The Politics of Decency and Non-Humiliation
Description
This collective volume provides the first assessment of the work of political philosopher Avishai Margalit, with particular attention to his concepts of decency and non-humiliation. The book brings together prominent philosophers from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa to explore the concepts of decency and non-humiliation in a global perspective, situating their own approaches within the framework of Margalit's intellectual legacy.
The chapters examine the relationship between decency, morality, justice, compromise, recognition and dialogue, and address pressing normative questions, from preventing humiliation to sustaining decency in past and contemporary societies. The volume also features an exclusive interview with Avishai Margalit himself.
In a global landscape marked by the rise of authoritarian regimes and ongoing wars, the concepts of decency and non-humiliation take on new urgency and relevance. This volume will be of particular interest to scholars and students of political theory and political philosophy interested in these key debates.
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Persons
Laure Gillot-Assayag is an associate researcher at EHESS (CESPRA lab, Center for Research on Politics), in Paris (France), and "Democratic Vistas" postdoctoral fellow at Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Germany. Former Fulbright Scholar at the University of Berkeley, she has also held visiting positions at McGill University, Columbia University, Academia Sinica and Keio University.
Nicolai Abramovich holds a Ph.D. in Political Philosophy and Ethics from Sorbonne University (Paris, France). He works in the private sector and is a part-time Lecturer in Political Philosophy at the Department of Law and Political Science at Paris-Nanterre University.
Content
Chapter 1. Introduction: A Theory of Decency and Non-Humiliation as a Political Paradigm (Gillot-Assayag and Abramovich).- Chapter 2. A Society without Humiliation? (Honneth).- Chapter 3. Humiliation - What is It and What Makes us Vulnerable to it? (Ikäheimo).- Chapter 4. The Ordeal of Humiliation (Origgi).- Chapter 5. Non-humiliation and Common Goods (Riordan).- Chapter 6. Anemic Morality (Blattberg).- Chapter 7. Humiliation, Compromise, and the Power of Dialogue (Koczanowicz).- Chapter 8. Do the Wicked Have Dignity? Confucian Reflections on Margalit's Theory of Human Dignity (Chan).- Chapter 9. The Grounds of Non-Humiliation: Relationality as What Confers Dignity and Merits Respect (Metz).- Chapter 10. The Intersection of Decency and Non-Humiliation with Human Rights Ideals (Lindner).- Chapter 11. Does Betrayal still Matter? (Walzer).- Chapter 12. The Enduring Relevance of Margalit's Philosophy: A Short Interview with Michael Walzer (2025) (Gillot-Assayag and Walzer).- Chapter 13. Negative Morality, Decency and Justice. A Philosophical Dialogue with Avishai Margalit (Abramovich and Margalit).- Chapter 14. Postface - Cultures and Humiliation (Abel).