Honor's Paradox
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 08:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniIf you honorably serve a dishonored master, is your personal honor unsullied?
Discuss, with examples.
ETA: Lotsa people ducking the question here. Interesting.
Discuss, with examples.
ETA: Lotsa people ducking the question here. Interesting.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Service to the Dishonored Master
Date: 2011-02-09 05:56 am (UTC)There is a problem first off with the word "honor". Honor usually means maintaining the status, pride, tradition of a family or group. There are and have been many systems of "honor" in the world. In terms of 21st Century America some acts which we would consider criminal are considered honorable in some systems. As, it is all right in Arab countries to kill a woman if she has "dishonored" the family according to her male relatives including her own father. In our system of justice in the US such a father would be tried, found guilty of murder and put in jail. Even executed.
Then there is the code of the Samurai. I'm not as familiar with that code. So I can't really comment on it.
When we are dealing with a system of "honor" and not with a system of justice, I probably would not accept that system of "honor". Honor is not justice its a matter of status, keeping face, and tradition. I consider most of those honor systems to be unethical.
Now, in our Anglo Saxon tradition there is the idea of the "honorable man". That's a different ethical system. An honorable man pays his debts, for example. He keeps his promises. His handshake is his bond. This idea of "honor" comes more out of an idea of commerce and business than family matters. Most of us would support the idea of such an honorable man or woman.
I wouldn't want to participate in an Arab system (or ...the Spanish system is similar) all. Our American system would be ok.
Then we have to ask, if such an honorable man is considered to be "dishonored". Is he really? Is what people saying true? Maybe, Maybe not. One shouldn't serve a truly dishonorable man. That would be being dishonorable yourself. One could serve a person who is honorable even if some think that person is not honorable. One would have to make a judgment on that.
Some say that there is honor among thieves. Usually not.
There you go. That's the best I can do. Sorry if I've duplicated what other worthy commenters have said.