(This is archived version 2a of material from the Patterns of Power Repository; it is an update of Edition 2.)
‘Integrity’ is related to ‘trustworthiness’, and has several elements:
· It means keeping one's promises whenever possible – that is to say unless the circumstances had unforeseeably changed to the extent that it would be possible to negotiate forgiveness with those to whom the broken promise had been made.
· It requires consistency between words and actions: avoiding double standards.
· It requires adherence to the law, irrespective of whether one is likely to be caught.
· It means telling the truth; all sorts of relationships become unworkable if one cannot believe what the other person is saying. There are circumstances where other considerations might outweigh the importance of telling the truth,[1] but only if an independent adjudicator might agree; the default rule must be honesty.
· Sincerity is important: without it, ‘respect’ and ‘courtesy’ would be of little value.
People must have confidence in each other’s integrity for trust to develop; deeper relationships then become possible.
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014
[1] An article entitled The whole truth, by Julian Baggini, was published in Prospect magazine on 20th April 2011 and was available in May 2014 at http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2011/04/philosophy-of-lying-truth-ian-leslie/. It reviewed a book by Ian Leslie, entitled Born Liars: Why We Can’t Live Without Deceit, indicating that it raised several interesting arguments about whether telling the truth is always the highest priority; the review itself also exposed some of these arguments.