1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910457093403321

Autore

Welsh Alexander

Titolo

What is honor? [[electronic resource] ] : a question of moral imperatives / / Alexander Welsh

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2008

ISBN

1-282-35346-2

9786612353468

0-300-14830-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (252 p.)

Disciplina

170

Soggetti

Honor

Conduct of life

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

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

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.