Varieties of the Truth
In both the professional and non-professional worlds, truth is very important. The truth might come in forms like action or words, however, withholding the truth and spreading the truth also come into play.
Truth in Actions
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Often what we do and what we mean are often quite different. This happens because there is no set rule for defining your intentions. Let's say you have a rich uncle who always slips you some money every time you talk to him. Unfortunately, he tells the same story over and over and is quite boring. You always talk to him every time you see him just to get the money. Have you acted in truth? Your actions are clearly not single-minded like your uncle thinks. To project the true and right impression, we need to communicate our intentions verbally where necessary to explain what we do. Unfortunately, few concrete rules exist for when or how to do this. Supplementing actions with words is an important part of the craft of ethics. As with any craft, skill comes mainly with experience.
Truth in Words
- Just like truth in action, we often say and mean different things. This happens more often than not when words have multiple meanings or they are ambiguous. Let's say you just signed a lease for an apartment in which it says, "No animals are allowed." When you move into your apartment, you set up a nice aquarium with some pet fish. Are you breaking the lease? Obviously the lease meant no cats, dogs, or large messy loud animals. This principle can also be seen in the Internet case study. The word "indecent" is very ambiguous, and therefore there was much controversy surrounding this issue. Once again, to project the true and right impression, we need to indicate clearly what we mean by the words we use.
Withholding the Truth
- Outright lying is only one way to deceive others. Mental reservation involves withholding important information without actually lying. This can be seen in the Patent case study. Conrad purposely left out steps in a patent to keep others from copying his process. Of course his intent is not to be malicious, but it creates a system that prevents the spread of ideas.
Spreading the Truth
- The exact opposite of withholding the truth, spreading the truth, can be just as harmful in the professional setting. For example, if your company has a secrete process and somebody in your company decides to sell the it to a rival company, it can be very harmful, maybe devastating for your company. In an effort to limit this problem, some companies do not patent their ideas, instead, they keep it a trade secret. This strategy only works well as long as employees remain loyal and as long as those who leave the company do not tell what they know. Companies often try to ensure silence by asking departing employees to sign nondisclosure agreements or agreements not to work for competitors for some length of time.
