Shame, guilt and Martha Nussbaum’s immaturing process

Alethic truth and human flourishing

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21159554
AutoresAmanda Wilson (0000-0003-1384-0394, School of Law, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, autor correspondente)
Ano2020
Volume19
Fascículo4
Páginas380-397
Data de publicação2020-08-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Critical Realism (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1476-7430 • E-ISSN: 1572-5138
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14767430.2020.1802190
OpenAlexW3080963144
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas15

In this paper, I argue that it is possible to have an account of shame and guilt as mature concepts in moral psychology that sit alongside immature ones. In arguing for this, I adopt the critical realist method of immanent critique, taking as my focus Martha Nussbaum’s accounts of shame and guilt in two key texts. Starting from a nuanced psychoanalytic foundation in Hiding from Humanity, Nussbaum undoes this grounding in favour of an elementary position (the ‘Transition’) in Anger and Forgiveness. In tracing what I call an ‘immaturing process’ in Nussbaum, I show how mature concepts can be identified by contrasting them with immature concepts, and how the mature concepts represent a deeper understanding of shame and guilt – their alethic truth – which is critical to human flourishing. I conclude by considering what can be rescued from Nussbaum’s immaturing process and its broader implications for criminal law and justice

Epistemology · Flourishing · Forgiveness · Humanity · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Shame · Sociology · Theology · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Free Will and Agency · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology