Giving: a gift. “Please take this dollar. Have a nice day.” Mercy: a gift to someone of lower social class. “Please take this dollar. But don’t buy beer with it.” Charity: a gift to someone of similar social class. “Here is 50 dollars for your cause. Have you tried the shrimp?” Donation: an exchange with the expectation [...]
Augustine of Hippo’s taxonomy of lies, deduced from his book On Lying (De Mendacio) (395) in order of descending severity: Lies in religious teaching. Lies that harm others and help no one. Lies that harm others and help someone. Lies told for the pleasure of lying. Lies told to “please others in smooth discourse.” Lies that harm [...]
