The concept of Honor

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The concept of honour, with its diverse ties in the earth, can be found embodied in the lives of the Nordic Viking, the Teutonic knight,

the Prussian officer, the Baltic Hansa, the German soldier, and the German peasant. Together with inner freedom it is the most important life shaping law. This motif of honour appears as the spiritual base in poetic art, from the ancient epics onward, from Walther von der Vogelweide and the knight's songs to Kleist and Goethe. But there is still another fine branch on which we can follow the working of Nordic honour, and that is in the German mystic.

The mystic releases himself more and more from the entanglements of the material world.
e recognises that the impulsive aspects of our existence, such as pleasure and power, or even so called good works, are not essential for the welfare of the soul. The more he overcomes earthly bonds, all the
greater, richer and more godlik
e does he feel himself inwardly become. He discovers a purely spiritual power and feels that his soul represents a centre of strength to which nothing can be compared. Such freedom and serenity of soul toward everything, even in the face of god, reveals the profoundest depths into which we can follow the Nordic concepts of honour and freedom. It is that mighty fortress of the soul, that spark of which Meister Eckehart speaks again and again with awed admiration; it represents the most inward, the most sensitive and yet the strongest essence of our race and culture.

Alfred Rosenberg's "The Myth Of The 20th Century"
Book I, Chapter 3
http://www.ety.com/H
RP/booksonline/mythos/mythosb1chap03.htm

 

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Honour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor
Honour (most variants of English, including Australian English, British English, Canadian English and New Zealand English) or honor (American English) comprises the reputation, self-perception or moral identity of an individual or of a group.

Previously honour figured largely as a guiding principle of society, functioning as part of a code of honour for a gentleman and often coming to expression in the practice of duelling. One's honour, that of one's wife, of one's (blood-)family or of one's beloved formed an all-imp
rtant issue: the archetypal "man of honour" remained ever alert for any insult, actual or suspected: for either would impugn his honour.

The concept of honour appears to have declined in
importance in the modern secular West. Popular stereotypes would have i
t surviving more definitively in alleged "hot-blooded" Mediterranean cultures (Italian, Arab, Hispanic ...) or in more "gentlemanly" societies (like the "Old South" of Dixie). Feudal or other agrarian societies, focussed upon land use and land ownership, may tend to honour "honour" more than do deracinated industrial societies. Traces of the importance attached to honour linger in the military (officers may conduct a court of honour) and in organisations with military echoes, such as Scouting.

"Honour" in the case of females historically related frequently to sexuality: preservation of "honour" equated primarily to maintenance of virginity, or at least to preservatio
n of exclusive monogamy. One could speculate that feminism may have changed some linguistic usage in this respect.

One can contrast cultures of honour with cultures of law. From the viewpo
int of anthropology, cultures of honour typically appear among nomadic peoples and herdsmen who carry their most valuable property with them
and risk having it stolen, without having recourse to law enforcement or government. In this situation, inspiring fear forms a better strategy than promoting friendship; and cultivating a reputation for swift and disproportionate revenge increases the safety of your person and property. Thinkers ranging from Montesquieu to Steven Pinker have remarked upon the mindset needed for a culture of honour.

Cultures of honour therefore appear amongst Bedouins, Scottish and English herdsmen of the Border country, and many similar peoples, who have little allegiance to a national government; among cowboys, frontiersmen, and ranchers of the American West, where official law-enf
orcement often remained out of reach, as famously celebrated in Western movies; and among aristocrats, who enjoy hereditary privileges that put them beyond the reach of general laws. Cultures of hon
our also flourish in criminal underworlds and gangs, whose members carry large amounts of cash and contraband and cannot complain to the law
if it is stolen. The encouragement of violent cultures of honour appears one of the drawbacks of legislation that creates victimless crimes.

Once a culture of honour exists, it is difficult for its members to make the transition to a culture of law; this requires that people become willing to back down and refuse to immediately retaliate, and from the viewpoint of the culture of honour this appears as a weak and unwise act.

In contemporary international relations, the concept of "credibility" resembles that of honour: when the credibility of a state or of an alliance appears at stake, honour-bound p
oliticians may call for drastic measures.

Compare the concepts of integrity, face (social custom) in stereotyped Oriental cultures, or of mana in Polynesian society.

For a similar
concept with many connotations opposite to honour,
see Shame.

See also: code duello, Chivalry, Bushido

Quote: "... during the time that the aristocra
cy was dominant, the concepts honour, loyalty, etc. were dominant, during the dominance of the bourgeoisie the concepts freedom, equality, etc." - Marx and Engels, The German Ideology.