This seminal work by David Jardine explores the ethics of equivocation, or the use of ambiguous language to deceive. Drawing on historical examples and philosophical analysis, Jardine argues that equivocation is sometimes necessary in order to protect oneself or others from harm, but that it should be used sparingly and with great care. A Treatise of Equivocation is a thought-provoking examination of the complex nature of truth and deception. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from A Treatise of Equivocation The Treatise of Equivocation now printed from a manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was first publicly noticed at the trial of the several persons engaged in the Gunpowder Plot. In enumerating the means used by the conspirators for the secret con triving and carriage of that treason, Sir Ed ward Coke mentions their perfidious and perjurious equivocating, abetted, allowed and justified by the J esuites, not onely simply to conceale or denie an open trueth, but reli giously to averre, - to protest upon salvation, - to swear that which themselves know to be most falseg - and all this by reserving a secret and private sense inwardly to them selves, whereby they are by their ghostly fathers perswaded, that they may safely and lawfully delude any question whatever. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Stefania Tutino shows that post-Reformation Catholic culture was a rich laboratory for our current moral and hermeneutical anxieties.