In today’s On the Square feature , Janet E. Smith responds to Christopher Tollefsen and Alexander Pruss’ article on lying:
Whereas Tollefsen and Pruss speak of “assertion” I speak of “enunciative signification.” I prefer to use the more cumbersome “enunciative signification” because “assertion” in common parlance refers to speech acts whereas Aquinas (and the Catechism) refers to both words and deeds that attempt to communicate to another about reality.I believe those who defend some false enunciative signification have an easier time dealing with Scripture than those who condemn all false enunciative signification. Those who maintain that all false enunciative signification is wrong, are faced with the task of explaining a multitude of instances wherein false enunciative signification leads to good and, it seems, approved results.
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