In the Philosophic Chat column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, the Jesuit professor gives us a meditation on shame.
Shame is an essential “self-conscious emotion” that humans possess. Like what Mencius said many centuries before (孟子, c. 372–289 BCE), it can serve as a healthy and constructive force for self-reflection and self-cultivation, reminding us of our inadequacies. When the “fear of others' negative judgments” becomes excessive, it can lead to severe pathological symptoms, such as extreme social anxiety or depression, thereby harming mental health.
Regarding the origin of shame, Plato (c. 428/7–348/7 BCE) describes it in 'The Symposium' through Aristophanes as “a painful emotion arising from imperfection.” The original emotion felt by humans, who were once complete and spherical beings but were forcibly divided into two by the omnipotent god, is shame. Humans have an innate desire to be complete, and whenever they recognize their own inadequacies, they reveal this fundamental shame.
The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis associates shame with sexuality. Adam and Eve, who were naked in the Garden of Eden but felt no shame, felt shame after they were tempted by the serpent and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
However, this shame goes beyond the simple feeling of embarrassment caused by the exposure of private parts. It fundamentally implies the recognition of the boundaries between oneself and the world, and above all, it is the beginning of the awareness of the gaze of God, or others, on our actions. It is a relationship to a prohibition, an initial emotion that emerges from it.
The gaze of the other is the direct and concrete presence of the other toward me, and it acts as a powerful force that objectifies everything that comes into view, so we have no choice but to live constantly conscious of the gaze of the other. In this regard, Jean-Paul Sartre ( 1905-1980) views shame as a fundamental emotion that arises when I, as a self-conscious “being-for-itself,” am perceived as a fixed and dependent “being” that is, when I am not a free subject but am defined and objectified by others through their gaze.
In contrast, Karl Jaspers (1883–1969) speaks of “existential shame” in a more profound sense with positive connotations. Existential shame is fundamentally different from “psychological shame,” which is a negative emotion that consumes the self. Psychological shame is an emotion we feel when we fail to meet social norms or expectations. Existential shame is a primal emotion felt when we recognize the limitations or imperfections of our own existence. This can be described as a kind of “absolute consciousness” that arises from the attitude of protecting one's authentic self, out of concern for falsehood and misunderstanding in the presence of others. Such shame arises when we recognize our limitations and seek to become our true selves.
