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> What makes a statement a lie and what makes it morally wrong are the same thing – that the speaker tries to get someone to adopt what the speaker herself rega
by ErikVandeWater 8y ago
> What makes a statement a lie and what makes it morally wrong are the same thing – that the speaker tries to get someone to adopt what the speaker herself regards as a false belief.
This is one perspective. But it introduces a problem that if someone is manipulated, and by continuation they manipulate another (e.g. MLM schemes), only the founder of the MLM is morally guilty, even if everyone who joined was negligent in repeating his lies.
- dragonwriter 8y agoInterestingly, in defamation law we recognize reckless disregard for the truth, not merely actual belief in the falsity of the statement, as a mental state that (along with actual falsity and resulting harm) produces culpability.
- mushka 8y agoThey aren't guilty of manipulation, but that doesn't mean they're innocent: They're guilty of not being critical thinkers. In my opinion, it doesn't take their guilt at all.