Morality just by itself be interpreted in few ways, one way is right or wrong. Another way can be quality or character. whereas to honesty it only has one true meaning and that’s being truthful , but when we put these words together “ the morality of honesty ’’ it tells us more than just a meaning , it makes us ask whether or not the quality we have within ourselves as a human beings is truly honest or not . In this following paper I will be arguing AGAINST about truth telling. We as human beings we often tend to do the right things not because we think it’s right or even we think there’s such a thing as right or wrong, but because we’re told its right. This goes same with truth telling, our society is filled with opinion it’s almost impossible to bring everyone on the same table, because everyone is so caught up in their way of thinking and that can make us to become defensive to even hear other peoples saying. I believe this ethical issue is important for discussion because majority of people see only one side of this issue. “The right side’’ when taking a stand in something we have to see both sides of the issue. By seeing both sides we can try to come with good solution, as our consequences really matters in the end.
The big purpose of Morality is to make the world a better place, but this doesn’t necessarily happen when we only left with one option. Telling a truth can’t be seen in the same balance as telling a lie. They’re both opinions from different human beings. The key difference is when we tell a lie the consequence of that action we took will most likely benefit us, for example A man came to your house asking the whereabouts of your friend, because he wants to kill him/her. What would you do? In a situation like this...
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... be able to apply to daily part of our life’’ the problem with this is that virtues ethics sees with the valves we’re given, we must be able to apply this valves as a duty .Nature gives us values, the difference is how we apply them to our lives. By telling the truth it won’t work because values aren’t just words filled with statements it’s a way to see the difference between good and better , being empty human being and knowledgeable . When we’re telling the truth we’re not using our values because if we do we’d think before we say one word we see both sides instead just take a straight line
I believe by being dishonest we can form a better society because we’re using our values to lead us to great and more knowledgeable society. The main point I want to make is that our values plays a huge role in our daily life and the wiser we use it the better it will be.
William Damon uses the classical rhetorical devices of logos, pathos and ethos to convince his audience of the urgency to address the decline of honesty. He provides a balanced assessment of the need for discretion in specific circumstance, the expectation of lying that leads to the decline in honesty, and the outright accommodation to cheat without consequence. By alluding to historical attitudes regarding honesty, Damon provides a vast background to support his thesis. His essay successfully evokes a response to this current situation of decline in honesty, and creates an urgent call for action to restore the virtue of honesty. As a society, the audience would likely agree with Damon that the virtue of honesty is fundamental to the success of democracy and we would desire to espouse to the protection of this jeopardized virtue.
Plato once said: “Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.” People are taught from a very young age never to lie or keep secrets. It would be easy for anyone to stand behind the argument: “Honesty is the best policy,” but in times of personal anguish, that decree is quickly disdained. What this argument fails to consider is that keeping a secret or lying is the justifiable in times of crisis.
Actions are either classified as right or wrong with no allowance for a gray area. Furthermore, the strict guidelines tend to conflict with commonly accepted actions. For example, lying is always considered morally wrong--even a “white lie.” Therefore, one must not lie even if it does more good. In our society although individuals accept lying as being morally wrong, “white lies” have become an exception.
What is the morality of a lie? Morality and ethics is a topic widely discussed in philosophy. There is a distinctive difference in the perspectives of ethics held by Kantians and those who hold a utilitarian view of ethics. Kantians believe that the ethical standpoint of a decision be made purely on the decision itself, whereas
Louden opens up his article with this statement “It is common knowledge by now that recent philosophical and theological writings about ethics reveals a marked revival of interest in the virtues. But what exactly are the distinctive features of a so-called virtue ethics? Does it have a specific contribution to make to our understanding of moral experience? Is there a price to be paid for its different perspective, and if so, is the price worth paying?” This opening statement gives us a taste of his thoughts about VE already. Louden goes to raise his objections. I will consider the objections he raises under the headings in his article, those being ‘Agents vs Acts’ , ‘Who is Virtuous’ , ‘Style over Substance’ , and ‘Utopianism’ .
...to lie on occasion as result of better results or to not harm the other person. For example, if a teenager does not tell his parents he snuck out and drove their car then he avoids punishment if he simply says he never went out. Also, if a girl does not like the dress her friend is wearing but still says she does, then she lies for the benefit of her friend rather than causing harm. Although people still lie, they are still able to act morally in accordance with universal law. Overall, I believe it depends on the circumstances and individual on whether or not humans are obligated to act morally because morality is for the sake of the individual while obligation would be for the sake of others or the community. As a result, rather than a moral “obligation” to act, it should be replaced by desire so that people would want to act a certain way instead of feeling forced.
Virtue ethics is a theory about finding our highest good and doing so will develop a vigorous character within each person. Character is important because it shows that a person has certain beliefs and desires in doing the right thing and when the right thing is accomplished, happiness follows (Hartman, 2006). Virtue ethics derives from Aristotle and he concludes that by doing virtuous acts all through life happiness and respectable character will develop (Morrison & Furlong, 2013). Finding the highest good within oneself brings happiness and great character to that individual.
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
1(a) The study of moral commitments is how DuBrin (2004) sees the definition of “ethics”. Determining what is accepted as right and wrong, serves as the foundation for determining what is the most viable option.
Admit it: You 've lied. We all have at some stage or point in our life. Whether you 're asserting your feelings, getting it off your chest or just being plain and distinctly honest, the truth about honesty is that honesty isn 't always the best artery of choice. What 's more, striving on the avenue of complete disclosure can drive an unwanted wedge and result in permanent closure on a relationship. Today, the consequences of lying are often veiled from reality, the unvarnished truth is, we don 't need weapons to fatally hurt those closest to us as the act can be equally carried out with the sharp verbal cuts of a truthful tongue.
Honesty is a characteristic that everyone should possess. However, being honest is a difficult task for many people. Living honestly means allowing a person’s true self to be exposed to others. Honesty is considered owning up to one’s wrongdoings and not lying, cheating, or stealing. Being honest is a trait that many people believe is obsolete. Even though every person interprets honesty differently, it all stems back to telling the truth. Being honest allows a person to earn respect from their peers. Honesty is allowing oneself to be completely exposed by being truthful.
I walked along the sidewalk during my sophomore year with my good friends from Marching Band. Friendships were really important to me We all wore our long black rain jackets: “Governor Mifflin Marching Band” was written in maroon inside of the pointed hoods. We walked in unison, the cold wind chilled our noses as we huddled together.
I agree with the statement "honesty is the best policy". People will be able to trust people who are honest, liars will have rumors spread around about them, and it's just plain easier to tell the truth. Nobody likes people who lie all the time and won't know whether to trust them or not. People get annoyed by people who lie a lot.
Secondly, it is okay to be untruthful if you are trying to protect people. In certain situations, it is safer, and more practical for you to tell a lie rather than putting a loved one in jeopardy. To illustrate you may be in a situation where you are in a serious or dangerous situation, and you do not what anyone else involved, to keep them safe. For example, if you are getting held up for ransom, would you tell the truth to a loved one and get them involved, or lie and keep them safe? The obvious answer is to keep them safe at all costs, even if it means lying. Also, you do not want to put someone in harm’s way, so it would be ...
Every day we are confronted with questions of right and wrong. These questions can appear to be very simple (Is it always wrong to lie?), as well as very complicated (Is it ever right to go to war?). Ethics is the study of those questions and suggests various ways we might solve them. Here we will look at three traditional theories that have a long history and that provide a great deal of guidance in struggling with moral problems; we will also see that each theory has its own difficulties. Ethics can offer a great deal of insight into the issues of right and wrong; however, we will also discover that ethics generally won’t provide a simple solution on which everyone can agree (Mosser, 2013).