Integrity, Concept of

Integrity can be defined in the following sense: Integrity accounts for the inviolability of the human being. Although originally a virtue of uncorrupted character, expressing uprightness, honesty, and good intentions, it has, like dignity, been universalized as a quality of the person as such. Thus, it refers to the coherence of life that should not be touched and destroyed. It is coherence of life being remembered from experiences and therefore can be told in a narrative. Therefore respect for integrity is respect for privacy and in particular for the patient's understanding of his or her own life and illness. Integrity is the most important principle for the creation of trust between physician and patient, because it demands that the physician listens to the patient telling the story about his or her life and illness.