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612-822-4611
A Philosophy of Shame: A Revolutionary Emotion

A Philosophy of Shame: A Revolutionary Emotion

Hardcover

Philosophy

Publisher Price: $24.95

ISBN10: 1804294152
ISBN13: 9781804294154
Publisher: Verso
Published: Jun 10 2025
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.61
Height: 0.79 Width: 5.67 Depth: 8.43
Language: English
An original reflection on shame as the central feeling of our age -- the expression of an anger that is the necessary condition for new struggles

Can shame become a source of political strength? Faced with injustice, growing inequality and systemic violence, we cry out in shame. We feel ashamed of obscene wealth amid wider deprivation. We feel ashamed of humanity for its ruthless and relentless exploitation of the earth. We feel ashamed of the racism and sexism that permeate society and our everyday lives.

This difficult emotion is not just sadness or a withdrawal into oneself, nor is it a paralysing sense of inadequacy. As Frédéric Gros argues in A Philosophy of Shame, it arises when our perception of reality rejects passivity and resignation and instead embraces imagination. Shame thus becomes the expression of an anger that is a powerful, transformative force --one that assumes a radical character.

In dialogue with authors such as Primo Levi, Annie Ernaux, Virginie Despentes and James Baldwin, Gros explores a concept that is still little understood in its anthropological, moral, psychological and political depths. Shame is a revolu­tionary sentiment because it lies at the foundation of any path of subjective recognition, transformation and struggle.

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Philosophy