Why do we care more about winning than about playing by the rules?
Integrity - all of us are in favor of it, but nobody seems to know how to
make sure that we get it. From presidential candidates to crusading
journalists to the lords of collegiate sports, everybody promises to
deliver integrity, yet all too often, the promises go unfulfilled. Stephen
Carter examines why the virtue of integrity holds such sway over the
American political imagination. By weaving together insights from
philosophy, theology, history and law, along with examples drawn from
current events and a dose of personal experience, Carter offers a vision of
integrity that has implications for everything from marriage and politics
to professional football. He discusses the difficulties involved in trying
to legislate integrity as well as the possibilities for teaching it. As the
Cleveland Plain Dealer said, "In a measured and sensible voice, Carter
attempts to document some of the paradoxes and pathologies that result from
pervasive ethical realism... If the modern drift into relativism has left
us in a cultural and political morass, Carter suggests that the assumption
of personal integrity is the way out."