Q&A: Truth and Falsehood
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Truth and Falsehood
Question
If a person is mistaken about an objective fact—meaning, he was taught his whole life that a sphere is triangular—is he a liar?
Answer
A liar is someone who knowingly says something false.
Discussion on Answer
I didn't understand the question.
When a person lies, is there some moral problem even if he isn't a liar?
I don't understand. He lies and yet isn't a liar? Do you mean that what he says isn't true? The only problem is being a liar. Of course, it's proper to check things before you say them.
So that means a liar is something defined on the side of the subject, while falsehood is on the side of the object (maybe relative to the idea of the sphere). Is there harm here in some moral sense (if we define morality as depending on ideas)?