Academic Archers

“A Lying, Cheating, Chancer”: Truth and Deception in Ambridge - Ruth Heilbronn and Rosalind Janssen

Academic Archers Season 5 Episode 7

Welcome to the fifth series in the annual podcast programme from Academic Archers, bringing you papers from our 2024 conference.

This episode revisits the question of truth, lies and deception in Ambridge, asking whether the village is still a moral quagmire.

“A Lying, Cheating, Chancer”: Truth and Deception in Ambridge - Ruth Heilbronn and Rosalind Janssen

George Grundy was recently branded “a lying, cheating chancer” by listeners, even compared to Boris Johnson. But research shows we all lie several times a day. Five years ago, the 2018 Academic Archers conference asked whether Ambridge was a moral quagmire. The answer was yes, with residents frequently “economical with the truth”.

This paper updates that investigation. Drawing on Sisela Bok’s philosophical study of lying and the history of ethical debates on truth, it distinguishes between socially beneficial lies that oil the wheels of community life and self-serving lies that erode trust.

Ambridge provides ample examples: Henry lying to Helen about meeting Rob, Ardil’s deception about Grey Gables’ finances, Pip hiding Stella from Ruth, Helen passing off Pat’s boeuf bourguignon as her own, or concealing her anorexia from Lee. Where is the line between lying, evasiveness, and omission? When does withholding truth protect others, and when does it damage relationships?

The paper also considers how broader public life in 2023 reflects and refracts the moral climate in Ambridge.

About the speakers

  • Dr Ruth Heilbronn is an academic whose research explores ethics, teacher education and philosophy in practice.
  • Dr Rosalind Janssen is an independent scholar with interests in ethics and in how cultural narratives reflect moral decision-making.

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