Final answer:
John Milton, much like his predecessors and contemporaries, would have viewed falsehoods negatively. He valued truth and virtue, which is evident in his works, and would regard lies as a moral and intellectual transgression.
Step-by-step explanation:
John Milton would likely have had a disdain for falsehoods and the act of lying. Throughout history, writers and thinkers have often railed against insincerity and the deliberate distortion of truth. For instance, Sir Philip Sydney in the 16th century criticized those who failed to appreciate poetry, labeling them as fools who lack the imaginative insight to perceive literary value. In a similar vein, John F. Kennedy acknowledged that the most formidable adversary of truth is often not an outright lie, but rather a myth – a subtle, more insidious form of falsehood.
In the context of literature, Milton, being an erudite poet and intellectual of the 17th century, would likely align with these sentiments. He was deeply engaged with the themes of truth and virtue, as exhibited in his magnum opus Paradise Lost. Therefore, it can be surmised that Milton would have considered the perpetration of falsehoods as an affront to both morality and intellectual integrity.