Integrity as a quality is one that I have come to value more and more over the years, but it does not seem to be as highly or widely valued in today’s world as many other qualities. It seems that in our modern society, we place a much higher value on qualities such as resilience, drive or ambition and it does raise a question as to why this has become the norm, not only in a work or business setting, but across all aspects of society. In exploring this we will look at integrity, alongside a deeper look at humanity, both the individual human being, but also humanity as a whole.
Before we try to explore what integrity might look like, let us first take a look at what integrity is defined as: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values, further defined as incorruptibility, but it also further states that it is: an unimpaired condition; the quality or state of being complete or undivided.¹
If we look firstly at the initial definition relating to a code of moral values. To do this we must understand that the term moral in its most simplistic from, means, what is right or wrong. This raises another question: what makes something right or good? Does this just relate to our behaviours or actions, or does this also apply to the things we say? We can say one thing, the ‘right thing’ yet do something else with our actions. What about the thoughts we have? We can say the ‘right thing’, but be thinking in a completely different way.
The other piece to the definition of integrity relates to the state of being complete or undivided. If something is complete and undivided, then it means that the something is ‘whole’. It is important to keep this part of the definition in our minds as we will explore this further when we look more closely at humanity as a general term, but also what it means to be human, specifically what is a ‘whole’ and complete human being.
It is tempting to think of integrity as a ‘thing’. It is something that we want other people to have and in many cases we make an assumption that people and businesses are constantly acting with integrity. We want all of our systems to have it, be it health, education or government, but what if integrity was subjective? If this was the case then how do we know if people are using ‘the same integrity’ we are using…..all of the systems and people we rely on to have integrity could be not acting with ‘our integrity’. At the time of writing we are seeing countless examples of people, businesses and systems that are not acting with integrity, and it is only when one looks inward that this makes sense, for integrity is something that we expect others to have, but it is something we have ourselves? Integrity is not something that is subjective or optional as to when we use it, it must guide our every thought, word and action.
Integrity as a quality needs to be objective (not subjective), and this must start at an individual level. Integrity is not something that is achieved by following a set of external rules nor is it achieved by speaking ‘ideals’ of integrity in a manner whereby it is not able to be brought into concrete existence, through words and actions. There is an inseparable link between ones individual integrity and the sum of human integrity, which is why it is necessary to spend the necessary time working on ourselves, instead of trying to ‘work’ on others. We must first take the time to fully understand and embody this concept of objective integrity within ourselves.
It is not possible to do this without exploring what it means to be moral. Again it is interesting that in our current times morality is not something that is highly valued in society. We have seen morality become somewhat ‘dogmatized’ by a lot of the different churches and religions over many decades, whereby morality has again become something that seems to be subjective. In a modern world where we are surrounded by pornography, violence, obscene language amongst many other things, it is not hard to imagine that humanity is becoming less and less moral. Morality, like
integrity must be thought of as something that is objective, not subjective, and this can only be done if one explores where morality comes from. Does it come from within, or does it come from without, from an external authority? Morality from within is what Rudolph Steiner refers to as a moral impulse.² He refers to this moral impulse as “a special kind of moral principle” whereby it comes from within:
“We may call this moral autonomy. We then hear within ourselves the voice to which we must submit. The expression of this voice is conscience”
“Moral progress occurs when a person does not simply accept the commandment of an outer authority as a motive for action, but rather strives to see why any given principle should work as a motive. This is to progress from an authoritarian morality to action based on ethical insight. At this level of morality, we consider the needs of a moral life and allow our actions to be determined by knowledge of them. Such needs are (1) the greatest possible welfare of all humanity, purely for the sake of that welfare; (2) the progress of civilisation or the moral evolution of humanity to ever greater perfection; and (3) the realisation of individual moral goals that have been grasped purely intuitively”²
This may seem aspirational; however this concept of objective morality seeded with love and freedom are fundamental to acting with integrity. By connecting with this moral impulse it begins to guide our thoughts, words and actions whereby we only act with integrity, it is no longer a choice of should I do this, or should I say that. The integrity is objective, as it is not reliant upon external factors to determine the difference between right and wrong, it is guided by an inner knowing and the choice is made using ones own free will.
When considering integrity as the state of being complete and undivided, we must first consider what the complete is. In order to consider what complete is, one must first understand all the ‘parts’ that make up the whole. It is these ‘parts’ of a human being that must be considered for the whole human being is much more than the physical body, in fact this is just a small part of what makes up the human being. It is a topic to be expanded upon further in a later essay, but for the purposes of now the human being is: body, soul and spirit; with the physical body being only one ‘body’, alongside the etheric body, astral body and ego which makes the ‘whole’ human being.
When we want to think about integrity from the viewpoint of completeness or wholeness, one must consider the whole human being: body soul and spirit; whilst at the same time considering the faculties of the soul: thinking, feeling and willing. Integrity from this perspective is bringing harmony to these aspects of the human being, that all of these ‘parts’ of the whole are in alignment.
We each must have a full appreciation and knowledge of these parts of ourselves. Once we do we can then accept the knowledge that our thoughts and feelings are just as important as our words and actions. For whilst this may not seem to be the case for our physical bodies, it is in fact true for our astral bodies, with Steiner stating:
“Every thought and every feeling is a reality, and if I let myself think that someone is bad or that I don’t like him, then for anyone who can see into the astral world this thought is like an arrow or a thunderbolt hurled against the other’s astral body and injuring it as a gunshot would”³
Again this can be difficult information to intellectually comprehend, but it is important to start to consider these things from a place of truth to begin to be able to fully understand the impact of not only ones words and actions, but also their thoughts and feelings. This is important not only for the individual, but also for humanity, as when one brings harmony to their thoughts, feelings, words and actions…...or thinking, feeling and willing, one can then begin to see the physical results of this in the outer world. This then becomes a foundation to act with integrity, which ultimately becomes a way of living, whereby integrity is not something someone considers, but it becomes are part of who they are.
I see this as a constant journey of development of all aspects of the human being, not just for the sake of the individual, but for the sake of humanity. Like all aspects of inner or self development, the path is challenging and uncomfortable, and the qualities of patience and persistence are essential. It is only through accepting full responsibility for our own inner development, that we can then act with objective integrity in our outer world. Only when this is the case do we start to bring coherence to our outer world. Steiner states: Nature makes human beings merely natural creatures; society makes them law-abiding actors; but they can only make themselves into free beings.⁴ When an individual does this piece of work, the overall aggregate of human integrity goes up, and when enough individuals are guided by the moral impulses, leading to moral actions, then you have a changing outer world.
At the beginning integrity was referred to as a quality, upon reflection, integrity must be seen not as a quality, but as a virtue, and it is through embodying this virtue that one embraces the impulses of our time: love through freedom, to bring a greater harmony to both inner and outer worlds, for not only ourselves, but for humanity.
References:
1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity
2. Steiner, R., A Philosophy of Freedom: intuitive thinking as a spiritual path. England: Anthroposophic Press, 1995.
3. Steiner, R., Founding a Science of the Spirit: England: Rudolph Steiner Press, 1999.
4. Steiner, R., A Philosophy of Freedom: intuitive thinking as a spiritual path. England: Anthroposophic Press, 1995.
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