Dignity, Character and Self-Respect

This is the first anthology to bring together a selection of the most important contemporary philosophical essays on the nature and moral significance of self-respect. Representing a diversity of views, the essays illustrate the complexity of self-respect and explore its connections to such topics as personhood, dignity, rights, character, autonomy, integrity, identity, shame, justice, oppression and empowerment. The book demonstrates that self-respect is a formidable concern which goes to the very heart of both moral theory and moral life.
The essays address numerous questions: What is it to have self-respect or to respect oneself? How does this differ from self-esteem, pride and confidence? What is it to lack self-respect? Does it matter morally whether a person respects herself? Is self-respect a wholly moral, or morally good, phenomenon? How are self-respect and respect for others related, conceptually and practically? How does self-respect operate in contexts of oppression? In the introduction to the book, Robin S. Dillon provides a comprehensive overview of the issues, placing recent contributions within the philosophical tradition and highlighting the relevance of self-respect to current political concerns.
Contributors: Bernard Boxill, Stephen L. Darwall, John Deigh, Robin S. Dillon, Thomas E. Hill, Jr., Aurel Kolnai, Stephen J. Massey, Diana T. Meyers, Michelle M. Moody-Adams, John Rawls, Gabriele Taylor, Elizabeth Telfer, Laurence L. Thomas.