Aidos: The Psychology and Ethics of Honour and Shame in Ancient Greek Literature <\/a> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=leithartcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0198146841\")
) is skeptical. <\/p>\n He traces Benedict\u2019s conception back through Margaret Mead to Weber, and concludes that the internal\/external dichotomy is not the real basis of the distinction. \u00a0Rather, \u201csupervenient on this criterion is the further thesis that guilt and conscience, and therefore truly internal sanctions, can exist only in societies in which the child is socialized by parents who stress the kind of imperatives, the absolute Good and Evil, which are hypostatized in the figure of a fatherly Deity. \u00a0The shame-culture-guilt-culture antithesis, then, stands in a direct line of descent from Weber\u2019s protestant ethic.\u201d \u00a0Thus, \u201conly a society which relies on Protestant, Anglo-America methods of parenting can be said to place much emphasis on internal sanctions.\u201d \u00a0In the end, it is not the internal or external nature of the sanction that distinguishes between the two, and \u201cevidence for internal sanctions and even for guilt-like behaviour [in \u2018shame cultures\u2019] is being ignored because these sanctions are not set up by the methods applied in white, middle-class America.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ultimately, the whole distinction ends up in tatters, and this has important implications for how we regard cultural difference:\u00a0\u201dThere is no justification for the unlikely claim that there are societies in which internalization of social and moral values does not take place, and none for the view that conscience is a phenomenon restricted to a very few cultural contexts. \u00a0If this is so, then I cannot see much use for the antithesis.\u201d <\/p>\n
That is, not much use conceptually or analytically. \u00a0But it has its political uses. \u00a0Cairns traces the distinction back to Weber, but it also seems to participate in the liberal Protestant metanarrative that Milbank identifies. \u00a0That is, religion progresses from externalized, ritualized, \u201cCatholic\u201d forms to internalized, spiritualized forms. \u00a0In this progression, religion gradually sheds its unnecessary external props and emerges in its pure religious essence. \u00a0Shame v. Guilt culture thus implies the superiority of Western internal and private religion over the culturally embedded and embodied religions of the past, and thus the distinction plays its part in the policing of the boundaries of the sacred. \u00a0The distinction ensures that the sacred stays where it should be, deep in the heart of the individual. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: \u201cTrue shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good behavior, not, as true guilt cultures do, on an internalized conviction of sin.\u00a0 Shame is a reaction to other people\u2019s criticism.\u00a0 A man is shamed either by being openly ridiculed and rejected or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classics"],"yoast_head":"\n
Shame and Guilt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shame and Guilt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leithart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-28T06:30:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-09-06T18:01:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=leithartcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0198146841\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PLeithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/\",\"name\":\"Shame and Guilt\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-28T06:30:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-06T18:01:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\"},\"description\":\"Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shame and Guilt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\",\"name\":\"Leithart\",\"description\":\"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\",\"name\":\"Peter Leithart\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Peter Leithart\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shame and Guilt","description":"Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shame and Guilt","og_description":"Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/","og_site_name":"Leithart","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","article_published_time":"2010-08-28T06:30:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-09-06T18:01:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=leithartcom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0198146841"}],"author":"Peter Leithart","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PLeithart","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Leithart","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/","name":"Shame and Guilt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-28T06:30:32+00:00","dateModified":"2017-09-06T18:01:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d"},"description":"Ruth Benedict gave classic formulation to the contrast of shame and guilt cultures: “True shame cultures rely on external sanctions for good","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2010\/08\/shame-and-guilt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shame and Guilt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/","name":"Leithart","description":"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d","name":"Peter Leithart","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Peter Leithart"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}