Dirty Rotten Shame? The Value and Ethical Functions of Shame

Approaching the human condition of shame from an ethical point of view, this essay traces the problems involving the relationship between shame and guilt, and between shame and the social field. Drawing on a phenomenological approach to shame phenomena, the essay explores moral and philosophical theories of shame underpinning our humanistic and psychological appreciation of this most basic human experience, one that, as we suggest, has both positive and negative valences