Truth, Lies and Environment (2)

Abstract

There are lies and lies: white lies, vicious lies, deliberate misrepresentation of facts, the truth but not the whole truth, the truth but more than the truth. Not every lie is necessarily morally wrong (or is it?). Nor can all forms of lying be avoided all of the time (or can they?). This raises serious questions for both environmental activists and the people who study them or their ideas. Can or should an environmentalist be satisfied, for instance, when people do the ‘right’ (green) thing for the ‘wrong’ (e.g. economic) reasons? The uncertainty characterising the often incredibly complicated and highly technical issues that environmentalists, ecologists and ‘green’ political scientists themselves address seem to make (over)simplification and biased representation, up to crying wolf, unavoidable - but is it acceptable? How Machiavellian can an environmentalist, or an academic, be: is lying (broadly construed) justifiable in a greater cause - and what happens when one is caught in a lie? These and related topics will be discussed in the panel on ‘Truth, Lies and Environment’.

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