Honesty

Honesty is the human quality of communicating and acting truthfully. It is related to truth as a value. This includes listening, and any action in the human repertoire – as well as speaking.

Superficially, honesty means simply, stating facts and views as best one truly believes them to be. It includes both honesty to others, and to oneself and about ones own motives and inner reality.

Quality of honesty applies to all behaviors. One cannot refuse to consider factual information, for example, in an unbiased manner and still claim that one’s knowledge, belief, or position is an attempt to be truthful. Such a belief is clearly a product of one’s desires and simply has nothing to do with the human ability to know. Basing one’s positions on what one wants – rather than unbiased evidence gathering – is dishonest even when good intentions can be cited – after all even villains could cite good intentions and intended glory for a select group of people. Clearly then, an unbiased approach to the truth is a requirement of honesty.

Because intentions are closely related to fairness and certainly affect the degree of honesty/dishonesty, there is a wide spread confusion about honesty. There is also a general belief that we always realize when we are dishonest. However, self-perception of our morals is non-static. It’s often at the moment we refuse to consider other perspectives that there is a clear indication we are not really interested in the truth and therefore dishonest. Socrates had much to say about truth, honesty and morality, and explained that if people really understood that their behavior was wrong – then they simply wouldn’t choose it. Furthermore, the more dishonest someone is, the less likely they are to understand honesty and characterize their behavior as wrong. Unfortunately, honesty and morality have been marginalized to specific lists of behaviors that change over time(like fashion). The understanding that honesty requires an unbiased approach to the truth and to evidence gathering at all times, collides with ideologies of all types. This would explain why honesty, although talked about a lot– has failed to become a cultural norm. Ideologies and idealism inherently exaggerate and suppress evidence in order to support their perspectives. They essentially tell us that their way is the only right way to view the world. This erodes the practice and understanding of honesty and creates ongoing conflicts in all human relationships.

BUT in my view in todays era ,it has certain limitations.we can deal honesty with honest people.But we will be troubled if we deal honesty with the dishonest people.So there is a saying “tit for tat”.to deal honesty with the dishonest people may be very idealistic but not practical.it is quite impracticable.but one should be honest as far as possible in the modern society.

Honesty is avirtue.if all people become honest,then our society will be an ideal society.the students should try to be honestin their day to day life.