A Theory of Truth in Autobiography

James M. Buchanan and Robert Tollison ()

Kyklos, 1986, vol. 39, issue 4, pages 507-17

Abstract: The "truth" in autobiography depends on the observable historical record of a person's life. The less attractive the observed life, the more "truthful" is the autobiography. This result does not require differential standards of honesty as among autobiographers. It does depend on the presupposition that there exists a common value scale along which lives may be judged, and upon the common directional bias toward the "good" in all autobiography. Copyright 1986 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG

Date: 1986

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