The Six Pillars of Character

Interesting idea today while grading papers, possibly for Expeditionary Leadership book: concepts in conflict, leading to a dilemma.

Pirsig talks about a dilemma as a bull with two horns. In Rhetoric, the writer pursues a logical series of thoughts, steps in a proof, to support or refute either or both of the horns. He describes the hero challenging each horn and, not being satisfied, goes for a third option: go *between* the horns.

The six pillars of character are

- trustworthiness
- respect
- responsibility
- fairness
- caring
- citizenship

These values are always in conflict. Most often the conflict is muted, because the six pillars align with the current activities and the current social framework. Misalignment creates an ethical dilemma. Determining what type of dilemma one has helps to define the problem and set up the testing of the problem against ethical standard utilizing the six pillars of character.

Right vs wrong deals with a legal decision. Right vs Right is the conflict created by misalignment of one or more of the six pillars.

(insert examples)