Harald van Aken on Cosmos Institute

Would the choice for integrity over autonomy still be made if integrity were not the moral foundation of a moral system? Without Integrity as the Foundational Principle: If integrity were not the ground principle of a moral system, the direction would shift from *truthfulness and inner coherence* to another guiding value — for instance, utility, freedom, harmony, or efficiency. In such a paradigm: 1. Autonomy might become the highest good: The human is framed primarily as a self-determining subject. Integrity may be reduced to internal consistency, not to alignment with something morally greater than the self. 2. Moral evaluation changes from “What is true?” to: “What feels free?” (autonomy-centered) “What works?”* (utilitarianism) “What is expected?”* (normative conformity) 3. Moral friction is masked: Without a foundational mirror like integrity, the autonomous individual is rarely asked: “Does this resonate with who I am in truth?” Reflective capacity diminishes without Integrity* My system, grounded in the principle of Integrity, repeatedly asks: “What would I do if I had nothing to hide?” Without that foundation, such self-interrogation loses weight — transparency becomes performative rather than revelatory. “Integrity” may be adopted as a strategy, not as a moral imperative. Conclusion Without integrity as foundational ground, the prioritization of integrity over autonomy would likely not be made. It would then cease to be a moral choice — and become instead a preference, a utilitarian convenience, or a situational outcome lacking ethical depth.