What, it doesn’t count as a lie if it’s in writing? That’s a hell of a system of contract law they’ve got in this allegorical kingdom.
I have a different answer to this than what has been given so far :
It’s a question of implicit conventions. The king’s challenge follows and mimics the jester’s challenge. In the jester’s challenge, the jester makes a statement about the truth value of the inscriptions on the boxes. By doing this, he sets the precedent that the inscriptions on the boxes are part of the game and do not engage the honesty of the game maker. The inscriptions can be true of false, and it’s part of the challenge to guess what is each one. Only the jester’s own words engage his honesty. If he lied, the challenge would be rigged.
The king mimics the jester’s setup, but makes no statement about the truth value of the inscriptions on the boxes. That difference should have sounded suspicious to the jester. He should have asked the king if the statements were logical. The king could have lied, but at that point if the king was ready to lie then he’d probably kill the jester even if he found the key.
I have a different answer to this than what has been given so far :
It’s a question of implicit conventions. The king’s challenge follows and mimics the jester’s challenge. In the jester’s challenge, the jester makes a statement about the truth value of the inscriptions on the boxes. By doing this, he sets the precedent that the inscriptions on the boxes are part of the game and do not engage the honesty of the game maker. The inscriptions can be true of false, and it’s part of the challenge to guess what is each one. Only the jester’s own words engage his honesty. If he lied, the challenge would be rigged.
The king mimics the jester’s setup, but makes no statement about the truth value of the inscriptions on the boxes. That difference should have sounded suspicious to the jester. He should have asked the king if the statements were logical. The king could have lied, but at that point if the king was ready to lie then he’d probably kill the jester even if he found the key.