This book is a comprehensive investigation of lying in everyday life. What exactly is a lie, and how does lying differ from related phenomena such as 'bullshit' or being truthful? Lars Svendsen also investigates the ethics of lying – why

is lying almost always morally wrong, and why is lying to one's friends especially bad? The book concludes by looking at lying in politics, from Plato's theory of the 'noble lie' to Donald Trump.

Svendsen's conclusion is that, even though we all occasionally lie, we are for the most part trustworthy. Trusting others makes you vulnerable, and you will be duped from time to time, but that is – all things considered – preferable

to living in a constant state of distrust.

本书全面调查了日常生活的谎言。究竟什么是谎言，谎言与胡说八道或实话实说等相关现象有什么不同？拉斯·斯文森（Lars Svendsen）还研究了说谎的伦理问题——为什么说谎几乎都是道德上的错误，为什么对自己的朋友说谎尤其糟糕？本书最后探讨了政治中的谎言，从柏拉图的“高贵的谎言”理论到唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）。

斯文森的结论是，尽管我们偶尔都会撒谎，但在大多数情况下我们是值得信任的。信任他人可能会让你变得脆弱，会不时地被欺骗，但这比生活在一个持续的不信任状态中要好。