A Swansea University alumnus has written a book about his personal quest for truth - by not telling a single lie for an entire year.

Cathal Morrow, who graduated with a degree in development studies from Swansea in 1988, based his book The Complete Kant on the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s belief that lying is always morally wrong.

And in what is believed to be the first deal of its kind, European-based company The Thaler Fund is sponsoring the project – the first time a private equity company has financed the writing of a non-fiction book.

Cathal Morrow, aged 43, graduated from Swansea in 1988 with a degree in Development Studies. Morrow, who lives in Madrid with his family, sold corporate websites and annual reports before starting The Complete Kant a year ago.

Disillusioned with what he saw as a culture of lies masquerading as truths, Morrow believed people were doing themselves a serious spiritual injustice by not being honest.

He decided to put Kant’s theory into practice and embark on a personal quest in an attempt to find, as he says on his website: “some kind of truth to keep me going for the next 40 years or so, and to pass on to my kids.”

Morrow’s pursuit of truth had already found expression when in 2002 he took time out from his job as managing director of an IT recruitment company to write his first book, a psychological / philosophical novel, about a photocopier salesman who perfects a formula for finding his true self. The book was well received, but a publisher proved elusive.

Unable also to find a publisher for The Complete Kant, Morrow hit upon the idea of putting a synopsis of the book on European social networking site A Small World, seeking backers to finance his writing of the book in exchange for half of all profits made.

The Thaler Fund got in touch soon after to arrange financing, founder Edward Fitzpatrick having read the first chapter and believing the book to have incredible potential. In line with the theme of trust, Morrow deemed a verbal agreement sufficient between parties and no written contract has been signed.

A website dedicated to The Complete Kant has yielded a flurry of responses and generated a great deal of publicity, with feedback on the whole being extremely positive.

Now nearing the end of his year-long experiment, has Cathal Morrow found that the truth is out there? He said: “It’s been a fantastic journey and I’ve learnt a great deal about myself and about the nature of truth.

“The book focuses on my year without lying and on the people in my life, many of whom are my mates from Swansea University.”

Morrow’s project concludes on February 21st and The Complete Kant is due for publication next year.

To read the first chapter of The Complete Kant, and for more information, visit: http://thecompletekant.com/