When an author uses a term that has many, conflicting definitions in popular use, it’s reasonable to hope the author will explain which of these definitions he or she intends. It’s less reasonable, I think, to insist that the author must use those terminology choices that you prefer.
In the case of “shame” it’s impossible for me to please everyone, since there are so many competing and conflicting definitions in popular use. I can only choose one, explain myself, and ask my readers to meet me half-way.
a term that has many, conflicting definitions in popular use
Can you point to a modern popular use of your definition? As far as I’m aware, the current popular (late 20th/21st century) usage is much closer to my definition than the one you’re using. I’ve also not seen any dictionary definitions that reference one’s own standards (vs. implied social standards such as “impropriety” or “foolishness”).
It just seems to me that referencing one’s own standards is a very odd carve-out in the definition, as is calling it merely “unpleasant” (vs. dictionary terms saying things like “painful” and “humiliating”).
Something that is unpleasant and one’s own standards sounds much more like the emotion of “regret” (wishing you’d done something different), rather than the emotion of shame (public disregard and low worth).
Your usage seems to me like saying that “rage is a virtue because to rage is to act against things that are unjust”, while ignoring the fact that the popular understanding of the word “rage” is more like “anger to the point of irrational, destructive or counterproductive action”. You can redefine the term in an excessively narrow way, but it doesn’t help anybody understand what you’re getting at.
Notice, too, that if you simply called it regret, much of the article would be dissolved: you wouldn’t need to address toxic shame or virtue signaling, since these aren’t terribly relevant to regret. The article could be considerably shorter, which suggests that choosing a better term would be an empirical benefit. I also can’t help but notice that all of the other top-level comments are about this terminology confusion and would have been obviated by choosing regret or another term for a less problematic emotion.
When an author uses a term that has many, conflicting definitions in popular use, it’s reasonable to hope the author will explain which of these definitions he or she intends. It’s less reasonable, I think, to insist that the author must use those terminology choices that you prefer.
In the case of “shame” it’s impossible for me to please everyone, since there are so many competing and conflicting definitions in popular use. I can only choose one, explain myself, and ask my readers to meet me half-way.
Can you point to a modern popular use of your definition? As far as I’m aware, the current popular (late 20th/21st century) usage is much closer to my definition than the one you’re using. I’ve also not seen any dictionary definitions that reference one’s own standards (vs. implied social standards such as “impropriety” or “foolishness”).
It just seems to me that referencing one’s own standards is a very odd carve-out in the definition, as is calling it merely “unpleasant” (vs. dictionary terms saying things like “painful” and “humiliating”).
Something that is unpleasant and one’s own standards sounds much more like the emotion of “regret” (wishing you’d done something different), rather than the emotion of shame (public disregard and low worth).
Your usage seems to me like saying that “rage is a virtue because to rage is to act against things that are unjust”, while ignoring the fact that the popular understanding of the word “rage” is more like “anger to the point of irrational, destructive or counterproductive action”. You can redefine the term in an excessively narrow way, but it doesn’t help anybody understand what you’re getting at.
Notice, too, that if you simply called it regret, much of the article would be dissolved: you wouldn’t need to address toxic shame or virtue signaling, since these aren’t terribly relevant to regret. The article could be considerably shorter, which suggests that choosing a better term would be an empirical benefit. I also can’t help but notice that all of the other top-level comments are about this terminology confusion and would have been obviated by choosing regret or another term for a less problematic emotion.