Personally, I found this reflection very timely-- thanks for that! One question it raised for me, though, is why you choose to draw a contrast between property and honor rather than, say, virtue. Can’t one draw a line down the middle of honor, too, and say that the honor that matters is not recognition from others but self-recognition, recognition that requires self-knowledge?
Thanks for this question, Tim, which seems to me like an extension of the topic of the essay, one I hadn't considered and you seem absolutely right about. You do need a line down the middle of honor, too.
So the one between wealth and honor is a first broad cut, and honor itself needs to be broken down, into something like recognition from others and self-recognition (or some instance of a unworthy recognition / worthy recognition contrast).
It is important to note, however, that the problem can't be solved by a choice of words, by substituting virtue for honor in the first round. You will still have to break virtue down into conventional virtue and true virtue. So in any case there is an initial cut, to be followed by another cut by as you say becoming critical about what is honorable. Asking yourself not what is honored but what is honorable.
Personally, I found this reflection very timely-- thanks for that! One question it raised for me, though, is why you choose to draw a contrast between property and honor rather than, say, virtue. Can’t one draw a line down the middle of honor, too, and say that the honor that matters is not recognition from others but self-recognition, recognition that requires self-knowledge?
Thanks for this question, Tim, which seems to me like an extension of the topic of the essay, one I hadn't considered and you seem absolutely right about. You do need a line down the middle of honor, too.
So the one between wealth and honor is a first broad cut, and honor itself needs to be broken down, into something like recognition from others and self-recognition (or some instance of a unworthy recognition / worthy recognition contrast).
It is important to note, however, that the problem can't be solved by a choice of words, by substituting virtue for honor in the first round. You will still have to break virtue down into conventional virtue and true virtue. So in any case there is an initial cut, to be followed by another cut by as you say becoming critical about what is honorable. Asking yourself not what is honored but what is honorable.