30.2 Almost Truth

 30.2 Almost Truth 

Question:

Can a lie be ever considered truth? 

Answer:

Even a false statement is almost like truth if it can produce a

benefit without the slightest blemish.                                                    (Couplet - 292) 

பொய்மையும் வாய்மை யிடத்த புரைதீர்ந்த

நன்மை பயக்கும் எனின்.                                                                                  (குறள் – 292)

 

Explanation:

Valluvar states that even a false statement may be considered truth if it produces unmitigated good. How can that be? Consider the situation where a little girl wearing a new dress asks her father, "Dad, don't I look beautiful in this dress?". Even if the father does not think that the dress makes her look beautiful, his response would be, "Yes. Honey, you really look beautiful in this dress." The father's statement is not consistent with the fact. But there is no harm done by the father's statement that the girl looked pretty in that dress. In this case, the father's intent is absolutely good. He wants to make his daughter happy. Although the father's statement is technically a falsehood, it is almost like truth.

 

Valluvar is consistent in his statements. He is really pragmatic in his approach to defining truth. To him, a statement is true if there is no intention to harm anyone. Statements that do not harm anyone and produce pure good can be considered almost like the truth. According to Merriam Webster's Dictionary, a lie is a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive someone. So, when someone is lying, intentional deception is involved. In the example cited above, the father has no intention to deceive or hurt his daughter. Therefore, his statement is not a lie. That is why Valluvar says it is almost like truth.