INTEGRITY

'Integrity' is the basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. Depth of principles and adherence of each level to the next are key determining factors. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything he does and believes is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person's actions that determine his integrity.
The concept of integrity is directly linked to responsibility in that implementation spawning from principles is designed with a specific outcome in mind. When the action fails to achieve the desired effect, a change of principles is indicated. Accountability is achieved when a faulty principle is identified and changed to produce a more useful action.

Contents

Philosophy

Law

Science

(Tests of) Professional Integrity

Other Integrities

Mathematics

See also

External links

Philosophy

From psycanic philosophy about Integrity: "Integrity" comes from the Latin, "integritas" and "integra" meaning whole, complete, one. Integrity is the alignment, the correspondence, between what one THINKs (beliefs, values), what one SAYs to others, and what one DOes. This is to say, integrity exists when THINK = SAY = DO. Picture each of these (THINK, SAY, DO) as a circle. When the three circles are separated, when there is no alignment between the three behaviors; the person is out of integrity. When the circles approach each other and overlap to become one circle, the person is integral. Behaviors within the concept of integrity include: honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, keeping one's word and agreements, punctuality, ethics, fairness and justice. It is said of Integrity that, "It is better to have an enemy who keeps his word, than a friend who does not"
Another way to look at Integrity is from the point of view of Love. Love plays the game of life Win-Win. It always seeks that all transactions are beneficial to both parties and will not participate in a transaction knowing that the other entity will be harmed. No-integrity plays the Game of Life in No-Love: "I shall win no matter the cost or damage to you"; and with Anti-Love: "I shall win by doing harm (betrayal, fraud, stealing, destruction, etc.) to you." Therefore, Integrity is part of the Laws of Love. There is no Love without Integrity.
The value and importance of Integrity can be see by comparing two scenarios: Imagine a world in which everybody in always "Integra", a world of honesty and sincerity, of being able to rely on what others say. People are punctual and fulfill their obligations and duties in life willingly and to the best of their ability. This would be a world without lying, cheating, stealing, fraud, criminality, etc.
Then imagine a world in which everybody is dishonest most of the time: nobody tells the truth if it serves their interests not to, everybody is out to get everything they can, any way they can, including by lying and not keeping agreements and contracts. People shirk duties, obligations, and only pay debts when forced to. They will commit fraud and steal when there is an opportunity to do so. Obviously, this second world is going to be full of rules and laws, long contracts, lawsuits, police, judges, and punishments to control non-integral behavior. One of the main purposes of Law is to enforce Integrity when the people have none.
Each group within humanity (nations, cultures, ethnic groups, corporations) has different levels of cultural respect for Integrity. A good measure of a society is how close to the first scenario of full Integrity it operates. The cost to a society of no-integrity is enormous: all the wasted time, energy and money of big groups of lawmakers and enforcers (police and government agencies); courts and millions of lawsuits; walls, fences, locks and bars on homes and businesses; verification, security guards, and alarm agencies and systems, internet mal-ware (virus, spyware, spam, etc) protection -- to name a few. The total cost of no-integrity on the planet is at least one-third of the gross planetary product. Unfortunately, it seems that there is less and less, rather than more and more, Integrity on the planet.
On the personal level, the lack of Integrity is detrimental to one's personal power in life, to the respect of and relationships with others, and above all, No-Integrity destroys one's self-respect and self-esteem which are absolutely essential for personal happiness. There are two ways to accumulate great power and wealth in life. One is by the path of Love and Integrity, creating great Good for others (good products and services). The other is by the path of Anti-Love and No-Integrity, by lying, cheating, stealing, criminality (e.g. tryants, drug dealers, unethical big business). The difference between the two is happiness. The cost of the path of No-Integrity is always, no exceptions, personal unhappiness. What doth it profit a man to gain the whole world if he loses love and happiness?

Law

An adversarial process can have general integrity when both sides demonstrate willingness to share evidence, follow guidelines of debate and accept rulings from an arbitrator in a good faith effort to arrive at either the truth or a mutually equitable outcome. An honorable presentation of the case measures both sides of the argument with a consistent set of principles. Failure to present principles in accordance with observation or to try them unequally can weaken a case.

Science

The integrity of science is based on a set of testing principles known as the scientific method. To the extent that a proof follows the requirements of the method, it is considered scientific. The scientific method includes measures to ensure unbiased testing and the requirement that the hypothesis have falsifiability.

(Tests of) Professional Integrity

Integrity (honesty) tests seek to find out which persons are more likely to hide nasty events from their past (as doing prison time, getting psychiatric treatment, alcohol problems, etc.) and/or are likely to cause trouble for the employer. These tests are based on certain assumptions, namely that such persons report more dishonest behavior, they try to find reasons in order to justify such behavior, they think others are likely to commit crimes (like theft or so), they are impulsive and are more likely to think that deviant behavior has to be severely punished.
The pretension of such tests to detect fake answers is crucial in this respect, because the naive really believe such outright lie and behave accordingly, reporting their past deviance because they fear that it may otherwise be detected from their answers. But, there is an easy way out of this: give answers which show that you have a lot of trust in the honesty of others, make you appear as liberal and tolerant, think that other employees are unlikely to commit crimes and so on .

Other Integrities

Studies of integrity also exist in philosophy of action, philosophy of medicine, the mind, cognition, consciousness, and politics. It may also be seen in light of different philosophies of wholeness, such as commitment, authenticity or esteem.
It is also noted that weasels never have integrity. They don't understand the concept and choose to ignore such principles. That's why weasels will never prosper as a functioning member of a society.

Mathematics

In the philosophy of mathematics, integrity is based on consistency of mathematical proof, which one can test weakly or strongly, as part of the process of differentiating it from folk mathematics. Mathematical integrity is strengthened by being defined as the result of a tautology and where it demonstrably forms a part of a larger and consistent body of mathematics.

See also

★ validity

★ doubt

★ availability

★ honesty

External links

★ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

★ Alles over psychologische tests, , Jack J.R., van Minden, Business Contact, , .