A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Death of Honesty” by William Damon

Sissela Bok’s book, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life examines many aspects of moral and ethical influence, and the effects of lying, on individuals and corporations in various walks of life. Each chapter discusses a specific form that lying can take and describes how it intertwines with daily life. Bok’s arguments are grounded, in comprehensive research, tempered with a philosophical treatment, and rendered through the lens of critical thought. To ensure that readers are able to relate to the material, Bok employs social norming to make each chapter easier to grasp. To do this, each chapter is prefaced with two or three quotes, from a wide variety of sources that provides insight

By saying, “dishonestly if we can, honestly if we must,” the authors speak to the more questionable or unethical practices that were occurring during the era. Political corruption was rampant. Big companies used their wealth and power to influence legislation and legislators to support favorable policies. Many politicians had direct ties to businesses that today we could call a conflict of interest. Some directed companies, or held stock in them, or received salaries from them. These politicians would then support policies that benefited the companies and their own

Co-founder of think-tank Demos, David Callahan, in his nonfiction book, The Cheating Culture, presents how cheating has become a prevalent influence in American society. Callahan’s purpose is not to shame Americans for breaking the law for a minimal profit, but rather, he intends to eliminate the underlying cause of cheating, which is the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. He adopts a sympathetic tone in order to appeal to similar feelings and experiences in his widespread readers.

There are several occasions in one’s life that he should have spoken up or had not said a lie to where it hurt another, yet the fact is, he is only human and everyone is guilty of making these choices. Why does this become habitual? Is it because integrity is holding him back? These questions are always hard to answer, because no one really thinks about integrity, honesty, or the need to speak up. William Buckley and Stephanie Ericsson, however, do address these topics with a huge amount of thought and purpose. Buckley and Ericsson, under the thematic concept of ethics, have valid points concerning ethics within their rhetoric and style.

In the article “Three Good Men,” Jonathan Schell explains if a person notices an act that they do

In the non-fiction book, The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead by David Callahan the author criticizes the economic world. In the beginning parts of Callahan’s work, he specifically pin-point when cheating started to become an uncommon factor is succeeding. He reflects on as far back as Greek and Romans who were fined for cheating. In every decade there was a new factor to cheat in as the author highlights many cheating ordeals exposed through-out Americas history.

there are exceptions. Of course there are a select few people somewhere in this country that are

The essay “The Death of Honesty” by William Damon explores how honesty is becoming unexpected and infrequently used in society today. Written in a general style without difficult or complicated words it is obvious the author intends for his point to be easily understood by his readers. Using a convincing argument, the virtue of honesty is approached in an objective manner. Published by the Hoover Institute, Damon’s topic of honesty fits well into this publication because the institute fosters development of freedom. Accordingly Damon’s paper outlines the virtue of honesty as necessary for civilized and democratic society.

When we aren’t honest and our societies pick that up our communities will break down.According to Simon Gachter “people from more corrupt societies were likely to be more dishonest than those from societies where rulebreaking is frowned upon.” (Gachter,2016) This proves that without honesty and admiration our community breaks down.Although when we do we inspire future generations to be polite and run our nation right.This show that honesty is key to a successful

William Damon’s “The Death of Honesty” presents a solemn analysis of the decline of modern virtue due to a “dysfunctional tipping point” where honesty is no longer viewed as a moral characteristic worthy of pursuing. Dishonesty is presented as both a virtue and a vice that is shaping our contemporary society. The Hoover Institution of Stanford University published Mr. Damon’s article in 2012 under the Task Force on the Virtues of a Free Society, which would provide a target audience of students, educators, parents or anyone with an interest in sociology, specifically in the United States. A rhetorical analysis recognizes the appeals of ethos and pathos as successful tools in creating a connection with the readers, yet it exposes flaws in the author’s appeal of logic. The lack of developed logic does not support his thesis that “sustained civilization” is in lethal danger as a result of dishonesty alone.

Agreeing with Frohnen and Clarke, Seglin stresses how honesty and ethical behavior is crucial to our public as a whole. Seglin discusses situational ethics by stating that it “misses the inconsistency between the way you behave and the ways others are when they behave exactly the same way and you hold them to be unethical” (126). Frohnen and Clarke’s stance agrees with Seglin’s that businesses work their way around the laws and for the most part get away with it without caring that what they are doing in unethical. Seglin argues that there are two different ways with handling business situations, an easy way and an ethical way. The easy way is to hide behind the law and the ethical way is to give careful reason as to whether your behaviors are right or wrong.

“People are honest as long as they can afford to be.” Although American mob boss Benny Binion lived in a different era, his words on human’s morality continue to ring true in modern day. Honesty is a virtue that is widely valued; in spite of this, it can be abandoned depending on the direness of the scenario. The decency and integrity of people varies based on their situation. This is because man is not innately righteous.

The article under analysis is entitled The Death of Honesty and is written by William Damon in 2012. In general, in his article, he describes the problem of deception in today’s world and compares it with the past. He also uses many expressive means and rhetorical devices in order to support his idea. His main idea is that the biggest problem today is not that people are frequently lying because, as he says, it is in human nature to lie, and it is not always bad, but that truthfulness is becoming less important as it was before (Damon). Therefore, he fears that if his idea is true, the bonds of trust that are vital for creating a free democratic society are in danger, which will inevitably lead to the situation where building good relationships between people is impossible, and the civilized society will collapse.

William Damon’s essay “The Death of Honesty” outlines many human interactions that are touched by dishonesty on a regular basis in today’s culture. The scope of dishonesty encompasses everyone in civilization from the ordinary person, to the professionals and up to the politicians and leaders. Damon points out that, in the former days, honesty was an essential virtue that was well preached and practiced. Today it is merely a fabrication of facts structured to suit one’s own personal preference in order to achieve desired results. There will be chaos and anarchy without a certain degree of honesty throughout society. Predominantly speaking, society (as a whole) believes that honesty establishes a level of trust and from this standpoint, society

People we respect and look to for guidance and wisdom in life, lie. Lies are the cornerstone of unethical behavior; adultery is a lie not only to oneself, also to those whom you have committed to loving. In an article concerning the shocking affair of Gov. Mark Sanford, David Lauderdale makes a very simple yet profound statement, adultery is “a hardship you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, much less inflict on your flesh and blood.” However, daily this pain is inflicted, the details coursing through the media channels spreading our ethical decline. Politicians; such as, Bill Clinton, Mark Sanford, John Ensign and celebrities Tiger Woods, David Letterman, and Jesse James are the most recent casualties in this decline in ethical behavior. (Garcia) There