Dan Ariely's The Honest Truth: The Concept and Core Arguments

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Dan Ariely’s The Honest Truth
At the beginning of his book, “The Honest Truth”, Dan Ariely strikes us with an exciting concept about dishonesty. His concept describes that humans sometimes lie for rational reasons whose outcome could lead to some form of benefit. He tries to explore the various reasons as to why people cheat in various life aspects. This text exhibits close similarity to Sam Harris’ perspective of lying, which also expounds on how people tend to warrant lying which he agrees is a bad thing. However, Sam Harris’ text veers from the lying itself and tends to explore instances where truth-telling outweighs dishonesty. This essay seeks to expound on Dan Ariely’s concept of dishonesty generally.
To oppose Ariely’s concept, one might argue that cheating in any form is wrong without considering the motive of the action. Ethically, we all know cheating is terrible, whether done for a good reason or a wrong reason. If everyone cheated in something with the mere explanation that it was for a reason, the world would be chaotic and not as we know it, with everyone doing what they want because they think it’s right. Ariely’s main argument is that people cheat for many reasons, especially those that are likely to benefit one financially. His concept of cheating brings...