| dc.description.abstract |
This dynamic work explores shame and other moral emotions from a multidisciplinary
perspective. Shame has long been perceived as a negative emotion, not unlike anger,
and critics therefore push to minimize or banish it. This work starts off by defining
and outlining a vocabulary for shame and moves into a re-articulation and analysis
of many different conceptions of the shame emotion throughout time, notably those
laid out by ancient Chinese philosophers Mengzi and Kongzi as well as ancient Greek
conceptions. Following this foundation, more modern perceptions of shame and the shame
family of emotions are discussed. Much effort is devoted to differentiating shame
from guilt, a distinction which philosophers have been wrestling with for some time
in the contemporary rhetoric. Additional themes explored within are Eastern to Western
cross-cultural comparison of moral emotion and the corresponding socialization of
second-level emotions in young children. Psychological study of these phenomena and
the hurdles faced in the traditional study of these complex emotions are also pervasive
topics throughout. The psychological and behavioral explanations of shame discussed
offer adaptive explanations for why shame may have evolved, and tangible benefits
to the individual and community alike for cultivating a proper sense of shame.
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