We now understand that sincerity introduces a new responsibility. A sincere speaker must recognize that they are guiding another person’s understanding; they have the freedom to manipulate it, but they also possess the power to generate a genuine, sincere understanding for others. We can define the concept of deception by asking whether a speaker uses the relationship of trust purely as an instrument to cause false belief. Avoiding this requires a certain character or disposition from the speaker—it requires a profound refusal to manipulate. This explains why there is such a consistent emphasis on disposition rather than strict moral principles. Moral rules can only tell us which specific statements are forbidden, but sincerity concerns how a person fundamentally positions themselves within human communication. Sincerity means that a person strives to let others understand matters roughly the exact same way they understand them themselves.

现在我们明白了，真诚带来了一种全新的责任。一个真诚的说话者必须意识到，他正在引导他人的理解；他确实拥有操纵他人理解的自由，但同时也拥有为他人带来真实、真诚理解的力量。我们可以通过这样一个问题来定义欺骗的概念：说话人是否将信任关系纯粹当作一种工具，用以在他人心中制造虚假的信念？要避免这种行为，要求说话人具备特定的品格或倾向——要求他打从心底里拒绝操纵他人。这也解释了为什么我们总是不断强调品格，而不是严苛的道德规则。道德规则只能告诉我们哪些具体的陈述是被禁止的，但真诚关乎的是一个人在人类沟通中究竟如何给自己定位。真诚，意味着一个人努力让别人对事物的理解，与他自己对这些事物的理解大致保持一致。