38
Of course we should not overlook in this respect the ways in which John Rawls was also acutely aware of
the importance of moral and political virtues for sustaining liberal institutions. See especially Part III of A
Theory of Justice (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1971). See also, Judith Shklar, Ordinary Vices (Cambridge:
Belknap Press, 1984) p. 5.
2
On this point, if on few others, Kant and Nietzsche are close to agreement. For Kant, humility borders
too closely on servility to admit of any general commendation. “But one who makes himself a worm
cannot complain afterwards if people step on him.” Similarly, for Nietzsche, the humble are “doglike
people who allow themselves to be maltreated.” Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals, trans. Mary Gregor
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 188. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, trans. Walter
Kaufmann (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), § 260. I discuss Kant and Nietzsche in further detail in Part
III of this essay.
3
Shklar, Ordinary Vices, p. 233. See also Avishai Margalit, The Decent Soceity (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1996).
4
Arguably the most famous and influential treatment of humility for the rule of monastic orders was
provided by St. Benedict. The Rule of St. Benedict, ed. Timothy Fry (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press,
1981), see chapter seven.
5
Gabriele Taylor, Pride, Shame, and Guilt: Emotions of Self-Assessment (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985),
p. 17. See also Norberto Bobbio who classifies humility among the “weak virtues,” that is, qualities that
are “inherent to private, insignificant, or inconspicuous individuals.” Bobbio, In Praise of Meekness:
Essays on Ethics and Politics, trans. Teresa Chataway (Cambridge: Polity, 2000), p. 26.
6
On self-respect as a “primary good” for liberal citizens, see John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge:
Belknap Press, 1971), Part III, pp. 440-446.
7
To be sure, humility is central not only to the Jewish and Christian faiths but for a host of other religions
as well. For a fascinating discussion of the place and role humility within a theistic sect of Hinduism, see
Graham M. Schweig, “Humility and Passion: A Caitanyite Vaishnava Ethics of Devotion,” Journal of
Religious Ethics, 30, 3: 421-444.
8
Proverbs 16: 18-19.
9
Job 40: 4.
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