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Article published In: New Perspectives on Utterance Interpretation and Implicit Contents
Edited by Daniela Rossi and Nicolas Ruytenbeek
[Belgian Journal of Linguistics 28] 2014
► pp. 97–118

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A truth that’s told with bad intent

Lying and implicit content

 | Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Published online: 28 November 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/bjl.28.05mei
In recent years, a lively debate has emerged about the question of correctly defining lying. Two strands of argumentation have evolved in the philosophy of language: First, the idea that lying is not necessarily connected to an intention of the speaker to deceive the hearer (e.g., Carson 2010); second, the idea that there is a fundamental distinction between lying and mere misleading (e.g., Saul 2012). This paper deals with both assumptions from the vantage point of the semantics-pragmatics interface and relates them to the question of how it is possible to lie while drawing on implicit content of an utterance. It is argued that lying necessarily involves an intention to deceive and that many cases of misleading are either cases of misunderstanding or cases of untruthful implicature (Meibauer 2014a).
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