:''Honesty'' is also the name of two plants; see ''Honesty (plant)''. Honesty, the quality of being honest, is a value which can be defined in multiple ways. In the context of human communication, people are generally said to be honest when they tell the truth to the best of their knowledge and do not hide what they know or think. Apart from being truthful, honesty is also generally thought to involve abstaining from unfair behaviour, such as stealing or cheating on a test. Some people think that this definition is too simplistic, or that it is specific to western culture. For example, some people think that not telling the truth is acceptable in some situations, and that persons who lie in such circumstances are not being dishonest. Examples of such situations are lying as a part of etiquette ("little white lies") or lying under grave risk of bodily harm to self or others. There are some that seek a much more comprehensive ethical certainty about what one says, such as Immanuel Kant. Some people think that education is especially important for the promotion of honesty, because they think that it is impossible to be considered honest without acquiring some terminology with which to state truth as understood by the society. In their opinion, ignorance can itself generate dishonesty. ==The opinions of Confucius about honesty== Confucius recognized several levels of honesty, fundamental to his ethics: His shallowest concept of honesty was implied in his notion of ''Li'': all actions committed by a person to build the ideal society - aiming at meeting their surface desires of a person either immediately (bad) or longer term (good). To admit that one sought immediate gratification could however make a bad act better, and to hide one's long term goals could cloud a good act. A key principle was that a "gentleman" must strive to convey his feelings honestly on his face, so that these could help each other coordinate for long term gain for all. So there was a visible relation between time horizon, etiquette and one's image of oneself even in the mirror. This generates self-honesty and keeps such activities as business calm, unsurprising, and aboveboard. In this conception, one is honest because it suits one's own self-interest only. Deeper than ''Li'' was ''Yi'' or righteousness. Rather than pursuing your own selfish interests you should do what is right and what is moral - based on reciprocity. Here too time is central, but as a time span: since your parents spent your first three years raising you, you spent three mourning them after they die. At this level one is honest about one's obligations and duty. Even with no one else to keep you honest or to relate to directly, a deeply honest person would relate to ancestors as if they were alive and would not act in ways that would make them ashamed. This was part of the moral code that included ancestor worship, but Confucius had made it rigorous. The deepest level of honesty was ''Ren'', out of which flowed Yi and thus Li. Confucius' morality was based upon empathy and understanding others, which required understanding one's own moral core first, rather than on divinely ordained rules, which could simply be obeyed. The Confucian version of the Golden Rule was to treat your inferiors as you would want your superiors to treat you. Virtue under Confucius is based upon harmony with others and a recognition of the honest reality that eventually (say in old age) one will come under the power of others (say one's children). So this level of honesty is to actually put oneself in context of one's whole life and future generations - and choose to do or say nothing that would not reflect one's family's honour and reputation for honesty and acceptance of truth, such as eventual death. Partially because of incomplete understanding of these deeper notions of honesty among Westerners, in China and Japan it is common to refer to those who do not have them as barbarians. While sometimes Asian cultures sanction an almost intolerable degree of delay and ambiguity for Western tastes, it is very often to avoid lying, or giving a positive impression where doubt exists. These would be thought dishonest by Asians. Thus pressing for a decision on a matter where it is not yet possible to give an honest commitment or answer is seen as extremely rude - in effect, forcing someone to choose to be either rude or dishonest. Both being unthinkable in traditional culture, one thus delays. == See also == * Blame * Intellectual honesty * Polygraph Core issues in ethics
== Neutrality == Goodness me, this article seems to have an axe to grind! What a bunch of blather! Can we please take another shot at it, this time from NPOV? I completely agree. :I have tried to make the introduction NPOV and have moved the Confucius material to a separate section. I have also removed the NPOV-tag. Please feel free to improve on the article, or put the tag back, if you think that it is still a bunch of blatter. User:Sietse Snel 20:31, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Does anyone else besides me see religion as dishonest? == Religion requires us to pretend that science doesn't matter, Christianity requires us to ignore that the bible contradicts itself all over the place, It requires us to use the bible as the source of truth rather than reasoning and the preponderance of evidence. I have never met a Christian who will take an honest position on it! Religious people act the very same as any criminal does when questioned, they refuse to discuss the contradictions or the ridiculous statements. One cannot honestly state that the bible is the divine word of god after finding out it advises you on how much to sell your daughter as a slave, or that people should be stoned to death for cursing their parents or working on sunday. Please what kind of a God do they worship? How can this be honest? They are so obsessed with being morally superior that they wont consider that the bible is fallible. CONFUCIUS ON HONESTY The description of Confucian honesty was good but belongs on the Confucian page. Self sacrifice can be considered dishonest if it is done to get you to heaven/nirvana etc. Honesty for the serving of self interest is fine if it is free from the initiation of force or initiation of fraud. Any further so-called 'honesty' is usually someone trying to yoke you into political or religious self sacrifice. : some religious people are definitely deshonest, others may be delusional == Definition suggestion == Honesty is to speak based on truth and fact/reality. User:211.75.249.236 05:46, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Honesty:
Honesty
Honesty
Honesty2
Honesty_(plant)
Honesty_(plant)
Honesty
:''Honesty'' is also the name of two plants; see ''Honesty (plant)''. Honesty, the quality of being honest, is a value which can be defined in multiple ways. In the context of human communication, people are generally said to be honest when they tell the truth to the best of their knowledge and do not hide what they know or think. Apart from being truthful, honesty is also generally thought to involve abstaining from unfair behaviour, such as stealing or cheating on a test. Some people think that this definition is too simplistic, or that it is specific to western culture. For example, some people think that not telling the truth is acceptable in some situations, and that persons who lie in such circumstances are not being dishonest. Examples of such situations are lying as a part of etiquette ("little white lies") or lying under grave risk of bodily harm to self or others. There are some that seek a much more comprehensive ethical certainty about what one says, such as Immanuel Kant. Some people think that education is especially important for the promotion of honesty, because they think that it is impossible to be considered honest without acquiring some terminology with which to state truth as understood by the society. In their opinion, ignorance can itself generate dishonesty. ==The opinions of Confucius about honesty== Confucius recognized several levels of honesty, fundamental to his ethics: His shallowest concept of honesty was implied in his notion of ''Li'': all actions committed by a person to build the ideal society - aiming at meeting their surface desires of a person either immediately (bad) or longer term (good). To admit that one sought immediate gratification could however make a bad act better, and to hide one's long term goals could cloud a good act. A key principle was that a "gentleman" must strive to convey his feelings honestly on his face, so that these could help each other coordinate for long term gain for all. So there was a visible relation between time horizon, etiquette and one's image of oneself even in the mirror. This generates self-honesty and keeps such activities as business calm, unsurprising, and aboveboard. In this conception, one is honest because it suits one's own self-interest only. Deeper than ''Li'' was ''Yi'' or righteousness. Rather than pursuing your own selfish interests you should do what is right and what is moral - based on reciprocity. Here too time is central, but as a time span: since your parents spent your first three years raising you, you spent three mourning them after they die. At this level one is honest about one's obligations and duty. Even with no one else to keep you honest or to relate to directly, a deeply honest person would relate to ancestors as if they were alive and would not act in ways that would make them ashamed. This was part of the moral code that included ancestor worship, but Confucius had made it rigorous. The deepest level of honesty was ''Ren'', out of which flowed Yi and thus Li. Confucius' morality was based upon empathy and understanding others, which required understanding one's own moral core first, rather than on divinely ordained rules, which could simply be obeyed. The Confucian version of the Golden Rule was to treat your inferiors as you would want your superiors to treat you. Virtue under Confucius is based upon harmony with others and a recognition of the honest reality that eventually (say in old age) one will come under the power of others (say one's children). So this level of honesty is to actually put oneself in context of one's whole life and future generations - and choose to do or say nothing that would not reflect one's family's honour and reputation for honesty and acceptance of truth, such as eventual death. Partially because of incomplete understanding of these deeper notions of honesty among Westerners, in China and Japan it is common to refer to those who do not have them as barbarians. While sometimes Asian cultures sanction an almost intolerable degree of delay and ambiguity for Western tastes, it is very often to avoid lying, or giving a positive impression where doubt exists. These would be thought dishonest by Asians. Thus pressing for a decision on a matter where it is not yet possible to give an honest commitment or answer is seen as extremely rude - in effect, forcing someone to choose to be either rude or dishonest. Both being unthinkable in traditional culture, one thus delays. == See also == * Blame * Intellectual honesty * Polygraph Core issues in ethics
Honesty
== Neutrality == Goodness me, this article seems to have an axe to grind! What a bunch of blather! Can we please take another shot at it, this time from NPOV? I completely agree. :I have tried to make the introduction NPOV and have moved the Confucius material to a separate section. I have also removed the NPOV-tag. Please feel free to improve on the article, or put the tag back, if you think that it is still a bunch of blatter. User:Sietse Snel 20:31, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Does anyone else besides me see religion as dishonest? == Religion requires us to pretend that science doesn't matter, Christianity requires us to ignore that the bible contradicts itself all over the place, It requires us to use the bible as the source of truth rather than reasoning and the preponderance of evidence. I have never met a Christian who will take an honest position on it! Religious people act the very same as any criminal does when questioned, they refuse to discuss the contradictions or the ridiculous statements. One cannot honestly state that the bible is the divine word of god after finding out it advises you on how much to sell your daughter as a slave, or that people should be stoned to death for cursing their parents or working on sunday. Please what kind of a God do they worship? How can this be honest? They are so obsessed with being morally superior that they wont consider that the bible is fallible. CONFUCIUS ON HONESTY The description of Confucian honesty was good but belongs on the Confucian page. Self sacrifice can be considered dishonest if it is done to get you to heaven/nirvana etc. Honesty for the serving of self interest is fine if it is free from the initiation of force or initiation of fraud. Any further so-called 'honesty' is usually someone trying to yoke you into political or religious self sacrifice. : some religious people are definitely deshonest, others may be delusional == Definition suggestion == Honesty is to speak based on truth and fact/reality. User:211.75.249.236 05:46, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
H
HA | HB | HC | HD | HE | HF | HG | HI | HJ | HK | HL | HM | HN | HO | HP | HR | HS | HT | HU | HW | HX | HY | HZ |Words begining with Honesty:
Honesty
Honesty
Honesty2
Honesty_(plant)
Honesty_(plant)
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
