Modern Honor

This book examines the notion of honor with an eye to dissecting its intellectual demise and with the aim of making a case for honorâs rehabilitation. Western intellectuals acknowledge honorâs influence but they lament its authority. For Western democratic societies to embrace honor it must be compatible with social ideals like liberty equality and fraternity. Cunningham details a conception of honor that can do justice to these ideals. This vision revolves around three elementsâcharacter (being) relationships (relating) and activities and accomplishment (doing). Taken together these elements articulate a shared aspiration for excellence. We can turn the tables on traditional ills of honorâserious problems of gender race and classâby forging a vision of honor that rejects lives predicated on power and oppression. . Language: English