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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group
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To: Sun Tzu who wrote (148701)10/22/2004 3:49:08 PM
From: one_less  Read Replies (2) of 281500
 
"Firstly, you cannot prove the intent to say the truth for the same reasons that I cannot prove its contrary.

I started by saying that it is hard to prove a lie and that is why some people do it often. Declaring a man to be a liar without proof is one form of that.

"So it is pointless to debate the intent."

No it isn't. I agree that in the vast majority of cases we can not prove that a man is truthful/lying.

A man's conduct may speak very highly of him. Giving large amounts to charity and such. However, he may be secretly running a corrupt scheme to corrupt and defraud his admirers. And even if this is true, it may not be provable.

Or a man's conduct may put him in very bad public esteem, like an act of violence against one of our friends. However, we may find out later that the act of violence actually was performed to stop some heinous injustice such as rape or molestation on a child. Sometimes this may be true but can't be proven. Actions are not always enough to determine the nature of the man.

So, the only measure we can use to accurately determine the truth or falsehood of a man's word is by producing evidence that reveals something of the intent to of the man that conflicts with the utterance or actions performed by the man.

"But how many lies do I have to show to make him a liar?

one
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