Description
At its simplest, says Bowman (Ethics and Public Policy Center) honor is the good opinion within a society of equals. But he argues that during the 19th century in Europe and America, the essentially local quality of honor was obscured by the rise of the modern nation state and patriotism, and by the spread of honor from its previously exclusive residence among an aristocratic elite. Now people ponder--usually only hypothetically--the choice between betraying country and betraying friends. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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The importance of honor is present in the earliest records of civilization. Today, while it may still be an essential concept in Islamic cultures, in the West, honor has been disparaged and dismissed as obsolete. In this lively and authoritative book, James Bowman traces the curious and fascinating history of this ideal, from the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment and to the killing fields of World War I and the despair of Vietnam. Bowman reminds us that the fate of honor and the fate of morality and even manners are deeply interrelated.
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