Humility and Pride
A good friend sent me a question today that got me thinking:
If you ever have the time, I have a few questions that I would like to see you answer. First, I’d like you to define humility and pride in your own terms. Second; do you think people can be humble? Third; do you think humility is a virtue? Fourth; do you think people are generally prideful, and fifth; do you think pride is a virtue? Feel free to keep these answers as long or short (even so far as not answering) as you want. I await your response or lack there of with great anticipation.
Hmm… let me think about this for a bit. I don’t tend to divide things up into humility vs. pride, but rather realism vs. arrogance. Let me try to explain how I think a person should approach this topic.
We all have skills, talents, achievements, etc., which are things we should be proud of, especially our achievements which are the results of our own effort. Being proud of these things, however, implies that we are realistic about them — i.e., that we don’t make more out of our achievements than there really is to make, and that we realize that anyone who applies themselves can achieve what we have achieved. If we have this attitude, it prevents us from being arrogant — looking down on others who have not achieved what we have, or thinking that they cannot achieve what we have. So arrogance is the real problem, not pride per se.
As for humility, well I think its a word that should just vanish because it has turned into a tool of emotional manipulation that leaves people feeling as though they cannot take legitimate credit for their efforts lest they become prideful or some such nonsense. Again, be realistic about your achievements — that is a virtue. Acknowledge them for what they are, realize you can always do better and that anyone can achieve what you can if they really put their heart and mind into it.
I think that people “tend” to have over-inflated views of their own achievements. But this comes from ignorance — they don’t understand their achievements realistically in the scope of whatever field they make that achievement in (and how it compares on a value scale with other achievements). I think a good example of this is men who can’t give up thinking about the “glory days” of college football. Think “Uncle Rico” from Napoleon Dynamite. His profound ignorance left him with an arrogance that we think absurd because we have a greater understanding of his college “achievements” in the scope of life than he did. So people tend to be arrogant because of their ignorance. The key then is to be like Socrates, understand your limitations, and let that put your feet back on the ground.
6 comments
In Catholic moral theology pride is considered one of the seven deadly sins, even though it’s not, precisely speaking, a sin at all. It’s more of a tendency that overinflates our sense of self to the point where we do not acknowledge our limitations, and more importantly, our utter dependence on God for all things.
In line with what you are saying, there is a kind of false humility which is actually a disguised form of pride. There’s an interesting bit in the Divine Comedy where Dante places himself in the company of the greatest poets of history, because he recognizes his own talent. And of course he’s right to do so, even though some would say that it’s prideful or arrogant to say such a thing. There’s a form of pietism that sees any sense of accomplishment as sin, that would have every man groveling and screaming “Unworthy!” day and night. (Though this spirit is, in some sense, true as regards our relationship with the Trinity.)
Pride, as defined in moral theology, is an inclination towards arrogance, not, as you seem to be saying, self-esteem (another term which has been misused). And humility, properly understood, is simply a correct understanding of your self; in other words, self-esteem. We ought not to think too much or too little of ourselves, but to find the golden mean so desired by Aristotle.
Obviously I think that finding an accurate picture of our selves is impossible without reference to God our creator (and, for Christians, our redeemer). Seeing oneself as the image and likeness of God opens up new fields of exploration, and larger standards of comparison. Even the ancient philosophers had reference to the eternal laws of the gods, just as in the East they had reference to the Tao. Without this external—and to some degree supernatural—standard, I would question whether or not we can see ourselves clearly at all, much less have any rational moral code. But I guess this is getting off the topic, so I digress.
Interesting way to look at pride… “ignorance — they don’t understand their achievements realistically,” as though it really isn’t their fault that they overly glorify themselves. Would you be willing to put your foot down and say that anything short of realism (ie- ignorance leading to “pride”) is wrong?
Meg, you associate the term ignorance with innocence, as if we are never responsible for what we “don’t know”. But this isn’t the case. At times, we are willfully ignorant either through self-deception or apathy, and it is then that we become guilty of “pride”. But a healthy admission of ignorance should always keep us on a realistic plane. Remembering that I don’t know everything and have a lot to learn gives me a better vantage point from which to assess what I do know and have achieved.
I agree, we all have a responsibility to know ourselves as well as possible, and to admit the practical finitude of this knowledge. “Know thyself,” as Socrates said, but also know your own limitations.
so you were referring to people who were willfully ignorant of the true state of their achievements? They are the ones who have pride, verses someone who is genuinely “innocent” of the true nature of their achievements. Did I understand that right, or am I caught in a blonde moment… Sigh.
Yet wouldn’t all this result in a semi-relativistic mindset? Each person seeks to “know thyself” as best as possible, but based on what? On themselves?
Or is there an ultimate standard by which every person can judge the truth/reality of his achievements and success?