The Lie: The Importance of Viewpoints. Reflections on Bernard Muntyan, the Ideological Lie and the Case of National Socialism

This article proceeds from Bulgarian philosopher Bernard Muntyan’s conception of ideological lie and offers an illustration of, and a critical reflection on, the lie through the historical example of National Socialism and Adolf Hitler’s views on truth and lie. With the help of numerous references to original texts and speeches, we argue that Hitler constructs a bi-polar world perception divided by the images of “us”, as bearers of truth, and “them” as advocates of lying. It simultaneously confirms Muntyan’s “single truth theory” regarding extreme ideologies and evokes issues related to subjectivity of viewpoints on lying and the difficulties of defining reliable instruments against false knowledge.