Honesty a moral value.
Honesty is the quality of honest. Therefore, the word refers to one who is decent , decorous , modest , modest , reasonable , fair , upright , upright or honest , as detailed in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) .
In other words, honesty - which comes from the Latin term honestĭtas - constitutes a human quality that consists of behaving and expressing oneself with sincerity and consistency , respecting the values of justice and truth .
Principles of honesty
Honesty cannot be based on people's own desires . Acting honestly requires an attachment to the truth that goes beyond intentions. A man cannot act according to his own interests , for example ignoring information, and be considered honest.
Specifically, we can determine that honesty is a human value that means that the person not only respects himself but also the rest of his peers. Without forgetting other fundamental characteristics that are associated with this quality such as frankness and, of course, truth .
Key element of relationships
All of this leads to the establishment that possessing honesty is something essential in the nature of the human being as it becomes a key piece in all types of relationships . Thus, it is axis in friendship, within the family, in a love relationship and likewise in any type of social bond.
For any of these relationships to work, they must be developed within the framework of honesty and not falsehood , injustice or pretense. What this value that concerns us does is contribute to affection, trust , love and sincerity.
Acting honestly requires respect for others.
Levels of honesty according to Confucius
The Chinese philosopher Confucius ( 551 BC – 479 BC ) has distinguished between three levels of honesty . At a more superficial level (called Li ), it includes the actions that a person takes with the aim of fulfilling their own desires, both in the short and long term, but demonstrating sincerity.
A deeper level is the Yi , where the actor does not seek his own interest but rather the moral principle of justice , based on reciprocity.
Finally, the deepest level of honesty is Ren , which requires prior self-understanding to understand others. This level implies that a man should treat those at a lower level on the social ladder in the same way that he would like those higher up to treat him.
A Blanton book
Among the most interesting books that currently exist on the market to further study the value or quality at hand is the one titled “Radical honesty. Transform your life by telling the truth . In 2008 , psychologist Brad Blanton published this work in which he tries to show the reader how the stressful situation that can be reached at certain times is due to the lies that someone tells their boss, their friends or their partner. family.
Therefore, he recommends that the way to end this stress is to commit to honesty: that is, to be sincere and say what you think and also what you feel.
Honesty can be associated with authenticity.
Examples of honesty
Take the case of a man who, after having lunch at a restaurant, asks for the bill to pay for his drink. When he receives the ticket, he notices that they have forgotten to charge him for the drink . The customer, behaving ethically , points out the omission to the waiter. It can be said that, thanks to his honesty, the subject acted with rectitude and integrity : he did not hesitate to give notice of the oversight even though this meant that he would have to pay more.
Let's now think about an employee who is congratulated by his boss for an achievement that, in reality, was the merit of a colleague. Demonstrating respect for his colleague and his nobility , and based on the importance of fair treatment , the worker indicates that the congratulations should not be for him.
Another example of honesty is found in a journalist who, with moral integrity , admits having published a news story that turned out to be false. This communication professional has the fortitude to admit his mistake, even knowing that it can bring him a lot of problems. His thinking is that recognizing mistakes that were made without intention or ill will is always valuable.
Just as credibility is very important for a journalist, it is also very important for a political leader. That is why accepting mistakes or that objectives were not met is difficult, although necessary for decency and honorability . Thus, a mayor can honestly express that in the first year of his mandate he did not manage to improve the quality of life of the population, as he had promised during the electoral campaign. However, he immediately adds that he will continue working seriously and with effort to achieve a course correction and achieve the high standards he had set. It is likely that the community, faced with this panorama, values that attitude.