Monday- Define Honesty

[saiavinn 21]

Monday is usually the day we get back to the grind, and most are willing to be perfectly honest when they say that they hate it. Then they get back to grind for another honest day's work. Applejack takes to Honesty as often as possible, we all know that, but here I find myself wondering about what that means. Sure that means not lying, but that's so simple, too simple. How honest is someone who can use the excuse, "I didn't actually lie?"

 

Honesty, Truth, Reality

Deception, Lies, Falsity

 

What seperates the "honest truth" from "an honest day's work?" How far does the concept of Honesty extend? What can we do to liken ourselves to everyone's favorite background pony (I mean that only as a joke), Applejack?

 

Define Honesty.

[DrReprise 172]

I believe that honesty is just a part that makes up integrity. By definition, integrity means: "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness." -Oxford dictionary

[Veritum 257]

An honest day's work is, in my opinion, a phrase used to imply that you worked honestly, as in you worked for your living instead of just stealing it or something, I.E deception. I don't think the phrase is supposed to be literal, but instead just vague to portray the idea of honesty without literally meaning not telling a lie, etc.

 

As far as the actual definition of honesty, one of the official definitions is, "Free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere." From there it's fairly straightforward, it's simply the act of being truthful and sincere. This means no deceit, no lies, no satire, etc., what you mean is what you say. While I've never really liked Applejack's element, as it really isn't shown a whole lot except for upfront examples, it still holds true. I don't want to give any spoilers, but there are a few episodes which clearly show her realization to tell the truth outright.

 

That's my two cents, though I'm sure other people have other variations, no matter how slight.

Edited December 29, 2014 by qMotus

[Shanks 10,816]

An honest days work is just that, there are a lot of ways to make money and some of them are a tad questionable but there are plenty that are acceptable and even have a useful function in society. In Applejacks case she is a farmer which is a very important profession even in modern times which places her both in the "work" aspect of it which is actually bucking the apples as well as the business end of things such as selling for example. Like any business the goal of Sweet Apple Acres is profit but unlike many other business Sweet Apple Acres dosen't adapt the business model of the ends justify the means. In other words Applejack has integrity which is what is usually referred to when people talk about an "honest days work."

 

It is indeed correct that honesty is about more than just lying because there are several ways in which liars have taken and distorted the truth and one of the most common ways to do this is lying by omission which is simply telling part of the truth but leaving a crucial part of the truth. Someone could say they technically didn't lie because the statement they made was true but they left out a crucial fact in order to mislead someone. A classic example of this is a gum commercial aired in the 1950's which claimed "4/5 dentists recommend Trident gum" implying that Trident gum is good for your teeth but what they left out was that those dentists only "recommended" Trident gum if someone absolutely must chew any kind of gum. In other words that Trident gum wasn't exactly good for your teeth but isn't as risky as other gums. I would argue that this form of lying is even more insidious than an outright because it shows an even greater disdain for the truth than an outright lie.