By the Grace of Guile: The Role of Deception in Natural History and Human Affairs

The underestimated role of deception in human affairs is the theme of Rue's ambitious, often provocative tome. Selectively moving from the Old Testament's idea of a covenant to Sartre's concept of authenticity, Rue does not prove his thesis that the Western tradition has been molded by our profound fear of being deceived. More interesting is his survey of deception in the animal kingdom and his argument that the occasional use of deceptive psychological strategies (e.g., denial, fantasy, humor) helps people achieve personal wholeness. A professor of religion and philosophy at Luther College, Iowa, Rue considers the Judeo-Christian ``metaphor of God as person'' to be a deceptive myth. He concludes on a challenging note by outlining a ``biocentric myth'' for our age designed to foster global community--a myth rooted in modern science and an ecologically responsive economy. (Mar.)