Shame and Necessity Redux

Abstract

Heidi Maibom investigates the phenomenon of practical necessity against the background of the phenomenon of shame in order to establish the centrality of taking the third-person perspective on oneself and one’s actions to practical necessity. She illustrates the importance of shame in our lives with others using a population in which emotional connection appears to be absent: psychopaths. Psychopaths lack the ability to view themselves as others see them. This ability is also central to responsibility. The literature on autobiographical memory shows that this third-person perspective is associated with understanding our actions in terms of their larger meaning or significance. Maibom points out that this is exactly what is central to practical necessity. She argues that it is a mistake to think of practical necessity as being some peculiar force that we feel merely concerns ourselves. If we were alone in the world, it is unlikely that we would feel either the pull of practical necessity or shame. The necessity that is felt is connected to our social identities, our identity as one being among others. Personal practical necessities thus have to be interpreted as social practical necessities. Maibom’s chapter contributes to a better understanding of practical necessity and its connection to identity, morality, and responsibility.