i.e., when our thought assents; then we have a right to be wrathful at social lies. Or again we may give and take them as mere “tokens”; we know that they are nothing but means of expressing a readiness for intercourse, and of proving that we belong to a certain society, especially to that which calls itself good society. For this, according to its concept, there is only the one way, that of observing its rules, and one of these rules is the use of such modes of speech. They are not meant seriously, they are mere forms, without any content, or without any corresponding content, “hollow phrases” or whatever we may choose to call them. But whoever plays the game must submit to its rules. It is clear how this use of words is related to that of figures of speech. Here as there, transitions into the sphere of falsehood are easy. Falsehood emphasises the ordinary meaning, the literal sense of the words, and demands that this should be accepted, believed; what the liar has in his mind is not the non-literal meaning, but none at all. But lying is greatly facilitated by the figurative meaning—think of the rhetoric in the oaths of love and the asseverations of friendship. It is facilitated also by the social significance, or rather depreciation of words. A man endeavouring to obtain advantages by the use of flattery may limit himself to employing turns of speech which are current in his society; he merely needs to utter them with a special accent, with the warmth of tone which is wont to “come from the heart”; while if any one should seem to suspect him he can always take refuge in the plea that he has only been using the ordinary conventional language. The variations which may be observed here are manifold.
50. In this sphere, then, portions of the current language are, as it were, damped and kneaded into a dough; and it is possible also to have a whole language in which all word-meanings would have a conventional character, whether they refer immediately to objects, or (what is more probable) to many empirical (natural) languages. Old and new attempts to construct a universal language correspond to a thoroughly reasonable and necessary idea, which in the present extension of intercourse will sooner or later take deeper root and make rapid growth. We cannot indeed deny that in many respects it would be better to elevate a given, natural language to the rank of an international means of communication; and towards this end economic and political developments are pushing powerfully forward. Most indications are in favour of the English language, which happens to have certain constitutional advantages for such a universal social use, advantages which make it also more easy to learn than other
