Ethical Integrity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Integrity - Essay Example There are people who have been subjected to situations of life and death but they ended up not betraying their ethical and moral convictions. Such are the people who have what is termed as ethical integrity. Having said this, this paper aims to prove the fact hat there is no excuse or/and reason for going against or betraying morals, ethics, convictions or ethical integrity. Ethical and moral standards hold this world together in peace. Imagine if there were no standards of demeanor; then people would behave anyway anyhow. There will be chaos everywhere. But now thanks to the ethical and moral standards, as yardsticks to measure and rate behavior and conduct, peace and order is possible. Imagine a world where everyone subscribed to highest possible ethical integrity; it would be basically a paradise where there is no hypocrisy and problems are honestly and objectively handled without reservation. Indeed there will only be the truth and this truth will set the mortals free. Truthfulness and honesty are the core pillars that describe integrity and without these in every thought, word and deed, then there is no integrity at all except for hypocrisy. At some points, integrity has been described as doing the right things more especially when no one is watching you and that is exactly what it is (Carter, 1996). Integrity is defined as the strict devotion to the ethical principles. It may as well be termed as the unassailability of moral character or simply as honesty. Honesty is equal to integrity only when there is consistency and this kind of honesty is reminiscent in every level of being: thoughts, words and deeds. The synonyms of integrity are words like probity, goodness, decency, virtue, honor, godliness etc. The opposite of integrity is simply dishonesty, deceit, corruption, hypocrisy and fraudulence among others. All these are used to enable a deeper understanding and appreciation of the concept of integrity and more especially ethical integrity. More often than not, integrity and ethics are tied. When one talks about integrity, ethics is implied and vice versa. Ethics, according to the American Heritage Dictionary (2000), is construed to refer to the set of principles that govern behavior or simply the regulations or principles that govern the demeanor of a person or the membership of a profession such as law or medicine. This explains why we have things like medical ethics, law ethics etc. The code of conduct that guides people in their professions is often referred to as professional ethics. Such ethics are often based on carefully considered principles of truthfulness, accuracy and respect for human rights and dignity. Morality also guides the enactment of these ethics. Ethics as already mentioned is everywhere. Think of any profession or situation, ethics will still apply. We have ethics in medicine, in church, in school, in law, in business etc. Ethics is everywhere. The fact that these ethics do exist doesn't necessari ly mean that they are all the time adhered to. They are most of the time contravened more than they can be adhered to and this is what differentiates people in every profession or situation. There are those who will adhere and those who will dare not to. Such people or their behaviors which do not agree