View source for Sincerity

{{short description|The virtue of honest and genuine communication}}
{{About|the virtue|the phrase "Yours sincerely"|Valediction}}{{For multi|other uses|Sincerity (disambiguation)|and|Sincere (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2008}}
[[File:Autism Aspect Sincerity 1.png|thumb|right|A person is sincere when their spoken words match their thoughts]]

'''Sincerity''' is the [[virtue]] of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sincerity|title=Definition of 'sincerity' - Collins English Dictionary|website=www.collinsdictionary.com}}</ref> Sincerity in one's actions (as opposed to one's communications) may be called "earnestness".

== Etymology ==
The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] and most scholars state that ''sincerity'' from ''sincere'' is derived from the Latin {{lang|la|sincerus}} meaning ''clean, pure, sound''. {{lang|la|Sincerus}} may have once meant "one growth" (not mixed), from {{lang|la|sin-}} (one) and {{lang|la|crescere}} (to grow).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=sincerity|title=sincerity|website=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> {{lang|la|Crescere}} is cognate with "[[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]]," the goddess of grain, as in "cereal".<ref name="Edwards">{{citation|first=Bob|last=Edwards|title=Origin of the word cereal|publisher=[[National Public Radio]] (NPR)|series=Morning Edition|date=October 21, 1999}}</ref>

According to the [[American Heritage Dictionary]],<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE223.html|url-status=dead|title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|edition=Fourth|year=2000|chapter=Indo-European Roots: 'ker-'|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017122344/http://bartleby.com/61/roots/IE223.html |archive-date=2007-10-17 }}</ref> the Latin word {{lang|la|sincerus}} is derived from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] root {{lang|ine|*sm̥kēros}}, itself derived from the [[Indo-European_ablaut#Zero_grade|zero-grade]] of {{lang|ine|*sem}} (''one'') and the suffixed, lengthened [[Indo-European_ablaut#Ablaut_grades|e-grade]] of {{lang|ine|*ker}} (''grow''), generating the underlying meaning ''of one growth'', hence ''pure, clean''.

=== Controversy ===
An often repeated [[false etymology|folk etymology]] proposes that ''sincere'' is derived from the [[Latin language|Latin]] {{lang|la|sine}} "without" and {{lang|la|cera}} "wax". According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors in [[Rome]] or [[Greece]] would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture "without wax" would be one that was honestly represented. It has been said, "One spoke of sincere wine... simply to mean that it had not been adulterated, or, as was once said, sophisticated."<ref name=SAA>{{cite book|title=Sincerity and Authenticity|last=Trilling|first=Lionel|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1972|location=Cambridge, Mass.}}</ref>{{rp|12–13}} Another explanation is that this [[etymology]] "is derived from a Greeks-bearing-gifts story of deceit and betrayal. For the feat of victory, the Romans demanded the handing over of obligatory tributes. Following bad advice, the Greeks resorted to some faux-marble statues made of wax, which they offered as tribute. These promptly melted in the warm Greek sun."<ref>{{cite news|first=Ruth|last=Wajnryb|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/if-you-hear-buzzing-get-the-wax-out-of-your-ears-20061118-gdougn.html|title=If you hear buzzing, get the wax out of your ears|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|page=32|date=November 18, 2006}}</ref> The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] states, however, that "there is no probability in the old explanation from {{lang|la|sine cera}} 'without wax{{'"}}.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

The popularity of the ''without wax'' etymology is reflected in its use as a minor subplot in [[Dan Brown]]'s 1998 thriller novel ''[[Digital Fortress]]'', though Brown attributes it to the [[Spanish language]], not Latin. Reference to the same etymology, this time attributed to Latin, later appears in his 2009 novel, ''[[The Lost Symbol]]''.

==In Western societies==
Sincerity was discussed by [[Aristotle]] in his ''[[Nicomachean Ethics#Book VI: Intellectual virtues|Nicomachean Ethics]]''. It resurfaced to become an ideal ([[virtue]]) in [[Europe]] and [[North America]] in the [[17th century]]. It gained considerable momentum during the [[Romantic movement]], when sincerity was first celebrated as an [[artistic]] and social ideal, exemplified in the writings of [[Thomas Carlyle]] and [[John Henry Newman]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tillotson |first=Geoffrey |url=http://archive.org/details/viewofvictorianl00till|url-access=registration |title=A View of Victorian literature |year=1978 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-812044-5 |location=Oxford |pages=23–54 |language=English |chapter=Earnestness}}</ref> In middle to late nineteenth century America, sincerity was reflected in mannerisms, hairstyles, women's dress, and the literature of the time. 

Literary critic [[Lionel Trilling]] dealt with the subject of sincerity, its roots, its evolution, its moral quotient, and its relationship to [[authenticity (philosophy)|authenticity]] in a series of lectures published as ''[[Sincerity and Authenticity]]''.{{r|SAA}}

===Aristotle's views===
According to Aristotle "[[Honesty|truthfulness]] or sincerity is a desirable mean state between the deficiency of [[irony]] or [[self-deprecation]] and the excess of [[boast]]fulness."<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite web|url=https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/ethics/section4/|title=SparkNotes: Nicomachean Ethics: Book IV|website=www.sparknotes.com}}
|2={{cite book|author=[[Aristotle]]|title=[[The Nicomachean Ethics]]|at=[https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/aristotle/nicomachean-ethics/f-h-peters/text/book-4#chapter-4-1-7 IV.7]}} }}</ref>

== In Islam ==
In the Islamic context, sincerity means: being free from worldly motives and not being a [[hypocrisy|hypocrite]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Tabarsi|title=Majma 'al-Bayan|volume=3|page=319}}{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}}</ref> In the [[Quran|Qur'an]], all acts of [[worship]] and human life should be motivated by the pleasure of [[God in Islam|God]], and the [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|prophets]] of God have called man to sincere servitude in all aspects of life. Sincerity in Islam is divided into sincerity in belief and sincerity in action. Sincerity in belief means [[monotheism]]—in other words not associating partners with God<ref>{{Cite Quran|98|5|style=nosup}}</ref>—and sincerity in action means performing sincere worship only for God.<ref>{{Cite Quran|6|162|style=nosup}}</ref>

==In East Asian societies==
{{See also|The Analects}}
Sincerity is developed as a virtue in [[East Asian]] societies (e.g. [[China]], [[Korea]], and [[Japan]]). The concept of {{transliteration|zh|chéng}} ({{lang|zh|誠、诚}})—as expounded in two of the Confucian classics, the ''Da Xue'' and the ''Zhong Yong''—is generally translated as ''sincerity''. As in [[Western culture|the West]], the term implies a congruence of avowal and inner feeling, but inner feeling is in turn ideally responsive to ritual propriety and [[social hierarchy]]. Specifically, Confucius's ''Analects'' contains the following statement in Chapter I: ({{lang|zh|主忠信。毋友不如己者。過，則勿憚改。}}) "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Then no friends would not be like yourself (all friends would be as loyal as yourself). If you make a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it."

Thus, even today, a powerful leader will praise leaders of other realms as "sincere" to the extent that they ''know their place'' in the sense of fulfilling a role in the drama of life. In Japanese the character for {{lang|zh|chéng}} may be pronounced {{lang|ja|makoto}}, which carries still more strongly the sense of loyal avowal and belief.

==See also==
*[[Honesty]]
*[[Insincere charm]]
*[[Parrhesia]]
*[[Radical Honesty]]
*[[Sincerely (disambiguation)]]
*[[New Sincerity]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary}}
*{{cite book|last=Skeat|first=Walter William|page=[https://archive.org/details/anetymologicald01skeagoog/page/555/mode/1up 555]|chapter=Sincere|title=An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|url=https://archive.org/details/anetymologicald01skeagoog|edition=Second|year=1893}}

{{Philosophy topics}}
{{Virtues}}

[[Category:Psychological attitude]]
[[Category:Virtue]]
[[Category:Emotions]]