Researcher ORCID Identifier
0009-0000-2146-0020
Graduation Year
2024
Date of Submission
4-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)
Second Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
Rima Basu
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© Theodore J.M. Siasat
Abstract
Love and shame, on its face, are at odds with one another. Love tends to foster connection while shame makes one want to hide and isolate oneself. This thesis aims to resolve this tension, particularly in cases of mistaken shame, where the ashamed agent need not feel ashamed, such as in cases of internalized racism, sexism, etc. To do so, this thesis begins by exploring similar cases of love driving people away, looking at (1) love under conditions of oppression and (2) love as seen in Vida Yao’s “Grace and Alienation,” where she is also concerned with ashamed beloveds. It then explores theories of love, showing that love requires epistemological improvement. Gabriele Taylor’s Pride, Shame and Guilt is integral to understanding how self-assessment emotions can complicate love. This thesis argues that shame is the most powerful self-assessment emotion in complicating love and explores cases of false shame, where the ashamed agent does not endorse the critical view that makes them ashamed, and genuine shame, where the beloved internalizes the critical view. It concludes by arguing that love’s nature to incentivize epistemological and moral improvements in both the lover and the ashamed beloved can be the answer to overcoming feelings of mistaken shame in a loving relationship.
Recommended Citation
Siasat, Theodore J.M., "Shame Clogs the Arteries of Love: How to Love in the Face of Shame and Conditions of Oppression" (2024). CMC Senior Theses. 3596.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3596
Included in
Epistemology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons
