What is honor? : a question of moral imperatives / Alexander Welsh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Welsh, Alexander.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Honor.

Conduct of life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (252 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What is honor? Has its meaning changed since ancient times? Is it an outmoded notion? Does it still have the power to direct our behavior? In this provocative book Alexander Welsh considers the history and meaning of honor and dismisses the idea that we live in a post-honor culture. He notes that we have words other than honor, such as respect, self-respect, and personal identity, that show we do indeed care deeply about honor. Honor, he argues, is a continuing process of respect that motivates or constrains members of a peer group. Honor's dictates function as moral imperatives. Surprisingly, little systematic study of the history of honor in Western culture has been attempted. Offering a welcome remedy, Welsh provides a genealogy of approaches to the subject, mining some of the most influential texts of the Western tradition. He rereads with fascinating results the works of Aristotle, Cicero, Shakespeare, Mandeville, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Adam Smith, and others. With a sharp focus on the intersection of honor and ethics in both literature and philosophy, Welsh invites new and constructive debate on a topic of vital interest.

Contents:

On moralities of obedience and respect

Help from anthropology and psychology

Respect in the ethics of Aristotle

Cicero's mediation of the same

Shakespeare's recourse to Roman honor

His Antony, Cleopatra, and Coriolanus

Honor by that name in Mandeville and Montesquieu

Leveling down in Enlightenment fiction

Coming of age in neoclassical drama

And how Rousseau's Emile comes of age

Kant's engagement with honor

Parallels to Kant's moral philosophy

Respect and Adam Smith's impartial spectator

Adam Smith and recent social science

Coming to terms with honor in philosophy.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-222) and index.

ISBN:

9786612353468

9781282353466

1282353462

9780300148305

0300148305

OCLC:

646861237