Honour in Aristotle’s Ethics

Why does Aristotle label honour (timē) as the ’greatest’ among the external goods required for the good life (eudaimonia)? And how does this statement relate with human emotions and Aristotle’s famous assertion that human beings are by nature political animals? Despite the dominant place of honour in Aristotle’s philosophy of human affairs (ethics, politics, rhetoric), its role has been grossly understudied, mainly because honour has been erroneously conceived as an outmoded notion out of sync with modern preoccupations and concerns. Drawing on contemporary sociology, philosophy and psychology, this monograph offers a thorough re-evaluation of Aristotelian timē that challenges common assumptions both about ancient and about modern ’honour’. Aristotle’s incisive remarks on the role of timē in human psychology and behaviour reveal that, far from being a parochial concept, Greek timē is indicative of a universal human concern for esteem and social recognition in our lives as social beings.