Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:53:33.958Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Shame and Contempt in Kant's Moral Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2013

Krista K. Thomason
Krista K. Thomason*
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Attitudes like shame and contempt seem to be at odds with basic tenets of Kantian moral theory. I argue on the contrary that both attitudes play a central role in Kantian morality. Shame and contempt are attitudes that protect our love of honour, or the esteem we have for ourselves as moral persons. The question arises: how are these attitudes compatible with Kant's claim that all persons deserve respect? I argue that the proper object of shame and contempt is not the humanity within a person, but rather her self-conceit, or the false esteem that competes with love of honour.

Keywords

contemptKantlove of honourshame
Type
Articles
Information
Kantian Review , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , July 2013 , pp. 221 - 240
Copyright
Copyright © Kantian Review 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baier, Annette (1993) ‘Moralism and Cruelty: Reflections on Hume and Kant’. Ethics, 103, 436–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darwall, Stephen (2006) The Second Person Standpoint. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Deigh, John (1993) ‘Shame and Self-Esteem: A Critique’. Ethics, 93, 225–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deigh, John (2006) ‘The Politics of Disgust and Shame’. Journal of Ethics, 10(4), 383–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grenberg, Jeanine (2005) Kant and the Ethics of Humility: A Story of Dependence, Corruption, and Virtue. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, Thomas Jr. (2000) Respect, Pluralism, and Justice: Kantian Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kant, Immanuel (1996a) The Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Mary Gregor. In Mary Gregor (ed.), Practical Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kant, Immanuel (1996b) Critique of Practical Reason, trans. Mary Gregor. In Mary Gregor (ed.), Practical Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel (1997) Lectures on Ethics, trans. Peter Heath, ed. Peter Heath and J. B. Schneewind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, Michelle (2003) ‘Contempt as a Moral Emotion’. Ethics, 113, 234–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, John (1999) A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strawson, P. F. (2003) ‘Freedom and Resentment’. In Gary Watson (ed.), Oxford Readings in Philosophy: Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sussman, David (2008) ‘Shame and Punishment in Kant's Doctrine of Right’. Philosophical Quarterly, 58, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Gabriele (1985) Pride, Shame, and Guilt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wallace, R. Jay (1994) Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, Bernard (1993) Shame and Necessity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, Allen (2008) Kantian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar