Why Should We Be Honest: Revisited

Well I had a couple of well-placed objections to my first post about the nature of honesty from Jason and Martin. Jason's objection gets to the heart of the issue, so I will post that here. (Martin, I'd be happy to discuss the reasons why honesty matters metaphysically to an atheist further, though I think I will inevitably brush upon that in my response here anyway).

From Jason:

Rand's selfish justification of honesty suffers from a critical shorortcoming: It is a rationalization. To affirm that a prudent person will not want to be deceived about reality is easy; segueing to the need not to deceive others simply begs the question: How does misleading others constitute a flight from reality—indeed, how is it intrinsically different from any other kind of strategic behavior? This segue is a virtual change of subject in mid-argument. In her 1971 essay "Lying in Politics" Hannah Arendt provocatively but perceptively points out that a liar, to be effective, has to have a clearer and more-textured view of reality than those misled. Steve himself notes Smith's example of the "very effective liar" who is not caught in the lie, and thus does not face the consequences (merely the implications); this really is the last word on the subject as far as "faking reality" is concerned. In a complex or consequential lie one must improvise brilliantly; one could however invoke the metaphor of sailing the open seas in stormy weather: You take your chances—but what does that necessarily have to do with delusion?

I have to conclude that Rand's reduction of all dishonesty to mere delusion is simply an effort to rationalize the customary profession of honesty in "enlightened self-interest" language. Like most attempts to induce moral staples from "enlightened self-interest," this can only be accomplished by begging the question with a better sob story.

Your objection is fair based on the amount of material I divulged in my post.

Let's bring this to the concrete level with an example. Based on your objection, I will deal here with the concept of the successful habitual liar, as opposed to the generally truthful person who permits himself occasional deceptions or white lies. (The subject of white lies requires another train of thought, which I'd be happy to share should it come up. As a note of interest, I was only recently fully acclimated to the idea of not allowing oneself to tell white lies).

(I am borrowing this general example from Leonard Peikoff. He discusses this example in Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand). Suppose I were to apply to a job with a resume and educational history that is entirely falsified so that I can be certain to acquire the position. Suppose that I am expected to act upon my skill qualifications that I embellished in my resume. Suppose that your boss is good friends with the Dean of Admissions at the school you pretended to go to, and he does not remember ever seeing your name. Suppose that your wife inquires about how you managed to get a job of this kind. This one lie will, in short order, spiral into a system of lies that become harder and harder to maintain.

Obviously, the response to this line of reasoning is that the individual in question should simply do a better job of lying (as you noted). Clearly he was clumsy, and understandably caught in his poorly conceived lies.

However, I'd like to submit to you that this pattern must be extended to any other example of dishonesty. Regardless of the degree of my initial lie, and regardless of how effectively I have covered up the truth, I will always be faced with the threat of being discovered. Every person I interact with is a threat to me, in that they may shatter my web of lies. Inevitably, I must become suspicious of everyone around me and constantly work to maintain the lies. Indeed, such a pattern would ultimately shatter any valuable relationships with other people.

But more importantly, what have I done to my self-esteem in this process of deceit? By obtaining the job through deception, have I actually achieved something? Have I earned a value as the result of my own, actual worth? Or, am I trying to fake it? From that point on I have set reality against my interests: it is now my enemy. I must continually ignore the truth of reality in favor of my fantasy in the attempt to preserve the faked sense of self-worth from my "accomplishment."

Ultimately, the most important principle is that reality is absolute. It exists regardless of our intentions, desires, and best wishes. Any attempt to pretend that reality is what it is not is utterly futile for this reason. Even if we are dealing with very practiced liars, the fact of the matter remains that it is impossible for the self-deception to succeed. And what I mean by that is, even if they have everyone around them fooled at the moment, they have not actually accomplished what they are pretending in fact. Sure, the most practiced liars will have accumulated a variety of material possessions, even companions. But it is all a fantasy. And, at what cost have they "achieved" this status?

I have a feeling that at this point, you are not yet satisfied with this answer. There is one crucial piece of the puzzle missing. Where do values come from? At root, we are debating whether a person can invent values through self-deception or not. Rand identified three suggested sources of value in the history of philosophy. First there's the concept of intrinsic value, that is, the value of a thing is literally in the thing itself, and this is impressed upon us by our passive experience of it. Another possibility is the concept of subjective value. Values do not exist in things, but rather are the creation of individual minds imprinted upon things of our artificial choosing. (I would think by now that you are starting to see the connection to the problem of universals).

The final option is the concept of objective value. An object is valuable in relation to another object's nature for a particular end. Food is of value in relation to the requirements of human existence towards the end of continued living. Were we not living beings, food would be of absolutely no consequence. I cannot delude myself into thinking that a rock is an objective value towards the end of receiving sustenance in order to continue living, because that is not the nature of reality. The point is, objective values cannot be faked. Self-deception is the attempt to turn a subjective value into objective, and on the basis of Rand's metaphysics, must inevitably fail.

Going back to the original example, sure, I've obtained some material possessions, but what have I really gained? Based on all of the problems associated with maintaining the lie with others alone, I've lost in the long-term. But more importantly, what have I really achieved for myself? I haven't improved my ability to create, I haven't developed my skills relevant to this job, I haven't actually done anything, except attempt to improve my ability to deceive myself. There is ultimately no long-term benefit from turning reality into my enemy, since it is absolute. I cannot succeed in artificially creating an objective value through self-deception. Thus, it makes all the prudential sense in the world to be entirely honest with myself, and with those around me.