A Philosophy of Shame Book Review

Shame is often a hidden and often-dismissed emotion that, as both individual and collective, has the potential for both political mobilization and the erosion of symbolic social capital. In this book, Gros argues that “shame constitutes a deep experience; it is broader and more complex even than guilt and encompasses multiple moral, social, psychological and political dimensions”(p. ix). Shame is the “major emotion of our time, the signifier of new struggles” (p. xi). “Shame is an amalgam of sadness and rage”(p. xiv). Gros traces the evolution of shame, from honor-based societies to bourgeois respectability to modern manifestations, including the weaponization of shame against marginalized groups. The author briefly analyzes internet shaming in contemporary digital societies. Though the dynamics of online shaming and economic power structures remained underexplored. 

Shame has been considered objective, tangible, collective and reversible. In the past, societies conceptualized shame mainly collectively and it was primarily linked with the notion of honour and symbolic social capital (e.g., clan/family line, name, reputation and honour). Western modernity has significantly discredited this sensitivity to collective honour. Liberalism placed the emphasis on an individual’s rights and freedoms. Later, capitalism replaced the symbolic power of honour by only acknowledging business and monetary transactions. The shame of ‘being poor’ emerged along with the centralization of the nuclear, hard-working, heterosexual family, and property ownership. Collective honour was replaced by the notions of respectability and normality. “Normality is what passes for honourable in our honourless societies” (p.13). Normality is supervised by laws, the state, religions, and other public institutions. Sexuality is highly saturated with collective and individual shame. Digital shame and social disdain/inadequacy arise. In contemporary digital societies, “whereas the ethos of the rich is to incite envy, that of the poor is to avoid being a source of shame”(p. 25). In neoliberal capitalist societies, poverty has become the unequivocal marker of lack of ambition, personal defeat, and shortcomings of character. Hence, poverty must turn into anger to elicit the ambition to overcome scarcity. However, a more complex dichotomy arises in the individuals: it is the shame of being poor and the shame of feeling shame instead of feeling proud of the hard work required to avoid destitution.  

Gros situates shame at the intersection of the self and others, offering a layered and nuanced account of its meaning. While the book is intellectually ambitious, it falls short in demonstrating how these insights might translate into everyday social life. Consequently, the question remains whether individual experiences of shame can genuinely be transformed into a catalyst for collective action and social change.

Reviewed by Lidia Fourcans