The Dedicant Manual
describes integrity as ““Honor; being true to one’s self and to others,
involving oath-keeping, honesty, fairness, respect and self-confidence“. I
can’t say I like this definition at all, honestly. The actions it describes are
honorable and virtuous actions, but I don’t think that demonstrating those
virtues constitutes integrity. Honor is a perfectly good virtue, and that’s
what the ADF definition is describing – it’s a classic warrior function virtue,
which springs from situations where being reliable, honest, and competent could
be the difference between life and death.
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| Personified Virtues, Photo by Radomil via Wikimedia Commons |
I see Integrity as
something different. Integrity shares a root with integration and integer. Its
Latin roots come from in-tegro (in touch). The primary sense of integrity is
wholeness, soundness. It is a virtue of being internally consistent, being a seamless
whole.
I think there are two
levels of integrity that are important for me as virtues or principles for
living. The first is internal consistency of my actions with my morals. This is
much more difficult than it sounds, and I fully admit I am nowhere close to making
sure my outward actions line up with my inward convictions all the time. This
is probably where the tie between integrity and honor comes from, the virtue of
being true to one’s word. The other sense that seems relevant to a discussion
of integrity as a virtue is a wholeness of self – being a healthy, whole
individual. This is the project of a lifetime, of course, but what a goal to
strive for.
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