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Integrity
Rev. Jennifer Brooks
June 26, 2005

The meaning of "integrity" has been a topic of discussion among philosophers for thousands of years. They have defined it narrowly and broadly; squabbled over the meaning of the words they've used to define it; and disagreed strongly over whether "integrity" is a moral value in and of itself, or instead only a description of how people who have moral values act. ¹

It was refreshing, then, after reading these weighty discussions of integrity, to hear an anecdote about Faith Oldham that offered a spontaneous and vivid description of "integrity."

When Faith first moved to Nantucket to live with her mother in 1970, she decided to tear down a huge privet hedge and plant a perennial garden. She had chopped down the hedge and was starting to dig. Her mother came around the corner and began giving advice. Faith said, "Mom, will you stay out of this? I can dig my own hole!"

Without entirely setting aside the philosophical discussions, it's appropriate to consider what it means to live a life of integrity in the ordinary sense of the word. The philosophical debates, it seems to me, break down into semantics. Maybe that's inevitable, given the notoriously imprecise nature of language. But semantic squabbling isn't much use for people who must live in the real world, making decisions, sustaining relationships, choosing how they will shape their lives.

I can dig my own hole.

In the play "Hamlet," Shakespeare puts these words into the mouth of Polonius, who gives advice to his son Laertes: "This above all: to thine own self be true, and thus it must follow, as night the day, thou canst not be false to any man." ²

This paternal admonition can be understood as a summation of integrity. It counsels reflection and self-knowledge and staying true to one's own moral values.

Yet Polonius is played as a laughable character, a loving parent but a somewhat foolish fellow who won't stop giving advice. If this isn't enough to make his advice suspect, a closer look at the advice raises a few questions. What if the "self" to which we are true is selfish, or morally corrupt? Does the phrase counsel following self-interest, wherever it leads?

The philosophers are on to this problem. A fanatic is true to himself; a hedonist lives only for her own pleasure. Would we say that either of these lives with integrity? The narrowest philosophic understanding of the term "integrity" would claim the fanatic and hedonist as persons of integrity. But that is not what we mean when we speak of it.

The life of integrity embodies a number of character traits: self-knowledge; self-integration; respect for the life and viewpoints of others; and courage.

It is, as Polonius said, first necessary to "know thyself." A person who lives with integrity knows his or her own needs, thoughts, desires, strengths, and failings. Self-knowledge implies self-awareness: an understanding of the self's motives and wounds and hot buttons. It is knowing whether or not you know something. It is first the question: Do I know how to dig a hole? And then the answer: Yes, I do!

In the philosopher's broader definition of "integrity," the term "self-integration" is offered as a partial description of integrity. ³ A person who is self-integrated has a clear understanding of goals and purpose, and is able to postpone the desire for instant gratification and instead carry on the necessary work in service to a higher purpose. This is studying rather than partying; getting an education part-time after a long day of work; digging the hole so that the garden can flourish. The self-integrated person "goes into the fields to harvest and works in a row to pass the bags along; stands in line and hauls in place." ⁴

Another quality of the life of integrity is respect: for life, for the life and viewpoints of others; for the community of persons who make up what we call our human society. This is what philosophers sometimes call the moral dimension of integrity--and not all are in agreement, because it means that there is an imprecision in the definition. ⁵ Whose morality?

But the idea respect for others implies of a kind of graciousness in listening and considering, a willingness to deliberate in community with others, to pitch in ideas as well as sweat, to share our most authentic selves in society's decisionmaking process, while urging others to do the same. ⁶ Respect does not require agreement, but it does require taking part whole-heartedly. As Faith Oldham--member of the Finance Committee, initiator of the Saltmarsh Center--once said, "Don't complain unless you're part of the process."

But gracious listening may not be sufficient, and sometimes it's just necessary to dig your own hole. That takes courage. The courage we usually think of--the part about being true to yourself whatever others may say or do--is the sort of public courage that it took for Gandhi to sit down in the dusty street as a way to demand India's freedom. But there is another kind of courage that is in its way perhaps even more important.

It is the courage to discern when to dig the hole and when to wait--the courage to look clearly at both ourselves and the circumstances, and to make a decision. It is the courage to count on our own judgment, while still being open to others. It is the courage to balance the many considerations of living respectfully with others in society against our own sense of what is right, our own vision of what should be.

The thing that is worth doing, when done well, has a shape that satisfies. Day upon day, week upon week, year upon year of doing things worth doing, and doing them well, builds a life that satisfies, a life that is worth living, a life of integrity.

I can dig my own hole, and the garden flourishes.

¹ For a thoughtful yet concise discussion of philosophers' views of integrity, with bibliography, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/integrity.

² Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3.

³ Harry Frankfurt, 'Identification and Wholeheartedness.' Ferdinand Schoeman, ed. Responsibility, Character, and the Emotions: New Essays in Moral Psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press (1987).

⁴ Marge Piercy, "To Be Of Use."

⁵ See Mark Halfon, Integrity: A Philosophical Inquiry. Philadelphia: Temple University Press (1989); see contra, Lynne McFall, ÔIntegrity.' Ethics 98, 5-20 (1987), and Damian Cox, Marguerite La Caze, & Michael P. Levine, Integrity and the Fragile Self, pp. 56-68, Aldershot: Ashgate (2003).

⁶ See Cheshire Calhoun, Standing for Something.' Journal of Philosophy XCII, 235-260 (1995). In Calhoun's view, "integrity is a matter of having proper regard for one's role in a community process of deliberation over what is valuable and what is worth doing."