The Three Types of Lies

The Three Types of Lies djk167

Learning Objectives Self-Check

Read through the following statements/questions. You should be able to answer all of these after reading through the content on this page. I suggest writing or typing out your answers, but if nothing else, say them out loud to yourself.

Hopefully, by now you see that there are a number of rhetorical strategies available to help convince people of an argument. Though this can be seen as manipulative in many cases, often times it does not involve actual lying. But what is lying, exactly? Merriam Webster's online dictionary provides two relevant definitions of a lie:

lie (intransitive verb)
  1. to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive
  2. to create a false or misleading impression.

Seems pretty cut-and-dry, but for the purposes of this lesson, it is helpful to know that there are different types of lies. The three most commonly referred to are lies of commission, lies of omission, and lies of influence, aka character lies. The reading below neatly summarizes these and provides some examples.

To Read Now

These three types of lies are well-known, and there are many readings that illustrate them. This one from Vanessa Van Edwards is clear and offers a number of examples. I suggest going through the examples she provides to test your understanding.

  • "Different Types of Lies," by Vanessa Van Edwards, Science of People. You are welcome to read the whole article, but at least go to the "3 Types of Lies You Should Know" section. You can access this quickly by clicking on the link to the section in the dropdown menu in the table of contents.

Now that you have a good idea of what each of these three types of lies entail, take a second to think about which type of lie fits which of Webster's definitions above.

Optional (But Strongly Suggested)

Now that you have completed the content, I suggest going through the Learning Objectives Self-Check list at the top of the page.