The Insufficiency of Honesty

Carter lays out what integrity means. We tend to confuse it with honesty and truthfulness because we believe that if we speak the truth, it automatically indicates that we possess integrity. Carter breaks up this virtue into three steps. First off, it means that we're able to identify what's wrong and what's right. Second off, it means that we act based on what we have identified to be right or wrong even if it involves leaving ourselves at a disadvantage. Finally, integrity requires us to openly let others know that we're acting on what we have found to be right and wrong.

As can be seen, integrity has nothing to do with honesty. They're completely two different things even though on some level they compliment each other. Carter stresses that honesty and integrity are not dependent on one another. The reason for this has to do with our motive behind telling the truth. There are times when we express ourselves and really put our feelings out into the open. This is a good thing because it shows that we're not hiding anything, but are we telling the truth because it's the right thing to do? We have to take other's feelings into consideration. We may be honest, but what we're saying is hurting someone. In that case, integrity wouldn't be demonstrated from our part.

Integrity is a very hard thing to possess. It involves so many things, but it's not impossible to acquire. Carter mentions that because we all think differently, our opinion on what's wrong and right varies. This makes it harder and it demands that we really look at our actions. We can't simply act based on what we believe. Instead we must do "the hard work of discerning whether what [we] most deeply believe is right". Integrity goes above and beyond personal beliefs; it's about questioning our beliefs.