Aristotle and Confucius on the Socioeconomics of Shame Thorian R. Harris Published online: 25 June 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 Abstract The sociopolitical significance Aristotle and Confucius attribute to possessing a sense of shame serves to emphasize the importance of its development. Aristotle maintains that social class and wealth are prerequisites for its acquisition, while Confucius is optimistic that it can be developed regardless of socioeconomic considerations. The difference between their positions is largely due to competing views of praiseworthy dispositions. While Aristotle conceives of praiseworthy dispo- sitions as “consistent” traits of character, traits that calcifiy as one reaches adulthood, Confucius offers us an alternative picture, one that affords a greater plasticity to praiseworthy dispositions by treating them as situational character traits. I argue that the Confucian conception of praiseworthy dispositions, combined with several strate- gies for developing a sense of shame discussed in the Analects, renders Confucius’ s optimism defensible. Keywords Confucian Ethics . Aristotle . Shame . Emotion . Role Ethics . Situationism 1 Introduction Aristotle and Confucius consider a sense of shame to be a praiseworthy disposition, each claiming that it forestalls bad conduct, stimulates good con- duct, and—if widespread—renders a non-coercive form of government suffi- cient for achieving social order. These two philosophers differ, however, on the question of whether social class and wealth necessarily affect our potential to develop a sense of shame. By assuming that its development requires a particular kind of upbringing—one that is only available to freeborn males from families of ample means—Aristotle renders shame a possession guarded by the prerequisites of social class and affluence. Confucius, on the other hand, claims that almost anyone—regardless of class, wealth, or upbringing—can acquire a sense of shame; and in the course of the Analects he presents us with three strategies for cultivating a sense of shame in others regardless of Dao (2014) 13:323–342 DOI 10.1007/s11712-014-9382-1 Thorian R. Harris (*) Philosophy Department, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA e-mail: thor@umbc.edu