The 'saving lie' and the saving truth

At the conclusion of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow lies about the dying words of the grieving fiancée's villainous lover, Kurtz. He relates what her tearful questioning shows him she longs to hear, acting from fear of destroying her faith in Kurtz's love for her. In this context I consider aspects of the absolutist and relativist positions regarding truth and lies. I also discuss whether absolute truth is obligatory in every situation or whether, as I conclude, a lie spoken in compassion for others' feelings, despite the moral ambiguity, can be a loving act honoured by God in that situation

Ambiguity · Compassion · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Faith · Feeling · Linguistics · Psychoanalysis · Relativism · Theology · History · Joseph Conrad and Literature · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology