The Conventional Lies: An Almost Forgotten Concept

Abstract

The concept of conventional lie, first defined by Friedrich Nietzsche, should be used in the discourse of the cultural sciences. This is because the series of phenomena that it designates is usually mistakenly classified either in the category of stereotypes or in the one of prejudices. In this article, the thesis that conventional lies represent a specific element of culture as a ‘software of the mind’ is supported.