SHAME AS A MULTIFACETED PHENOMENON: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The paper provides an analysis of the key concepts of the shame phenomenon and its structure. The theoretical basis of the paper is H. Plessner’s philosophical anthropology. The starting point of the author’s reasoning is eccentric human nature. Three basic forms of shame are described by the author: corporal, mental and social. Both their general components as well as specifics are considered. The author proves that the social shame, as with physical and mental shame, is grounded upon unusual human’s dispositions towards one of its social aspects. The shame gives an opportunity to find out if a human not only “matches” its social existence but can also be in discord with it. As a result of the loss of this balance, similar to corporal or mental shame, a human has to endure an identical “painful remainder”, but having a social character