The importance of honesty runs deeply throughout human nature. One of the most common manifestations of honesty has to do with money. Mark Twain, one of the famed American cynics, wrote that “honesty is the best policy – when there is money in it.” When there is a financial (or other material) incentive, people tend to be more likely to be honest. However, building a track record of dishonesty can be corrosive to the soul; in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the entire course of the story centers around being honest about one’s inner pain instead of concealing it. The renegade Vulcan Sybok has gathered an army of followers who are devoted to him because he has helped them deal with their emotional pain, bringing them happiness. Looking at the reasons for their pain, instead of stuffing it down inside their subconscious, has given them a new sense of clarity. This connection between honesty and the state of the soul is nothing new, though. In Plato’s Republic and Apology, the link between the two is a major area of discussion, both in terms of establishing the necessary trust for a sound political entity, and in terms of keeping the individual soul in balance.
In Plato’s Republic, Book III discusses the progression of evil in the soul. In a discussion about the nature of those who prefer litigation over the personal resolution of disputes, this image of the wily man emerges: “when you consider that there is a further stage of the evil in which man is not only a life-long litigantbut is actually led by his bad taste to pride himself on his litigiousness; he imagines that he is a master in dishonesty; able to take every crooked turn, and wriggle into and out of every hole.” While the legal system does have its purposes, the implication that an honest and authentic way to resolve disputes is more beneficial for the condition of the human soul. Note here that the person described takes an odious pleasure in being litigious – actually being proud of the number of legal actions that he can bring. While one has a difficult time imagining that the Greek legal system could be as expensive and time-consuming as the modern American one, the purpose of litigation has always been linked closely to a search for loopholes, to the manipulation of the meanings of the words, to the wringing of every drop of possibility from technicalities, all so that one can prevail in a matter, whether it is one of honor, reputation, money, or property. The transformation is vivid, as the person appears to change into some sort of reptile or burrowing mammal, slithering in and out of every possible hiding place in order to carry the day. The life of this sort of animal is not a pleasant one, always having to flee one’s pursuers; it is difficult indeed to imagine that this person has a soul that is content. Instead, the implication is that people should work together to find a resolution for their disputes, instead of using a system put in place to help people who cannot or will not agree for one’s own personal profit and advantage. This aspect of the legal system remains an area of frustration for many, even in modern times.
Another aspect of the importance of honesty appears later in Book III, as the comparison of the naïve youth and the perennially dishonest person appears. The speaker argues that “the honorable mind which is to form a healthy judgment should have had no experience or contamination of evil habits when young. And this is the reason why in youth good men often appear to be simplebecause they have no examples of what evil is in their own souls” (Plato). This reflects the same truism that is behind the cliché “stealing candy from a baby” – the innocent are much easier to deceive, because the ideas of lying and trickery have not yet occurred to them. Those who live by the virtue of the lie, on the other hand, are well versed in it – and expect it to happen. The idea behind this quotation is that, to be a good judge, one should grow up away from the habits of lying and dishonesty, as those contaminate the mind, making it unable to see evil when it appears in an implicit form. Because the young (ideally) are raised in an environment that emphasizes the importance of honesty, they expect to find honesty in the people that they encounter. When they run into dishonesty, it does them an emotional and mental injury; first, there is the pain of betrayal, because their expectations for human behavior have been broken. Second, though, is the mental lesson that lying is a possible (and even beneficial) method of dealing with a situation. Once the youth learns that lying is not only possible but can actually be helpful – and occur without consequence – the future moral decisions that the youth makes will always have a different calculus. The youth will never again approach moral decisions in the same way, because the possibility of using a lie for solving a problem, which had not previously been an option, is now a choice. Even if, going forward, the youth is taught that lying is wrong – and even if the youth agrees that lying is wrong – it will still be a possibility that will color his ethical decision-making processes.
In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is the speaker, and the occasion is his impending death. Condemned for having corrupted the youth of Athens and for having refused to honor the gods that the state recognized, Socrates is protesting his sentence. He feels that the city is mistreating him; he asks:
What return shall be made to the man who has never had the wit to be idle during his whole life; but has been careless of what the many care for—wealth, and family interests, and military offices, and speaking in the assembly, and magistracies, and plots, and parties. (Plato)
Works Cited
Plato. The Apology. . Web.
Plato. The Republic. . Web.
