Humility

The Secret History of a Lost Virtue

Christopher M. Bellitto

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781647123772
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

This cultural history of humility reveals this lost virtue as a secret defense against arrogance and incivility

History demonstrates that when the virtue of humility is cast aside, excessive individualism follows. A person who lacks humility is at risk of developing a deceptive sense of certitude and at worst denies basic human rights, respect, and dignity to anyone they identify as the enemy.

Humility, a cultural history and biography of the idea of humility, argues that the frightening alternative to humility has been the death of civility. In this book, Bellitto explores humility in Greco-Roman history, philosophy, and literature; in the ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; in the Enlightenment; and in contemporary discussions of education in virtue and citizenship. The author encourages readers to recover and reclaim this lost virtue by developing a new perspective on humility as an alternative to the diseases of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism in society.

This book offers a fresh perspective on this lost virtue for readers interested in finding a path to renewed civility.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue: The Problem and the Potential
• 1 Ancient Notions of Humility
• 2 Humility in a Biblical Key
• 3 A Medieval Golden Age
• 4 The Paradox of Learned Ignorance
• 5 Modernity Forgets—and Starts to Remember
• Epilogue: Recovering a Lost Virtue
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author