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Synopsis
We know shame can be a morally valuable emotion that helps us to realize when we fail to be the kinds of people we aspire to be. We feel shame when we fail to live up to the norms, standards, and ideals that we value as part of a virtuous life. But the lived reality of shame is far more complex and far darker than this - the gut-level experience of shame that has little to do with failing to reach our ideals. We feel shame viscerally about nudity, sex, our bodies,
and weaknesses or flaws that we can't control. Shame can cause self-destructive and violent behavior, and chronic shame can cause painful psychological damage. Is shame a valuable moral emotion, or would we be better off without it?
In Naked, Krista K. Thomason takes a hard look at the reality of shame. The experience of it, she argues, involves a tension between identity and self-conception: namely, what causes me shame both overshadows me (my self-conception) and yet is me (my identity). We are liable to feelings of shame because we are not always who we take ourselves to be. Thomason extends her thought-provoking analysis to our current social and political landscape: shaming has increased dramatically because
of the proliferation of social media platforms. And although these online shaming practices can be used in harmful ways, they can also root out those who express racist and sexist views, and enable marginalized groups to confront oppression. Is more and continued shaming therefore better, and is there moral
promise in using shame in this way?
Thomason grapples with these and numerous other questions. Her account of shame makes sense of its good and bad features, its numerous gradations and complexity, and ultimately of its essential place in our moral lives. New & Used
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What Reviewers Are Saying
This is a very thoughtful book that takes a deep dive into one of humankind's most significant moral emotions. We recommend it. * Ethics Unwrapped, McCombs School of Business - The University of Texas at Austin * Thomason's unified account of shame is ambitious and compelling. Her constitutive account of moral emotions is independently plausible and worthy of further attention. And both accounts are developed within a sharply written piece of philosophy that is rich with engaging literary examples. Thomason has shown that the darker side of shame can illuminate this complicated emotion's brighter side. * Jordan MacKenzie, Ethics * Thomason's book is provocative, insightful, and loaded with interesting and colorful examples. It will be of interest to theorists in normative ethics and philosophy of emotion, but also to advanced undergraduates and non-philosophers * Max F. Kramer, metapsychology * there is also much to be appreciated by anyone with an interest in moral psychology. It formulates an understanding of the emotion of shame and advances powerful but controversial arguments about the permissibility of inducing shame in others. I could envision it being used as a main text in a seminar on moral psychology, in conjunction with other books or papers that bring alternative perspectives (consequentialist, virtue theoretic, pluralist) to bear. * Mark Alfano, Criminal Justice Ethics * This book is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to furthering the conversation about shame and its proper place in morality. Thomason's account of the nature of shame is alluring and deserves serious consideration... Philosophers seeking to better inform their own bets would do well in reading this book. * Carissa Veliz, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews * Embracing shame in all its variety from that of the teenage boy discovered masturbating by his mother to that of the liar, the cheat, and the thief Thomason's refreshingly accessible book yields a unified account of shame as an emotion that marks dissonance between the identities that define us and the self-conceptions we hold dear. In arriving at her account, Thomason acknowledges shame's destructive features but defends a place for it among the emotions the
liability to which is constitutive of our moral commitments. Proponents of the competing traditional, naturalistic, and pessimistic views of shame likely will find areas in which to disagree with Thomason, but her arguments should not be ignored. * Michelle Mason, University of Minnesota * Drawing on philosophy and imaginative literature, this is an informative and stimulating exploration of the nature and moral status of the emotion of shameone that forced me to rethink some of my own views on the topic. Clearly written and well argued, it should be of value both to those who have given considerable thought to the topic and those who are starting to think about it for the first time. I recommend it with enthusiasm. * Jeffrie Murphy, Arizona State University * This is an elegant and original account of shame, with a striking explanatory power. Thomason shows with style how even the darkest features of shame have and deserve a place in our moral life. Naked is a must-read for anyone interested in ethics, the moral emotions, and moral psychology. * Raffaele Rodogno, Aarhus University, Denmark *
liability to which is constitutive