ResearchOnline@ND

Authors

Rev Thomas Ryan SM, University of Notre Dame AustraliaFollow

Title

Healthy Shame? An Interchange between Elspeth Probyn and Thomas Aquinas

Document Type

Book review in a scholarly journal

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

In her recent book Blush: Faces of Shame, Elspeth Probyn offers a profile of shame drawing on the disciplines of psychology, sociology and cultural anthropology. She argues that shame is a) inherently value-oriented, b) necessary for human well-being and c) universal or essential as a human phenomenon. This approach to shame has significant resonances with the theological anthropology and christian ethics of Thomas Aquinas. In exploring these authors, we can gain a clearer picture of the transformative function of shame in the personal, social, cultural and moral dimensions of human life.

Comments

This article may be accessed from the publisher here

The Australian eJournal of Theology may be accessed from the National Library of Australia here

Recommended Citation

Ryan, T. (2008). Healthy Shame? An Interchange between Elspeth Probyn and Thomas Aquinas [Book Review]. Australian eJournal of Theology, 12(1).