ritual Directions
(to take three common examples), it also says that those who
act in those ways will not be honored. Basically, to be intolerable necessarily implies that one is also dishonorable. In such
a society, people who choose to take the proscribed actions
put their honor at risk.
So, for example, when a group of 56 prima facie traitors here
in Philadelphia signed a document to lay before “the opinions
of mankind” their argument for independence, they pledged
to each other for its support “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our
sacred Honor”: that is, they wagered life, money and reputation for the sake of their Declaration. “Honor” was one of the
stakes they laid on the table, but it was liberty that they were
after. Similarly, though with less to be gained, Boy Scouts
pledge, “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God
and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other
people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” The boy stakes the opinion
of his peers against the chance that he may not do his best
in pursuit of trustworthiness, loyalty and the other virtues of
the Scout Law, but those virtues are not simply equivalent to
being well-thought of by others, even though they may well
contribute to his having that status.
Thus, too, when a student writes on an examination “On my
honor, I have neither received nor given help...” or promises
not to tolerate those lie, cheat or steal, reputation is being
made the guarantee of certain kinds of behavior. We may,
and do, call those behaviors “honorable”—that is, worthy of
receiving public approbation—but the behaviors are not
themselves honor: the house that I offer as a pledge of repayment is not the same as the loan I hope to get from my
bank. The “honor” in “honor code” refers to what is (nominally,
at least) being put at stake—reputation, or even continued
membership in the community (and, in the original college
“
...integrity:
the quality
of remaining still in
one piece,
despite the
vicissitudes
of life, of
remaining
true to one’s
principles...
Continues on page 20
CSEE Connectio