Is Honesty Always the Best Policy - Essay Example

?Running head: ETHICS Is Deception Justified or is Honesty Always the Best Policy? Insert Insert Insert 18 March 2011 Ethics: Is Deception Justified or is Honesty Always the Best Policy? Introduction From time to time, people are faced with different ethical dilemmas that call for diligent actions in order to avoid having far-reaching repercussions, some of which may not be desirable. People should therefore be very careful on how they tackle the ethical dilemmas. In some instances, one is forced to take actions that are against the ethical code of conduct. This is mainly due to the fact that acting in an ethical manner would create tensions and problems that could easily have been avoided if the individual concerned did not act in an ethical manner. Among the main ethical issues, which various people faced with on a day-to-day basis, is whether to be deceptive or to be honest. Is deceptions justified or is honesty always the best policy? This paper will discuss the ethical dilemma in detail and give examples where both situations are favorable. Honesty and deception From an early age, people are taught that honesty is a virtue and that we will succeed if we continuously conduct ourselves in an honest manner as often as possible. However, it does not take long for people to realize that honesty does not always lead to success, as people who are most deceptive prosper on a daily basis throughout the world. This therefore leads people to have internal conflicts as to whether to adhere to the principle of honesty, since the urge to lie becomes greatly magnified (Dal Cero, 2009). All the great world religions teach that honesty is the desired virtue that all people must try to cultivate. They thus show honesty as being good. On the other hand, these religions teach that dishonesty and all its forms is a society vice and should therefore be discouraged. Thus, the religions paint dishonesty as being bad. Due to this, a person’s conscience is calmed if he/she is being honest. However, a person’s conscience is not at ease if he/she is being dishonest. The individual’s conscience is not usually at ease due to the possibility of damaging their reputation if they are discovered to have lied. In most instances, the individual comforts himself by the fact that the negative repercussions of telling the truth would be far much greater. Hence, by lying one avoids negative repercussions (Dal Cero, 2009). However, in most situations, the consequences of lying are much more complicated than their face value. Lying leads self-guilt, damage of the reputation and lack trust by other people should they discover that one was lying (Hall, 2010). Deception can be either verbal or non-verbal. In verbal deception, the individual willingly tells the other person information, which is generally not true. The individual may offer the misleading information in order to benefit from a certain situation. Non-verbal deception is a situation where the individual does actions that he wants to be interpreted in a way that is generally not true. Secrecy or the unwillingness of an individual to offer vital information willingly or upon request may also be considered as deception (Garner, n.d). Deception may also occur in the form of diversionary information. The individual may attempt to control the information that he/she offers and thus substitute the relevant information with information from another topic. By so doing, the individual attempts to reveal information he/she would like the listener to perceive as valuable, which is not the case (Turner, Edgley & Olmstead, 1975). Most people require that their friends and other people who they associate with are honest. However, people always leave room for some lies since the truth may sometimes be painful, hence making lies and pretence to be appropriate at certain times. Telling the truth at all times usually has dire consequences; for instance, imagine a situation where your wife asked you whether she looked fat in a certain dress when it was apparent that she looked fat. Of course, the individual would not answer to the question truthfully, as that may be hurtful. Main reasons as to why people are deceptive One of the main reasons that make people to lie is not to protect the perception that people have on themselves or other people. A person would therefore not offer information that would portray his friend in a bad light or information that may hurt his partner. Thus, the lie tends to maintain the positive social value, which a person has (Turner, Edgley & Olmstead, 1975). Deception may also be used to maximize, maintain, or terminate relationships. In any relationship, honesty, trust, and commitment are very valuable for the success of the relationship. However, in some instances, people may be tempted to be deceptive in order to enhance the progress of the relationship. This is mainly due to the reason that absolute honesty at certain stages of the relationship may adversely affect the relationship (Turner, Edgley & Olmstead, 1975). A person may also use deception to gain or maintain the power and control over other subjects. In such situations, the individual may be attempting to exploit the other party. The individual may also use deception to conceal information that may be used against him by the other party (Turner, Edgley & Olmstead, 1975). Situations that warrant the use of deception There are several situations where the repercussions of deception would be far less severe than if the individual told the absolute truth. The doctor-patient relationship is prone to several forms of deception from the doctor. Consider a situation where a woman is willing to donate his kidney to his father who is suffering from a kidney disease that can only be treated through a kidney transplant. Generally, a kidney transplant can be done to another person if the two are genetically related. Thus, should tests be carried and determine that the woman and the man are not genetically related yet the man has always perceived the woman as his daughter, the doctor would be faced with an ethical dilemma of disclosing the information to the two. However, should the doctor reveal the information, it would lead to social tension and further deterioration of the health of the man. Therefore, since the tests being done were not paternity tests, the doctor should conceal the information and offer other explanation as to why the kidney transplant would be rejected (Sokol, 2006). Situations warranting honesty Honesty is applicable in most situations. In the professional life, professional honesty is very important in order to maintain the confidence and trust of the individual concerned. Therefore, professionals should not offer conflicting information to different people especially if the people have contact with each and can share the information. Indeed, discovery of the deception would lead to reduced trust and confidence by the specific people. Conclusion Honesty is generally a virtue, which most people should try to cultivate. Most people are usually with the ethical dilemma as to whether to be honesty or offer deceptive information. Therefore, people should know the right time to be honest and when to control the information, which they have in order to avoid conflicts brought about the honesty. References Dal Cero, M.A. (2009). Is honesty really the best policy? Helium. Retrieved March 18, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/1503079-is-honesty-really-the-best-policy. Garner, R. (N.d). Truth, Lies and Non-duplicity. Retrieved March 18, 2011, from http://beyondmorality.com/truth-lies-and-nonduplicity/ Hall, N.B. (2010). Is honesty really the best policy? Helium. Retrieved March 18, 2011, from http://www.helium.com/items/1841405-honesty-is-the-best-policy Sokol, D.K. (2006). Truth-telling in the doctor–patient relationship: a case analysis. Clinical ethics. Retrieved March 18, 2011, from http://www.medicalethicist.net/documents/Caseanalysistruthtelling.pdf Turner, R., Edgley, C. & Olmstead, G. (1975). Information control in conversations: Honesty is not always the best policy. Kansas Journal of Sociology. Retrieved March 18, 2011 from: http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/6098/3/KJSV11N1A6.pdf Read More