BHA: Nixon's lies

[MSPRINKER@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

               State University of New York at Stony Brook
                       Stony Brook, NY 11794-3355

                                            Michael Sprinker
                                            Professor of English & Comp Lit
                                            Comparative Studies
                                            516 632-9634
                                            22-May-1998 11:23am EDT
FROM:  MSPRINKER
TO:    Remote Addressee                     ( _bhaskar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx )

Subject: Nixon's lies

Wait a minute, Louis, you can't really "believe" what you just
asserted about Nixon.  Doesn't it seem plausible, even likely,
that Nixon "knew" he was lying when he said "I'm not a crook,"
and that, mutatis mutandis, this is the case when a great many
lies are told, viz., that they are told with the intent to
deceive?  Thus the only truthful--but ineffective for the
purposes intended--statement would then be:  "When I say 'I'm
not a crook,' I know that this statement is false, but I am
saying it anyway in order that people will believe me to be
honest and therefore worthy to occupy the office."

Cheers,

Michael Sprinker


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