I asked a similar question before, here: Would language have meaning, if there was no consciousness?, but the current question is more specific.
Consider a world like ours, but without consciousness, in other words, a philosophical zombie world. The humans in that world write on paper and make sounds with their vocal cords, just like they do in our world. What I want to know is, would it be applicable to say that some of the zombie-humans lie some of the time, just as humans in our world do?
I don't think so. Lying is by definition making a false statement with the intent to deceive. But there is certainly no intention in a zombie world, because intention is a mental state. Also, in a zombie world, statements can't be false, because they are meaningless sequences of ink or sounds. They have no meaning, because meaning can only happen in consciousness. I am asking this question because I once read a book by a physicist that claimed philosophical zombies can lie. I believe that book is mistaken.
But anyway, has any serious philosopher claimed that zombies can lie? And what arguments do they have for that claim?
