Varieties of Honour and Dishonour
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Varieties of Honour and Dishonour
Honour in practice
Institutionalization of honour
"Cultures of honour", "Honour systems", and "Honour codes"
Distortions of honour
Honour and credibility: "without honour"
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Complementary qualities of honour: In endeavouring to distinguish the fundamentally integrative role of honour, the following can be considered, both in their "positive" and "negative" connotations. Of particular interest is the way in which honour is not automatically associated with certain "positive" attributes, and honour may be accorded despite their absence, transcending any corresponding "negative" attributes.
| Table 1: Attributes essential (or non-essential) to honour | |
| Necessarily essential attributes of honour? | Honouring transcendence of negative attributes? |
| trustworthiness: under all circumstances? | untrustworthiness: honour may transcend trust? |
| integrity: essential to identity of what is honoured? | inconstancy, shamelessness: creative artists? |
| credibility, veracity, honesty: only incidental? | deceitfulness: honouring roguishness? |
| respectability: necessarily respectable? | unrespectability: creative eccentrics?: |
| reputation, renown, notability: only incidental? | disrepute, unrenowned: honouring the disreputable? |
| status, prestige: only incidental? | unprestigious: honouring the unrenowned? |
| glorious: but only within a context? | ignominious: |
| presence. charisma, impressive | unimpressive: honouring the ordinary? |
| dignity: | undignified: ability to act foolishly? |
| grace, beauty: natural, but only incidental? | ugliness: for the reality it constitutes? |
| praiseworthy, estimable: relative and not for others | contemptible, uncommendable:: |
| seniority, experience: only incidental? | inexperience: for effort? |
| power: only incidental? | weakness, impotence: honouring the weak? |
| commitment, dedication: only incidental? | indifference, apathy: nihilists? |
| altruism, selflessness: only incidental? | selfishness: those who "know what they want"? |
| inspiration, wondrousness: possibly only relative ? | as a negative exemplar? |
| operacy, efficacy: only incidental? | inoperacy, inefficacy: non-essential to style? |
| craftsmanship, style: only incidental? | honouring what is behind lack of any style? |
| significance: but only relative? | insignificance: honouring the insignificant? |
| courage, valour: imprudence? | cowardice: precautiousness? |
| holiness: honourig the secular? | unholiness: enemies may also be honoured? |
The above attributes may be configured as aspects around the core notion of honour.
| Circular configuration of qualities of honour |
 |
Honour may be variously expressed as indicated in Table 2
| Table 2: Forms of expression of honour: | |
| Form | Examples |
| offering a token | gifts, awards, flowers |
| assembly | admirers, fans |
| worshipful attendance | puja |
| endowing sacredness | beatification, sanctification, sacred animals |
| commemorative celebration | veterans parade |
| earned | qualifications, degrees, medals, awards |
| inheritance | titles, family name, property |
| nomination | honours list, designated successor, transfer of mantle |
| recognition | acknowledgement, reincarnation |
| gesture | gesture of respect, "doing someone the honour", genuflection |
| praise | insult, snub |
| oath taking, pledging | perjury, lying |
It is useful to distinguish (as in Table 3) forms of honour in terms of the different parties that may be engaged by the process.
| Table 3: Symmetric and asymmetric conditions of honour (by party) | ||||||||
| . | . | (Dis) Honoured party | ||||||
| . | . | animals | people (citizens, fans, followers) | groups | institutions | faiths (religions, practices) | disciplines (intellectual, physical) | cultures (races, ethnic groups, castes)) |
| (Dis) Honouring party | animals | waterhole dynamics | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| people | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| groups | totems, mascots | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| institutions | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| faiths | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| disciplines | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| cultures | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
It is useful to distinguish (as tentatively in Table 4) forms of honour in terms of the respective roles of the honoured and the honouring in any operative system of status (see also Table 5: Tentative Relationship between Forms of Honour in Dialogue). Associated forms of dishonour may further clarify this.
| Table 4: Symmetric and asymmetric conditions of honour (by status) | ||||
| . | . | (Dis) Honoured party | ||
| . | . | Gamma (weak) | Beta (norm) | Alpha (strong) |
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