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The Church Fathers · c. 395
On Lying
De Mendacio
Augustine of Hippo · 354–430
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What it is
An examination of eight kinds of lie, concluding that none is permissible — not even to save a life, and not even to save a soul.
Why it lasted
The most rigorous position on truthfulness in Western ethics, argued against ever since by Aquinas, Kant's critics, and Bonhoeffer.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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