But this cat example is not illustrative at all. Everyone on this planet and all others have a full understanding of the number four and can count legs on cats. That's nowhere near the subjectivity of attempting to accurately assess and convey the principled behavior of another individual. Integrity is like driving ability - everyone has it to some degree and everyone will likely insist that theirs is above average.
A person lies once. That is almost as easy to determine as counting the number of legs on cats. Should he be called a liar? Does it even matter? What matters is whether or not you believe him the next time he tells you something - and that is absolutely an individual assessment.
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I have something to say, and what I have to say is that "cats have four legs." That is, the proposition expressed by the sentence accords with how things really are. In no way does whether or not it matters alter the truth of what I'm saying.
It might not matter that the cashier has an IQ of 98 and therefore an IQ of less than a hundred, but the truth is that she has an IQ of less than a 100. Who cares? I don't know who cares, but let us pursue that another day. Right now, the question on the table (like a question on a test) is if what I'm saying is true, not whether it matters.
Ann says, okay butter ball buster boy (Ann's been drinkin'), my granny's cat got run over and had a leg amputated and so only had three legs, and not only that, our neighbor had a cat who had a litter of kittens, and one of those kittens was born with only three legs. That there-legged kitten is now a three-legged cat, so that's not just one but two examples of particular cats that do not have four legs, so crazy critter crybaby calf (drinkin' a lot apparently), what you said is not true but rather false.
To which I respond, what I said is, "cats have four legs." I did not say, "all cats have four legs." The sentence, "cats have four legs" does not translate to "all cats have four legs." It translates to "generally, cats have four legs." If it is true that generally, cats have four legs, then even if it's false that all cats have four legs, it's still neverthess true that cats have four legs is true.
Does it matter? Maybe, maybe not, but either way, the truth is independent of whether the truth matters, so while maybe no one will care whether the cashier has an IQ of less than a 100, it'll be true despite the massive lack of care.
CHAPTER TWO:
The guy lied, and he lied under oath, and he lied to protect himself. And guess what, someone had something to say, and boy oh boy was it a doozy: "Mr, you are a liar."
Now, I know, I know, we could care less that he lied or whether he's a liar. If we did, we could drive into town where such matters are resolved, but you and I, well, the only thing we care about is if the uttered sentence, "Mr, you are a liar" is true.
Ann, sweet sweet Ann, still drunk as all get up says, "he lied, so duh, he's a liar." To put it plainly, she is saying because there is an instance where he has lied, he is therefore a liar. Actually, she might have said it more plainly, but either way.
Again, there's a translation issue. If he does not generally lie but rather rarely lies, he is not a liar if to say of one that he's a liar is to say that he does so generally. Clearly, a lot of people translate differently depending on how important the issue, so I am careful not to take the translation possibilities off the table too quickly.
Since the guy rarely lies, I find it false to say he generally lies, so when I hear "he has no integrity" from people just because he got caught lying to save his ass from embarrassment, I'm more inclined to move away from the masses and try to see the truth for what it is, despite why they might say what they do. People say all kinds of things when they're angry, and it's my desire to be immune from the anger and see the truth.
The truth is he lied.
The truth is he seldom lies.
The truth is he generally does not lie.
Now, the question is, is he a liar?
If we take specific instances as a sufficient condition, then yes, but I don't think we should. Does the guy who not just seldomly but rarely lie live by rules of integrity? Of course; he just didn't this time.