Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

Are you worth it?

by
May 2014, no. 361

Mirror, Mirror: The uses and abuses of self-love by Simon Blackburn

Princeton University Press (Footprint) $42.95 pb, 213 pp, 9780691161426

Are you worth it?

by
May 2014, no. 361

Everyone knows the emotions of self-concern – self-esteem, pride, vanity, self-respect – and associated character traits ­– authenticity, arrogance, humility, and the like. Yet as soon as we start to think seriously about them and the roles they play in personal and social life, they tantalise with their ambiguities and their resistance to easy definition. Some forms of self-concern, such as arrogance and hubris, are disagreeable. Yet others, such as self-respect, seem desirable. Why? And what is self-respect exactly, anyway? How much do these various emotions and dispositions contribute to (or detract from) a good or decent life?

Tim Oakley reviews 'Mirror, Mirror: The uses and abuses of self-love' by Simon Blackburn

Mirror, Mirror: The uses and abuses of self-love

by Simon Blackburn

Princeton University Press (Footprint) $42.95 pb, 213 pp, 9780691161426

From the New Issue

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.