Sociable pretenses of equality are lies only when they serve external purposes.

Evidence

Sociability is the game in which one “does as if” all were equal, and at the same time, as if one honored each of them in particular. And to “do as if” is no more a lie than play or art are lies because of their deviation from reality. The game becomes a lie only when sociable action and speech are made into mere instruments of the intentions and events of practical reality just as a painting becomes a lie when it tries, in a panoramic effect, to simulate reality. — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 2194

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precisely defines the ‘as if’ fiction of sociability and when it flips into deception — the boundary between play and lie.
• XREF: The ‘as if’ fiction vs. instrumental deception distinction resonates with Goffman’s later frame analysis and the presentation of self in everyday life.