Quote:
Originally Posted by Cran  I did't read the book, but the underlying (did I spell that right?) question seems to be: Is it allowable to be dishonest? For whatever reason, for gain, for fun.
Honesty and dishonesty are moral values.
Morality can only be justified by a higher being (i.e.: God (in any form, a higher power) set the values, so we have to follow them) OR by arguing that we have to follow the standards of our culutre to obtain happiness/peace and maintain the functionality of the said culture.
If you argue with the higher being, then it wouldn't be allowable to be dishonest in any way... unless you would deliberately try to be the bad guy and harm yourself and/or others.
If you argue with culture, then dishonesty would not be bad per se, but only the negative effects of dishonesty would be shunned by the people around you. So it would come down to: Dishonesty is allowed as long as you profit from it and not get caught.
As our society dislikes dishonesty, people who are openly dishonest would suffer rejection and be unhappy. People who have incorporated the believe that dishonesty is bad and act against it would also suffer personal remorse. |
I think that regardless of moral consequences, dishonesty is probably one of the major causes of stress amongst people.
The thought of being caught with "their pants down" has left many people with sleepless nights.
One could argue that perhaps business to some extent does require a degree of... umm... deception shall we say.
But if someone goes into business intending to be (ahem) deceptive at any time it suits them, than you're just setting up a dishonest business. Compared to someone who went into business and intended to make his business as honestly as possible, and therein perhaps he slipped up a few times but still tried to be honest...
(Although as I go further along the book, amongst all the crap there are some very good points.)