The Truth about Lying: With Some Differences between Men and Women, by Stephen J. Costello

In this forthright and fascinating study, Dr Stephen J. Costello, philosopher and logotherapist, takes us on a profound journey into the intricate and intriguing nature of the dynamics of lying. Drawing on philosophy, logical puzzles and Lacanian psychoanalysis, Costello investigates the types of lies we tell, the lies that include a good deal of truth, how and why children lie, the lies lovers tell, self-deception and much more.

In the final section of the book Costello focuses in particular on how men and women lie in different ways. Men, he argues, lie in the guise of truth while women tell the truth in the guise of a lie. Men tend to be more direct while women are more deceptive. Men lie to create a better image of themselves, women lie to make others feel more comfortable.

Provocative, while also frequently amusing, The Truth about Lying is a pithy primer on the act and art of lying.

“This is an absolutely fascinating book . . . a quite extraordinary range of information . . . I can only encourage everyone to read it and thoroughly enjoy it as I did.” – Ivor Browne, from the Foreword

'Erudite, engaging, eccentric, enjoyable. This work is a wide-ranging philosophical and psychoanalytical study of lying. It is accessible and humorous, with plenty of puzzles and profundities, surprises and stories along the way that instruct in an idiosyncratic way. Stephen Costello's book is both fascinating and fun. I warmly recommend it’. – Richard Kearney, Chair of Philosophy, Boston College

An Extract from The Truth about Lying

‘A lie distracts, detracts from the truth. You lie if you don’t want people to become aware of the truth. Total truth – who would want it? – is problematic. We are at home with lies. Lies can take place around the locus of the other person’s desire or one’s own ego. Some people like to be lied to; others need to be lied to. There is a difference between how men and women lie and to what end; this is centrally what the book is about . . .’ – from the Preface

About the Author

Stephen J. Costello, Ph.D. is a philosopher and Director of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland: School of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. He was born in Dublin and educated in St. Gerard’s School, Castleknock College, University College Dublin and did a small stint at the King’s Inns. He holds a Master’s  and doctorate degree in philosophy from the National University of Ireland and a Diploma in Logotherapy and Existential Analysis from Vienna. Dr Costello is the author of The Irish Soul: In Dialogue, The Pale Criminal: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 18 Reasons Why Mothers Hate Their Babies: A Philosophy of Childhood, Hermeneutics and the Psychoanalysis of Religion, What are Friends For?: Insights from the Great Philosophers, The Ethics of Happiness: An Existential Analysis, and Philosophy and the Flow of Presence: Desire, Drama and the Divine Ground of Being. Dr Costello is a member of the Irish Philosophical Society, the Royal Institute of Philosophy and the International Association of Logotherapy and Existential Analysis. He is a black belt in Aikido and the equivalent in Wing Tsun Kung Fu.