Lesson Six

Pride and Shame

Man is nothing else but that which he makes

of himself.
- Jean-Paul Sartre

o For the Greeks, pride is a key virtue

and is opposed to shame.
o For Aristotle, it was one of the most
central virtues, the core of the
megalopsychos or great-souled man.

o In the Middle Ages, pride become a

sin as opposed to humility.
o Pope Gregory the Great pride is the
worse of the sins (i.e., seven deadly
sins)

o In the 20th century, pride has once

again earned a positive place in social
thinking.
o Filipinos pride, Gay pride, etc.

False Pride
Based in a supposition of the facts.
Based on things that one should not be
proud of
Ku Klux Klan

Pride and the Self

Typically, pride involves the self.
Pride is a positive evaluation of
oneself; a positive emotion
Pride is a positive evaluation of
something that one has done.
You have done something good.
You have done something
praiseworthy.

Pride and morality

Pride involve a kind of moral and
ethical dimension.
Pride makes us a better person
after doing something
praiseworthy.
We are being praise for doing good
and blame for doing bad things.

Pride and social emotion

There are things that one could be
proud of in the past but one would
not be proud of today.
Example: having big number of
child is acceptable in the past but
not acceptable today.

What is Pride?
Pride is not just one of the basic
emotion, but has social dimension,
self-reference, and moral/ethical
appraisal.
Pride is a higher cognitive function:
it require from us much more
awareness of what is going on
around us, of our society, our
culture and our status.

Family of pride
Pride includes:
Shame
Embarrassment
Guilt
Remorse
Regret
All these emotions refers to the
self

Pride and self-identity

The self is cultural.
We have:
Greek concept of self
American concept of self
Filipino concept of self
A sense of identity is critical to
pride.

Pride and social

Pride can be extended beyond the
self.
- Family
Community
City
Country

Pride is not just individual but also

social.

Shame and embarrassment

In shame you take some responsibility
for something you have done; when
embarrassed, you dont blame yourself.
Example: invited to a party
Shame you arrive late
Embarrassment you arrive wearing
short and sneakers for a black-tie affair.

Honte and Pudeur

Shame is cultural
French has two meanings of shame:

Honte being caught up in a scandal or

doing something against the rule/law.
Pudeur being caught naked

The story of Genesis, Adam and Eve find

themselves naked (pudeur); they break
Gods commandment.
The story of Christs crucifixion

Kinds of Guilt:
1. Legal feeling of guilt for
violating a law
2. Moral feeling of guilt for
violating Gods commandment
3. Causal no feeling of guilt,
accident

Freud and Guilt

Freud talked about neurotic guilt, a
feeling of guilt despite the fact
that we know full well that we have
not done nothing wrong.
Example: Don Abrasado

Shame and Guilt Socities

According to anthropologist there are shame
and guilt societies. Both are premise that have
done something wrong. What is the
difference:

Shame Society

Guilt Society

Tribal culture
Japanese culture
Community

Western culture
Individualistic
Christianity

Remorse and Regret

Involves moral and
immorality
Remorse involves
deep concern
about having done
something wrong.
Important element
in character and
justice.

Regret tends to be
personal.
You havent done
something wrong
or unlawful.
I regret that
I woke up late and
missed the bus;

Mahatma Gandhi (18691949)

The seven deadly sins are: Wealth
without work, Pleasure without
conscience, Knowledge without
character, Business without morality,
Science without humanity, Worship
without sacrifice, and Politics without
principle.

END