1.                 
Quote from the first page–"One should surely note that
integrity is neither to be found among the Socratic nor the Christian virtues:
it is one of the most recent virtues, not yet quite mature, often enough
mistaken for another, and misunderstood, hardly conscious of itself – something
in the becoming, which we may either cultivate or restrain, according to our
inclination."

            (Friedrich
Nietzsche, quoted in Wurzer, 1975:236)

2.                 
All three authors are authors of the entry
"Integrity" for the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu).

3.                 
"This book had its beginnings in a Tuesday evening
philosophy discussion group in a Vietnamese restaurant in Perth."

4.                 
From the authors–"Here is what is distinctive about our
approach and analysis:"

a.                 
It does not regard integrity primarily as a category which
describes morally correct action or what one believes to be morally correct
action.  We treat integrity as
intrinsically connected to a theory of the good life and human nature.  It is thus connected to morality via its links
to a theory of the Good rather than a theory of the Right.

b.                 
We argue that there is a normative aspect to integrity.  Thus, there are things a person of integrity
cannot do.

c.                 
Integrity is about managing self-conflict well, rather than
sticking to commitments, come what may.

d.                 
We see integrity not as an all or nothing thing, but instead
as absolutely central to all lives and as something that all persons must
possess to a degree.

e.                 
Understanding integrity involves taking the self to be always
in process rather than as static and unchanging or even as containing an inner
"core" around which reasonably superficial changes are made.

f.                   
We believe our analysis of integrity to be far more
comprehensive and hence less reductionistic than previous analyses.  Perhaps this follows from regarding it more
in relation to moral and philosophical psychology than in the narrower context
of ethical theory.

g.                 
This book is written with the conviction that there is a
dearth of integrity and that this has profound ramifications in our personal,
social and political lives.  Part of the
reason might be that political and social institutions and ideologies
inadvertently conspire in various ways to thwart integrity.  There are, after all, ways in which social
and political institutions make liars of us all – undermining honesty and an
ability to be genuine.

5.                 
Definition of "integrity":  a virtue located at the mean of various excesses.  "On the one side we find conditions of
capriciousness, wantonness, weakness of will, disintegration, hypocrisy,
dishonesty, and an incapacity for reflection of self-understanding.  On the other side we find conditions of
fanaticism, dogmatism, monomania, sanctimoniousness, hyperflexitivity and the
narrowness and hollowed out character of a life closed off from the
multiplicity of human experience.

6.                 
Throughout the five chapters of this book the authors explore
integrity as an elusive and utterly important virtue.  In summary, the chapters address, in order:

I.                  
Current philosophical theories:

1)                 
The integrated self

2)                 
Identity theory

3)                 
"Clean hands" view

The authors feel all three accounts
conspicuously fail to capture the ordinary sense of attributions of
integrity.  "Ordinary attributions
of integrity make it a virtue – a key virtue for understanding the quality of a
person’s character."

II.                
The normative character of integrity and its status as a
virtue.

III.             
An important role that the concept of integrity has played in
recent ethical debate in refutations of utilitarian moral theory.

IV.             
The variety of kinds of integrity – professional, political,
intellectual, artistic.

V.               
Certain aspects of our pursuit of integrity as well as forces
that conspire against it.

The authors conclude with the
following main points:  Nietzsche was
correct that integrity is a recent virtue and one not yet mature – all too
readily mistaken for another.  We must
learn how to cultivate it.  It exists in
flux, and is a part of ethical life that helps us to cope with the fractured
and fragile nature of existence.

I found this to be a wonderful
little volume that, although not a quick read, certainly makes one think deeply
about integrity and the possibilities it holds for organizing one’s own
conception of their life.

 

©
2003 William A. Buchanan

 

William A. Buchanan, PhD, is a
practicing organizational psychologist who can be found online at http://www.home.earthlink.net/~waba

See publisher’s web page for this book: Click here.

Categories: Philosophical, Psychology