Shame & guilt: Definitions, antecedents and structure of experience

Abstract

Aims In this lecture I will define and distinguish between shame and guilt. I will then discuss the potential causes of shame and guilt and how these emotions manifest in behavioral and phenomenal terms. I will conclude by introducing a classification that deals with the varieties and nature of the pathologies of shame and guilt that are evident in clinical practice. I will rely on concepts developed by Karl Jaspers, Hans Jonas and Bernhard Schlink. In doing this I will be exploring the role of moral and juridical principles upon the experience of shame and guilt including the place of the imperatives of responsibility upon the experience of shame and guilt. I will argue further that shame and guilt are as important as other secondary emotions such as envy and jealousy but are not as examined and studied in clinical practice. I will make a case for the centrality of these emotions to an understanding of and response to particular clinical conditions in daily practice.MethodsN/A.ResultsN/A.ConclusionsShame and Guilt are both important emotions that are central to our understanding of and response to particular conditions in daily practice. Their antecedents and structure provide a basis for distinguishing between them.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.