Abstract
[Extract]
Even by people whose moral views diverge widely, integrity is commonly
thought of as a valuable personal characteristic. It is, consequently, something
we commonly suppose worth striving to cultivate both in ourselves and in individuals under our care. Nancy Schauber offers a provocative challenge to this conventional wisdom, arguing that integrity is either something we possess simply in virtue of being persons or else it is not something worth having.1
An analysis of her truncated accounts of integrity and commitment will show why her argument fails and why integrity is important to certain conceptions of personal identity. That it does fail is a victory for common sense and for people who strive for integrity.
Even by people whose moral views diverge widely, integrity is commonly
thought of as a valuable personal characteristic. It is, consequently, something
we commonly suppose worth striving to cultivate both in ourselves and in individuals under our care. Nancy Schauber offers a provocative challenge to this conventional wisdom, arguing that integrity is either something we possess simply in virtue of being persons or else it is not something worth having.1
An analysis of her truncated accounts of integrity and commitment will show why her argument fails and why integrity is important to certain conceptions of personal identity. That it does fail is a victory for common sense and for people who strive for integrity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 519-530 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Value Inquiry |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 1999 |
| Externally published | Yes |