Showing posts with label dishonesty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dishonesty. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

How to Argue that Someone Lied

Step 1. Show that person P said X.

Step 2. Show that X is false.

Step 3. Show that the best explanation for P's saying X is that P intended to deceive P's audience, e.g.,

3.1. Show that lying explains why P said X when X is false.
3.2. Show that 'P was simply mistaken about X' (because P forgot, was misinformed, etc.) is not a good explanation for why P said X when X is false.
3.3. Show that 'P is not self-deceived about X' is not a good explanation for why P said X when X is false.
3.4. As appropriate, show that other alternative explanations are not good explanations.