Honesty

J.C.Grayling, the philosopher who attempts to make philosophy easy to undersatnd and to relate it to everyday ideas, writing to day in The Times wonders if we should dismiss dishonesty because "it can be virtuous". There are times when you need to be dishonest, he says. For example: "is it dishonest to tell someone that she looks nice in the hideous outfit she is wearing to save her feelings and your own embarrassment?" He says that kindness sometimes justifiably triumphs over truth.
I recall studying (if that's not too strong a word for it) an essay given us in school; it was by Hilaire Belloc and was in the form of a letter written by somone who intended to tell a friend the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I thought it quite amusing at the time. Of course the whole letter was a long insult. But I asked the teacher why the writer had written "Dear" whoever and ended with "Sincerely". Can't remember what she said but probably defended it on the grounds that these were commonly used methods of address rather than meaningful words.
The film "Liar Liar" with Jim Carrey is a similar kind of affair where he has to (for some reason I can't recall) always tell anyone he meets the truth. For Jim Carrey it was rather a good film I thought - I'm not a fan.
Grayling says unless we are on the whole truthful and honest in our dealings with other people, in business for example, then nothing will function in a practically good way. Which made me think of the man who repaired my roof last week. There was a small hole which he made larger. This was so that I couldn't say to him when he mentioned the fee "O, I'll find someone else". Then he said the fee and I had to agree because there was now a large hole in the roof and if he'd left the rain would have come pouring in.
In short, he could have told me pretty well any figure as a fee and I'd have had to pay it - or get wet. Or have the tiles blown off in a high wind, as he explained - "be an £1800 job then".
So there's business dealings and there's roofer's dealings. Cost me £280 by the way.