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Duplicity. (Harold Kelman; Nov. 13, 1949) The dictionary says “duplicity,” deriving from the Latin, duplicitas, means “double”; also doubleness of heart or speech; deception by pretending to entertain one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another; bad faith; double-dealing. Duplicity has to do with something double, double-dealing, operating on two different sets of premises and with feeling one way
and acting another. It explicitly connotes the notion of falsehood.
To know what we mean by falsehood, we must define what we mean by truth. To search for truth is painful and disheartening, and is preceded by a process of disillusionment. The analytic situation is one in which two people are seeking the truth. The truth of an idea is constantly dependent on the continuous process of its validation.
Since duplicity is dealing with two sets of premises, it means conflict. As long as a person is in conflict, he will be duplicitous. He will attempt solutions which are invested with values of a constructive or rational nature, and of a destructive or irrational nature. We have a central conflict between the constructive and the destructive. We also have a conflict between the values associated with compliance, aggressiveness and detachment within the neurotic structure—that is, basic conflict. An individual will be duplicitous as an aspect of conflict, and he will be duplicitous until his conflicts are resolved in reality.
The analyst's task is to help the patient become aware of his duplicity. Where duplicity shows most flagrantly is in the attempt to harmonize all three sets of values in an Idealized Image and to regard them as verified virtues to an absolute degree. Intrapsychically, the most obvious evidence of duplicity is in collaborating with the pride system while protesting a genuine desire to become healthier.
The problem of duplicity is most clearly reflected in a person's pretenses. The questions one must ask regarding duplicity are:
Is there irration