수치심과 인간다움의 이해 - 누스바움과 맹자의 수치심 개념을 중심으로

Abstract

Shame is an emotion of sorrow for our own shortcomings, but it may be also an emotion that awakens ourselves to reflect on our mistakes. This article considers the contradictory aspects of shame to be a interesting theme and intends to refer to Nussbaum’s and Mencius’ concept of shame. According to Nussbaum, shame is an emotion that is used to brand a certain group of people in a society to overcome anxiety about human imperfection. This kind of stigma bases on a dichotomy that determines arbitrarily normal and abnormal. Therefore, Nussbaum thinks that shame is very irrational and difficult to trust. She explains that shame reflects a human desire to become to be perfect like God without accepting imperfectness. Mencius, on the other hand, regards shame as an emotion that is one of four clues to four virtues. According to Mencius’ concept, shame is helpful of us to reflect on ourselves and to develop personality in harmony with human nature. For this reason, it is possible in Mencius that shame is considered as an important driving force in growth of humanity. Although Nussbaum and Mencius have very different opinions about shame, this article considers that Nussbaum’s concept of ‘productive shame’ is not much different from Mencius’ concept of shame, and at this point may be found a compatibility between them. Nussbaum emphasizes a necessity for overcoming narcissistic tendencies by orienting moral values and an attitude of humbly acknowledging human imperfection ​​so that productive shame could be positively realized. We may agree that Mencius’ concept of shame is not in a opposition to these conditions of Nussbaum, and this may be regarded as a common point of two different views. In this article, we will deal with Nussbaum’s and Mencius’ concept of shame, and subsequently compare them and clarify the differences between them. Then, we will discuss about a possibility of combining their views by analyzing what two philosophers have in common. In conclusion, we may see that understanding of shame can broaden understanding of human beings and be helpful for our inner growth toward humanity.