Is it ethical to mask your true emotions in order to get along with others? Essay

fair playfulness is the best policy. Or is it not? As children, we were taught that neary is regulateing the equity straightforward. We were told that it is world sincere, genuine, trustworthy, loyal, and fair. We were taught to tell the truth at all times, despite consequences. Our parents taught us to do our own homework, keep a friends secret, return stuff we found, and keep our promises. But as we grew older, the linage between the truth and falsehood started to blur. We began to tell and accept half-truths.We began to resort to telling white lies to get out of potentially disastrous situations. We are confronted normal by basic issues of honesty. If a opus is forbidden by his wife to smoke, should he confess that he took a few sticks from his buddys pack when they were at the bar earlier that night? Is it real imperative that he do so when he only smoked two, whitethornbe three, cigarettes? Does he live to be completely honest with his wife or can he get away with som ething that unnoticeable?If you are anti-Bush and attending a formal dinner where every single person at your tabularise is pro-Bush, should you be completely honest and let everyone know your sentiment, at the risk of alienating yourself? Or should you relieve your Bush-bashing for another time and another place? Should you just go along with the conversation and act oblivious towards the topic? As Saki (1929) said, A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation. But is this ethical? Or must honesty always reign supreme? Some people, institutions, and dogmas bolster the virtue of being completely, straightforwardly honest.But is it not also square that sometimes people who are brutally honest find more satisfaction from being brutal than from being honest? The philosopher Immanuel Kant claimed that the telling of a truth is the perfect duty. He said that it cannot be superseded by other values not scour the concern for the life of a friend or the loyalty to someone we love. He insisted that the act of assembly is always incorrect morally. However, many scholars have found Kants philosophy to be too uttermost(prenominal) and self-serving. In the book On Moral Grounds, moral philosophers Daniel Maguire and A.Nicholas Fargnoli (1991) state, Very simply, Kant would not be the man you would wish to stand between you and someone intent on murdering you at least if Kant knew where you were. Furthermore, Maguire and Fargnoli (1991) refer to Kants stand on lying to explore the restrictions of universal moral principles. They write, Universalization is an unrealistic and inaccurate abstraction that passes over the fact that thither are exceptions to valid moral principles. Also, To protect other values, like the life of an intend victim or a legitimate secret, exceptions to truth-telling must be made. In her book Lying, philosopher Sissela Bok (1978) says, The also-ran to look at an entire practice rather than at their own isolated case much b linds liars to cumulative malign and expanding deceptive activities. Those who begin with white lies can come to resort to more ghost and more serious ones The aggregate harm from a large number of marginally harmful instances may, therefore, be highly undesirable in the end for liars, those deceived, and honesty and trust more generally. For the author, there is danger in all acts of lying because there is a possibility that the telling of even the smallest of lies may affect coarse discourse. She emphasizes that lies have a tendency to spread. Lies, even the most seemingly insignificant ones, can gravel and affect other aspects of our lives. Nowadays, most people are utilitarians when it comes to the topic of honesty. White lies are okay because they probably dont hurt anyone only we avoid outright lies that have the possibility of offending or harming others. However, the utilitarian attitude to truthfulness has to have its limitations.As author Austin OMalley said, Those who think it is tolerable to tell white lies soon grow color-blind. Telling a white lie -like reassure a sick person that he looks much better when, in fact, he doesnt- is alright but if it becomes a habit, there could be dire consequences. A person may lose credibility and attentiveness from his partner, family or friends. Masking ones true emotions to keep the peace in a sealed situation or in commit to get along with others can be ethical, but there are limits to how far you can go with faking how you really feel.There is a very fine line between truth and fiction, between lies and white lies. Even the Bible makes this distinction. The commandment does not say, Thou shalt not lie instead, it says, Thou shalt not bear false witness. This means that lies that do not cause harm for example, telling the hostess that a meal she made is really peachy when it was, in fact, absolutely horrible- is acceptable. In this instance, the lie is told to make the person feel better about he rself and to show appreciation for her efforts.Here, the lie was rattling made in attempt to do something salutary. However, a lie that could have grave consequences such as when a person who has caused damages to his neighbors property does not admit that he did so to avoid having to pay for the cost of repairs- is a sin. To mask ones true feelings in order to get along with others is fine as long as a person keeps to the boundaries and the motivation shadower the lie or the masking of the truth is valid. Another consideration would be the frequency with which the person disguises his true opinions or feelings.If done too often, the person could risk losing his sense of self and authenticity. In The Critic as Artist, Oscar Wilde (1905) says that a little bit of sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great ingest of it is absolutely fatal. For people in relationships, he may have a point. Honesty may not be the best policy when we are hiding aspects of ourselves from the other pe rson, when we do not want to be revealed, to be known completely. Honesty may not be the best policy when we do not want to get into trouble or when we are avoiding conflict.Honesty may not be the best policy when we are trying to spare the others feelings, when we do not want the other to feel hurt or disappointed. In a relationship, people may tell lies because they cerebrate that it is the kind thing to do. Robert Brault once said that, Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for am I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. dread lies, which are intended for anothers benefit, are usually made under these kinds of circumstances.But turn the motivation behind this type of lie may seem valid, there are still those who deal that the concept is flawed. Critics of utilitarianism say that people often poorly estimate the consequences of their actions or specifically undervalue or ignore the harmful consequences to society (e. g. , mistrust) that th eir lies cause (Mazur, 1993). Also, the concept of lying for the sake of a greater good may cause a further blurring of the line between moral justifications supporting the greater good and empty excuses.