On the very notion of compliance with some help from William James

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reach more clarity regarding the notion of compliance, in particular with regard to relation between this notion and the notion of integrity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a conceptual investigation, following a broadly understood Wittgensteinian approach. Findings – The main result is: there is no such thing as compliance in the full sense of that word without integrity. Compliance without integrity is a pathological case of compliance. Originality/value – So far, issues of compliance and integrity have either been treated as being essentially separate or as one coming in addition to the other one. If the paper’s argument is correct, this should no longer be accepted. The whole discussion should, instead, take another route.