An Objectivist Approach to Honesty Over White Lies

Abstract

I want to begin with the moral judgement that “honesty” is an “objective value” and in this essay about honesty I argue against the beliefs of others that white lies are considered as a good practice since it only deals with good intention. Through objectivism approach, which is the approach to morality as empirical judgements. I provide my arguments and responses to prove that honesty is morally acceptable value and that it can be proven as true. This paper implies three parts in which in the first part I present the moral value and the arguments. On the second part, however, presented there are the objections and claims that can possibly prove that honesty is not an objective value and that white lies are very acceptable to society. And on the third part, I answers to the objections and arguments by supporting my claims and providing a conclusion for generalization. 

Introduction

Honesty is an important part in everyday lives. It is a giver of a fuctual information that presents a realistic assessment of people experiences without being overprotective regarding problems or overly optimistic. It means that honesty is an essential value in science 'in human's research activities, interpersonal relationships, and communication', which lead individuals not to appear to be more than who they are, nor pretend to know more than they do. “Honesty” is the refusal to fake 'reality to pretend that facts are other than they are'. It can be described as the flip side of rationality: Whereas rationality is the commitment to think, judge, and act with respect to the relevant facts, honesty is the commitment not to do otherwise. In her quotation, it is said that being truthful or honest does not support the idea of falsifying something whether the intention is good nor bad. It is in contrary with the idea of Field that says white lies are considered to be for beneficial purposes. Here she believed that being totally honest in some cases are being rude, or offensive and that white lies are a sign of civility. These are what scientists call “prosocial lies” falsehoods told for someone else's benefit, as opposed to “antisocial lies” that are told strictly for one's own personal gain. Hence, while other people are considering white lies to be justified, we cannot still take away the reality that through that practice people, especially the children and the youth now a days learned not to be truthful even in their very young age. According to psychologist Robert Feldman of the University of Massachusetts Amherst “white lies” do have consequences and that the danger of telling them is they lead us toward being more dishonest. That is the very first reason why it is required for us to be honest and that honesty should be considered as an objective value that all people should acquired for them to be able to live in accordance to the law of nature and to the law of God. As honesty is not just about telling the truth. It is living in an authentic life with reasonable mannesrs. Honesty is an Objective Value When we talk about objective value it is something to deal with value that everybody needs. Something that are necessary to the life of every person. Thus, everyone needs honesty, therefore, honesty is an objetive value. It is not something that people should choose in particular whether to have this in their lives or not or just by simply depending on their feelings and thoughts. Honesty is not like that. It is a thing that we should have to gain wisdom. As what Thomas Jefferson says, 'Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom'. More than that, God wants us to be honest always. 

God says, 'You ought to know that God likes those who are honest. In substance, God is faithful, and so His words can always be trusted; His actions, furthermore, are faultless and unquestionable, which is why God likes those who are absolutely honest with Him'. He means that an honest person is a person who live his life in an unquestionable life.

Aditionally, D.B. Resnik, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences in 2001, give importance to honesty as a main requirements in presenting data and researches which people use in getting knowledge and information in medicine, science, physics, and other elements. There, he stated that honesty implies a general prohibition against falsifying, fabricating, or misrepresenting data, results, or other types of information pertaining to scientific publication. Thus, they give evidences that honesty is not just about people's feeling and choices, rather it is a source a everyhting that people learned in the internet, in books, magazines, and other sources of information that they use in everyday lives for survivals. 

Moreover, the traits that belong to the honest include sincerity, fairness, modesty, and lack of greed. Likewise, honesty-humility is a basic personality trait representing 'the tendency to be fair and genuine in dealing with others, in the sense of cooperation with others even when one might exploit others without suffering retaliation'. 

Objections to Honesty as an Objective Value 

Many experts prove that honesty is not an objective value. They always believe that honesty is purely subjective and that it only depends on individuals choice and emotion so as white lies, if someone believes that what they feel is in truth, then it is acceptable for all. It is in accordance with what Mwedstwood says in 2011. He stated that a person is honest if he or she is forthright and tells what he or she believes is true. In this case, honesty can be proven as subjective and not an objective value. 

Honesty within Trutfullness According to Schimmel, honesty has to do with what we believe. If we believe that what were saying is true, then we are being honest. However, if we will focus on that definition, how can we justified the fact that thruth is objective and universally accepted and testified by all. With that, instead, white lies are considered to be acceptable as long as we believe it as true and as beneficial for many.

Honesty as Purely Subjective

Another expert who says that honesty is purely subjective yet believeing that truth is objective is Shakespeareguru. She stated that honesty is much more subjective and depends upon the integrity and intention of the speaker. 

Honesty vs. Truth vs. White Lies

Similarly, Teegarden claimed that honesty is influenced by personal feelings and opinions, and it makes honesty a subjective value. Here, people can choose wheter to wear honesty or to do the other way around. Thus, white lies is driven within the point of view of a person depending on their intentions and if it helps other people somehow. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology in 2020, found that 'children who told prosocial lies had higher performance on measures of working memory and inhibitory control'. This especially helped them to control “leakage” a psychologist's term for inconsistencies in a fake story. Hence, it is justified how honesty was being trapped by practicing white lies, and truth makes honesty subjective as what the experts were claiming. 

Reply to the Objections

So if a person will really consider honesty as subjective value, heshe cannot also says that truth is objective for honesty and truthfullness cannot be separated. They should always be put together into action as when someone is honest, heshe is also being truthful. 

Honesty Overcomes White Lies

If honesty is just by saying what we just believe, how can a person be truthfull and ignore the idea of embracing white lies? If Mwedstwood in 2011 claimed that honesty can be justified as just by stating what we believe as true, then people can simply says that white lies can also be an option in everyday lives since it is said that prosocial lies are intended to benefit others and that it can actually build trust between people. Hence, it is actually unreasonable, in the sense that, in every aspects of human's life, honesty is a required value for all individuals. Without honesty in objectively manner, people will not learn and gain factual information that they need for survival. Scientist cannot solve the problem of people in medicine, physics, ethics, and other valuable subject matter without it.

Honesty is ot Much about Feelings, it is a Commandment

In addition to that, honesty is a universal needs. It is not much about the feelings of individuals. It is actually a reflection of people characters, it is also a way to show one's faith. In the Bible, God made honesty one of his commandments. Since God cannot lie, He sets the example for all of His people. So as a commandments, people should follow it and not just simply choose whether to have it or not. 

Honesty Over White Lies

Another idea proving that honesty is an objective value is the definition of objective value it self and white lies are in contrary with it. According to Jasuja, Sehgal,& Bansal, objective value is fact-based, measurable and observable. Hence, honesty of a person can be measured based on facts and observable variables, therefore it is objective and not subjective. Telling honestly, does not always support one's feeelings and emotions as what white lies always do. Telling honestly does not support the idea of having white lies, because those kind of lies are most likely similar to black lieS. They both have consequences, unlike telling with honesty and telling the truth based on factual information and datas. Objectively, it is acceptable by all people in society. 

Conclusions

Generally, people cannot always prove that a value with a feeling is purely subjective because sometimes it's actually a need that others just forgot to have. Hence, honesty is a requirement and a commandment of God and it is also based on human's natural law, so therefore, it's objective as the truth. When someone is purely honest, heshe does not wear white lies as an armor over other's benefit. As what the bible says in Leviticus 19:11, “You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another”, in any form, so white lies is a sin and not a solution. Each and everyone should be objectively honest in all means and in all ways. “Lying lips are ian abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his deligh”.