
- The dynamic aspect of the semiotic behavior of political actors in TV debates 203
-
C Communication, semiotics and multimodality
- The different rifles of audiovisual communication: a semiotics of foreshadowing and the case of Roberto Benigni 227
- Differences, similarities and changes of national identity signs in print advertisements. The advertising discourse as a mirror of locality and vice-versa 245
- What’s in a nickname? Form and function of sports’ team nicknames 275
- Architecture and painting codes in the Annunciation. Oltenia (XVIIIth–XIXth centuries) 289
- Index 305
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Theoretical advances
- Communication, listening, non-functionality 13
- Difference and similarity in the I-Other relation: between two individuals or two singularities? A semioethic approach 29
- Global semiotics and its developments in the direction of semioethics 59
- The relevance of the encyclopaedia. From semiosis to sedimentation and back again 97
- Cultural narrative identities and the entanglement of value systems 121
-
Part II: Applied Semiotics
-
A The digital age in semiotics and communication
- Lying as a transaction of value: explorations in semiosis and communication from a new perspective 151
- Effective affective campaigns? An analysis of campaigns centered on Roma 163
-
B Political semiotics and communication
- The semiotics of extremism 181
- The dynamic aspect of the semiotic behavior of political actors in TV debates 203
-
C Communication, semiotics and multimodality
- The different rifles of audiovisual communication: a semiotics of foreshadowing and the case of Roberto Benigni 227
- Differences, similarities and changes of national identity signs in print advertisements. The advertising discourse as a mirror of locality and vice-versa 245
- What’s in a nickname? Form and function of sports’ team nicknames 275
- Architecture and painting codes in the Annunciation. Oltenia (XVIIIth–XIXth centuries) 289
- Index 305
