On Glory and Shame by Baruch Spinoza
Spinoza defines glory as the joy a person feels when others esteem and praise his conduct, apart from any advantage those others may seek. Shame is the sorrow felt when one sees one’s conduct despised, apart from any further injury or disadvantage. Shamelessness is the absence or rejection of shame, arising either from innocence, as with children and “savage people,” or from becoming so accustomed to contempt that one acts without regard for anything. Glory and shame are vain and imperfect passions. They bring no real advantage and are harmful because they rest on self-love and on the mistaken belief that a person is the first cause of his own actions and therefore deserves praise or blame. They must therefore be rejected in themselves. Yet glory and shame need not be avoided altogether in social life. They may be used for the benefit and improvement of mankind, even when doing so requires limiting one’s otherwise legitimate freedom. Someone who wears costly clothes merely to gain respect pursues glory from self-love. But someone whose wisdom is ignored because shabby clothing causes others to despise him may properly adopt respectable dress, if his purpose is to help his neighbors and make them receptive to what he can offer. By becoming outwardly like others, he may win them over. Shamelessness, finally, is presented as plainly deformed: its very definition is sufficient to reveal its ugliness.
By Baruch Spinoza · First published 1660 · Genre: Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Philosophy · 468 words
First lines
We shall now also briefly consider glory, shame, and shamelessness. The first is a certain kind of Joy which everyone feels in himself whenever he becomes aware that his conduct is esteemed and praised by others, without regard to any other advantage or profit which they may have in view.
Shame is a certain kind of sorrow which arises in one when he happens to see that his conduct is despised by others, without regard to any other disadvantage or injury that they may have in view.
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On Glory and Shame is listed on Textopian as an essay by Baruch Spinoza, dated 1660 CE.
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- Work type: Essay
- Author: Baruch Spinoza
- Date: 1660 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Philosophy, Psychology, Philosophical Psychology
- Length: 468 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
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Genres
- Philosophy — The work is a concise philosophical examination of glory, shame, and shamelessness, defining these affects and judging their ethical significance.
- Ethics — It evaluates passions according to their usefulness and harm, arguing that glory and shame should not govern life but may be instrumentally used for human improvement.
- Moral Philosophy — The passage addresses praise, blame, self-love, social conduct, freedom, and the proper motives for action among other people.
- Psychology — It analyzes emotional states as forms of joy and sorrow arising from awareness of others' esteem or contempt.
Tags
philosophy · ethics · moral psychology · emotions · human nature · reason · virtue · pride · humility · honor · reputation · social approval