"Self-deception is at the heart of lying. Aristotle says that truthfulness is the virtuous middle ground between exaggeration and understatement when communicating with others. One can only become virtuous by habituation - one becomes just by doing just acts; one becomes truthful by practicing truth-telling. Unfortunately, we can much more easily steer ourselves in the opposite direction."
"Vice emerges from a series of small permissions and self-deceptions that break down the walls of limits and restraint. Aristotle said that lying is an unjust act. Every time we slide a lie into our testimony, we move a little closer to developing the vice of injustice."
A philosophy academic in a long-distance relationship with a fisherman finally secured permanent employment in Florida, prompting engagement plans. However, when her fiancé left for seasonal work in Canada for three months, she remained alone in their new home with an unworn engagement ring. During this separation, she engaged in boundary-testing behavior including dancing, socializing, and meeting people. She simultaneously studied Aristotle's virtue ethics, which emphasizes that truthfulness develops through habituation and that lying represents an unjust act that gradually cultivates vice. Her actions contradicted her academic study of virtue, as she employed self-deception to justify behavior that violated her relationship commitments.
#aristotelian-virtue-ethics #self-deception-and-morality #infidelity-and-rationalization #long-distance-relationships #moral-habituation
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