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Discussion » Questions » Communication » If someone asked you never to reveal something to anyone else and then that person passed away, are you still bound to the request?

If someone asked you never to reveal something to anyone else and then that person passed away, are you still bound to the request?

Ethics.
~

Posted - November 13, 2020

Responses

  • .

    7268
    Yes, you are. 
      November 13, 2020 4:44 PM MST
    4

  • 5808
    definitely
    preserve the peaceful memories
      November 13, 2020 4:57 PM MST
    1

  • 10449
    Yes.  Whether they are alive or dead, it's still considered indecent exposure.
      November 13, 2020 4:58 PM MST
    4

  • 7280
    Never heard it characterized that way---I like it.
      November 13, 2020 5:40 PM MST
    3

  • 7280
    Well, I would generally expect that I would honor that request---but it does depend on the circumstances.

    For example, if a friend (male or female) told me that they had had an affair, I see no good reason to tell that to the surviving spouse---unless perhaps the surviving spouse were dying undiagnosed in a hospital with a disease that he or she may have contracted as a result of the affair.  (And I have become aware of some really unusual infections after having watched a number of episodes of Mystery Diagnosis on cable.) 

    ---a situation less likely to occur than Trump being later declared the winner of each and every state in the recent election.
      November 13, 2020 4:59 PM MST
    2

  • 19942
    I'm in general agreement with you, but even if a spouse has been diagnosed with some dread disease because of infidelity, what good would it do to tell that person that was the reason?  How would it alter the outcome?
      November 13, 2020 5:10 PM MST
    3

  • 7280
    I used the words DYING UNDIAGNOSED in my comment.
      November 13, 2020 5:25 PM MST
    2

  • 19942
    The end result would be the same - death - so why reveal the infidelity?
      November 13, 2020 6:07 PM MST
    3

  • 7280
    To say that someone is dying is not an automatic death sentence.  With such additional information, the attending doctor may seek other tests and be able to save the person's life. 
      November 13, 2020 9:25 PM MST
    2

  • 19942
    OK, that makes more sense.  
      November 14, 2020 7:35 AM MST
    2

  • 7280
    I'm glad---you were wearing me out---lol
      November 14, 2020 3:08 PM MST
    2

  • 19942
    I'll try to be more gentle. :)
      November 16, 2020 6:39 AM MST
    2

  • 13395
    People who are deceased may sometimes leave behind a ' residual force' known as a ghost. Would anyone want to risk being haunted by the deceased person's ghostly apparitions if they dare expose that person's most personal private secrets?
      November 13, 2020 6:19 PM MST
    4

  • 7280
    I'd be willing to risk that theoretically, but I've never been in that position and probably never will be.

    As an aside, obtaining promises from relatives and friends about their doing what a dying person requests is unethical manipulation (for which the person dying may be forgiven easily) and has no binding force in my opinion. 
      November 13, 2020 9:29 PM MST
    2

  • 9777
    I can't think of any reason to disrespect a person after their death by telling their secret if you had no reason to do so prior to their death.
      November 13, 2020 6:22 PM MST
    3

  • 44173
    I'd reveal it before they died. (JK)
      November 13, 2020 6:29 PM MST
    3