Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2009
MR. A is a liar. He repeatedly tells untruths, sometimes with malicious intent, sometimes for the purpose of dramatizing himself. Although he is perfectly aware of telling these untruths, he none the less ardently proclaims to himself and to others his complete honesty. In doing so it is no part of his intention to deny or to overlook the facts of the case. On the contrary he confesses his misdeeds with an embarrassing frankness. Mr. A's intention is to explain and to excuse these misdeeds. He says that each of his lies has been required by some accidental or unusual external circumstance, that his true inner self is in no way responsible for them and in no way affected by them. By nature, in his essence, he is absolutely honest.
1 Sartre, Jean-Paul, Being and Nothingness, translated by Barnes, Hazel E., Philosophical Library, N.Y., 1956, pp. 32–3.Google Scholar
2 Sartre, ibid., p. 32.
1 Sartre, Being and Nothingness, pp. 63–5.
page 104 note 1 Kierkegaard, Søren, The Sickness unto Death, translated by Lowrie, Walter, Doubleday Anchor Books, N.Y., 1954, P. 173.Google Scholar
page 104 note 2 Kierkegaard, ibid., p. 169.
page 105 note 1 Kierkegaard, The Sickness unto Death, p. 169.
page 105 note 1 Sartre, Being and Nothingness, pp. 65–6.
page 106 note 1 Sartre, Being and Nothingness, pp. 468–9.