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Honesty

January 11, 2024

For other uses, see Honesty (disambiguation).

Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness (including straightforwardness of conduct: earnestness), along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. Honesty also involves being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere.

Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man, attributed to J. H. W. Tischbein (c. 1780)

A reputation for honesty is denoted by terms like reputability and trustworthiness. Honesty about ones future conduct, loyalties, or commitments is called accountability, reliability, dependability, or conscientiousness.

Someone who goes out of their way to tell possibly unwelcome truths extends honesty into the region of candor or frankness. The Cynics engaged in a challenging sort of frankness like this called parrhêsia.

See also: Radical honesty

Opinions edit

Honesty is way more valued than any other qualities of an human being in many ethnic and religious cultures.[1] "Honesty is the best policy" is a proverb of Edwin Sandys, while the quote "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom" is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, as used in a letter to Nathaniel Macon.[2] April 30 is national Honesty Day in the United States.

William Shakespeare described honesty as an attribute people leave behind when he wrote that "no legacy is so rich as honesty" in act 3, scene 5 of "All's Well that Ends Well."[3]

Tolstoy thought that honesty was revolutionary: “No feats of heroism are needed to achieve the greatest and most important changes in the existence of humanity.... it is only needful that each individual should say what he really feels or thinks, or at least that he should not say what he does not think.”[4]Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ("Live Not By Lies," 1974) and Václav Havel (The Power of the Powerless, 1978) agreed. Havel wrote:

[L]iving within the truth has more than a mere existential dimension (returning humanity to its inherent nature), or a noetic dimension (revealing reality as it is), or a moral dimension (setting an example for others). It also has an unambiguous political dimension. If the main pillar of the system is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living the truth.

The 18th century enlightenment philosopher William Wollaston argued that all religion ultimately reduces to ethics and all ethics reduces to honesty (The Religion of Nature Delineated, 1722). “[E]very intelligent, active, and free being should so behave himself, as by no act to contradict truth; ...treat every thing as being what it is.” All else would follow from that.

Immanuel Kant made the duty of honesty a core example of his ethical theories.

Others noted, however, that "too much honesty might be seen as undisciplined openness".[5] For example, individuals may be perceived as being "too honest" if they honestly express the negative opinions of others, either without having been asked their opinion, or having been asked in a circumstance where the response would be trivial. This concern manifests in political correctness, with individuals refraining from expressing their true opinions due to a general societal condemnation of such views. Research also found that honesty can lead to interpersonal harm because people avoid information about how their honest behavior affects others.[6]

Definitions edit

Merriam-Webster defines honesty as "fairness and straightforwardness of conduct" or "adherence to the facts".[7]

The Oxford English Dictionary defines honesty as "the quality of being honest."[8] Honest is, in turn, defined as "Free of deceit; truthful and sincere...Morally correct or virtuous...(attributive) Fairly earned, especially through hard work...(of an action) done with good intentions even if unsuccessful or misguided...(attributive) Simple, unpretentious, and unsophisticated.[9]

See also edit

  • Authenticity (philosophy) – Concept in existential psychology and philosophy
  • Good faith – Intention to be fair, open, and honest
  • Integrity – Moral virtue and practice
  • Lie – Intentionally false statement made to deceive
  • Morality – Differentiation between right and wrong
  • Parrhesia – In rhetoric, the obligation to speak candidly
  • Radical honesty – Complete honesty devoid of any kind of deception
  • Sincerity – The virtue of honest and genuine communication
  • Spin (propaganda) – Form of propaganda in public relations and politics
  • Trust – Assumption of and reliance on the honesty of another party
  • Truth – Being in accord with fact or reality

References edit

  1. ^
    • Rogers, Carl R. (1964). "Toward a modern approach to values: The valuing process in the mature person". The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 68 (2): 160–67.
    • Dahlsgaard, Katherine; Peterson, Christopher; Seligman, Martin E.P. (2005). "Shared Virtue: The Convergence of Valued Human Strengths Across Culture and History". Review of General Psychology. 9 (3): 203–13.
    • Hilbig, Benjamin E.; Zettler, Ingo (2009). "Pillars of cooperation: Honesty–Humility, social value orientations, and economic behavior". Journal of Research in Personality. 43 (3): 516–19.
    • Van Lange, Paul A.M.; Kuhlman, D. Michael (1994). "Social value orientations and impressions of partner's honesty and intelligence: A test of the might versus morality effect". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 67 (1): 126–41.
    • Schluter, Dolph; Price, Trevor (1993). "Honesty, Perception and Population Divergence in Sexually Selected Traits". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 253 (1336): 117–22.
  2. ^ "Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon". The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651–1827. January 12, 1819. from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  3. ^ William Shakespeare. All's Well That Ends Well 2019-06-12 at the Wayback Machine MIT Shakespeare.
  4. ^ Tolstoy, Lev (1894), On Patriotism
  5. ^ MacKinnon, Barbara; Fiala, Andrew (2015). Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues (Concise ed.). p. 93.[ISBN missing]
  6. ^ Levine, E.; Munguia Gomez, D. (2021). "'I'm just being honest.' When and why honesty enables help versus harm". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 120 (1): 33–56. doi:10.1037/pspi0000242. PMID 32463271. S2CID 218977238. from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-02-05 – via APA PsycNet.
  7. ^ "Honesty". Merriam-Webster. 2017. from the original on 2017-10-06.
  8. ^ . Oxford English Dictionary. 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-10-06.
  9. ^ . Oxford English Dictionary. 2017. Archived from the original on 2016-09-28.

External links edit

 
Look up honesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Honesty.

January 11, 2024
honesty, other, uses, disambiguation, truthfulness, facet, moral, character, that, connotes, positive, virtuous, attributes, such, integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including, straightforwardness, conduct, earnestness, along, with, absence, lying, . For other uses see Honesty disambiguation Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity truthfulness straightforwardness including straightforwardness of conduct earnestness along with the absence of lying cheating theft etc Honesty also involves being trustworthy loyal fair and sincere Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man attributed to J H W Tischbein c 1780 A reputation for honesty is denoted by terms like reputability and trustworthiness Honesty about ones future conduct loyalties or commitments is called accountability reliability dependability or conscientiousness Someone who goes out of their way to tell possibly unwelcome truths extends honesty into the region of candor or frankness The Cynics engaged in a challenging sort of frankness like this called parrhesia See also Radical honesty Contents 1 Opinions 2 Definitions 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksOpinions editHonesty is way more valued than any other qualities of an human being in many ethnic and religious cultures 1 Honesty is the best policy is a proverb of Edwin Sandys while the quote Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom is attributed to Thomas Jefferson as used in a letter to Nathaniel Macon 2 April 30 is national Honesty Day in the United States William Shakespeare described honesty as an attribute people leave behind when he wrote that no legacy is so rich as honesty in act 3 scene 5 of All s Well that Ends Well 3 Tolstoy thought that honesty was revolutionary No feats of heroism are needed to achieve the greatest and most important changes in the existence of humanity it is only needful that each individual should say what he really feels or thinks or at least that he should not say what he does not think 4 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Live Not By Lies 1974 and Vaclav Havel The Power of the Powerless 1978 agreed Havel wrote L iving within the truth has more than a mere existential dimension returning humanity to its inherent nature or a noetic dimension revealing reality as it is or a moral dimension setting an example for others It also has an unambiguous political dimension If the main pillar of the system is living a lie then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is living the truth The 18th century enlightenment philosopher William Wollaston argued that all religion ultimately reduces to ethics and all ethics reduces to honesty The Religion of Nature Delineated 1722 E very intelligent active and free being should so behave himself as by no act to contradict truth treat every thing as being what it is All else would follow from that Immanuel Kant made the duty of honesty a core example of his ethical theories Others noted however that too much honesty might be seen as undisciplined openness 5 For example individuals may be perceived as being too honest if they honestly express the negative opinions of others either without having been asked their opinion or having been asked in a circumstance where the response would be trivial This concern manifests in political correctness with individuals refraining from expressing their true opinions due to a general societal condemnation of such views Research also found that honesty can lead to interpersonal harm because people avoid information about how their honest behavior affects others 6 Definitions editMerriam Webster defines honesty as fairness and straightforwardness of conduct or adherence to the facts 7 The Oxford English Dictionary defines honesty as the quality of being honest 8 Honest is in turn defined as Free of deceit truthful and sincere Morally correct or virtuous attributive Fairly earned especially through hard work of an action done with good intentions even if unsuccessful or misguided attributive Simple unpretentious and unsophisticated 9 See also editAuthenticity philosophy Concept in existential psychology and philosophy Good faith Intention to be fair open and honest Integrity Moral virtue and practice Lie Intentionally false statement made to deceive Morality Differentiation between right and wrong Parrhesia In rhetoric the obligation to speak candidly Radical honesty Complete honesty devoid of any kind of deception Sincerity The virtue of honest and genuine communication Spin propaganda Form of propaganda in public relations and politics Trust Assumption of and reliance on the honesty of another partyPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Truth Being in accord with fact or realityReferences edit Rogers Carl R 1964 Toward a modern approach to values The valuing process in the mature person The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 68 2 160 67 Dahlsgaard Katherine Peterson Christopher Seligman Martin E P 2005 Shared Virtue The Convergence of Valued Human Strengths Across Culture and History Review of General Psychology 9 3 203 13 Hilbig Benjamin E Zettler Ingo 2009 Pillars of cooperation Honesty Humility social value orientations and economic behavior Journal of Research in Personality 43 3 516 19 Van Lange Paul A M Kuhlman D Michael 1994 Social value orientations and impressions of partner s honesty and intelligence A test of the might versus morality effect Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67 1 126 41 Schluter Dolph Price Trevor 1993 Honesty Perception and Population Divergence in Sexually Selected Traits Proceedings of the Royal Society B 253 1336 117 22 Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1 General Correspondence 1651 1827 January 12 1819 Archived from the original on October 6 2017 Retrieved July 9 2013 William Shakespeare All s Well That Ends Well Archived 2019 06 12 at the Wayback Machine MIT Shakespeare Tolstoy Lev 1894 On Patriotism MacKinnon Barbara Fiala Andrew 2015 Ethics Theory and Contemporary Issues Concise ed p 93 ISBN missing Levine E Munguia Gomez D 2021 I m just being honest When and why honesty enables help versus harm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 120 1 33 56 doi 10 1037 pspi0000242 PMID 32463271 S2CID 218977238 Archived from the original on 2021 04 13 Retrieved 2021 02 05 via APA PsycNet Honesty Merriam Webster 2017 Archived from the original on 2017 10 06 Honesty Oxford English Dictionary 2017 Archived from the original on 2017 10 06 Honest Oxford English Dictionary 2017 Archived from the original on 2016 09 28 External links edit nbsp Look up honesty in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Honesty Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Honesty amp oldid 1194521833, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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