Historical approaches to the study of lies and their transformation in culture

The article analyzes the process of understanding the concept of lies in the history of culture. The relevance of the problem is due to the obvious transformation of the content of the concept over time, changes in the semantic volume and status of lies in different fields of knowledge. Based on the analysis of historical and philosophical material and modern domestic literature, historically formed approaches to the interpretation of the concept of lie are identified. Such approaches include religious, ontological, epistemological, ethical, axiological, instrumental, cultural and psychological approaches to the interpretation of lies. In the religious approach, God is the absolute truth; lies come from the devil and are a phenomenon of the lower world. In the ontological approach, lies are presented as a phenomenon in the world of things. In the epistemological approach, lying is not associated with a person; denotes the discrepancy between knowledge and reality and is a hypostasis of truth. The ethical approach connects truth with duty, and lies with violation of people’s rights and internal moral imperative (Kant). In cultural, axiological and instrumental approaches, lies are interpreted as a utilitarian value that ensures the realization of communicative needs and the achievement of cultural goals. The psychological approach associates lies with interpersonal communication between people and the volitional action of a person. The historical conditionality and interrelation of the selected approaches is shown. By tracing the evolution of approaches to studying lying, from religious condemnation to psychological inquiry, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of human behavior and societal norms.