You probably think that lying is wrong. According to the philosophical view known as the error theory, this thought ascribes wrongness to lying, but wrongness does not exist. This means that lying is not wrong. You may think that in that case lying is permissible. But according to the error theory, the thought that lying is permissible ascribes permissibility to lying, and permissibility does not exist either. So the error theory says that lying is neither wrong nor permissible. And it says the same thing about anything else you may want to do.
At first glance this theory may seem crazy. But the arguments for the error theory are surprisingly strong. Suppose that you are convinced by these arguments. If so, what should you do? Should you stop believing that lying is wrong? Should you just tell lies whenever you feel like it?
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