Volume XI, Issue II, Spring 2018

THE AGONIST
thinking it is telling the truth, perhaps like pathological liars who come to
believe their lies. 14
Here is a summation thus far in terms of my three distinctions concerning
truth. In the light of tragic truth (T1), all formations of thought are deceptive
lies. When thought presumes to be a foundational construction of truth (T2), it
can be called deceptive from a critical standpoint, as a “violation” of tragic truth.
Art has no pretense of being foundational and so its mode of deception can
have a positive sense (T3). Indeed, all formations of thought can have a positive
meaning if taken in a more modest way as perspectival “creations” that are
limited by tragic truth. T2 assumes truths that are incompatible with T1, and
thus “false.” T3 does not and need not fit the perfect sense of what T2 assumes;
yet as life-enhancing and workable within perspectival possibilities, T3 can be
“true” in a limited manner, but at the same time “false” from the standpoint of
its literal sense—so that, for instance, the notion of a discrete “thing” is not
literally true (measured against T1), but it is functionally and pragmatically apt.
T3 does not commit the error of metaphysical truth (T2). Borrowing from an
artistic sense, T3 can be “fictional” compared to literal accuracy, but useful and
disclosive in its own way. 15 Artistic fiction works in its own way too, but admits
its fictional nature, thus being more “true” to T1. Art’s overt non-foundational
posture gives it a distinctive position among cultural productions, and that is
why Nietzsche uses the metaphor of art to characterize all forms of thought.
Falsehood in Greek Poetry
To round out this discussion, I offer some remarks about ancient Greek
poetry that may help us better comprehend Nietzsche’s account of appearance
and falsehood. 16 The Greeks were well aware from the earliest times that poetic
performances depicted something different from “actual” events. Traveling
bards would enthrall audiences with emotionally and musically charged tales
about gods and heroes––culturally significant events embellished with
heightened language for maximum effect. And such performances were a
“pause” set aside from normal life pursuits. What interests us is that a word
commonly used to denote this “difference” was pseudos, usually translated as
14 In an episode of the Seinfeld program, George is trying to teach Jerry how to beat a lie
detector. He says: “If you believe it, it’s not a lie.” We now have a President who seems
to be a serial liar.
15 See Justin Remhof, “Scientific Fictionalism and the Problem of Inconsistency in
Nietzsche,” Journal of Nietzsche Studies 47/2 (Summer 2016), 238-246.
16 What follows is drawn from my Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality: An
Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2008), 184-86.
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