On Manners

Karen Stohr

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780415875387
• eBook ISBN: 9781135164300
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

Many otherwise enlightened people often dismiss etiquette as a trivial subject or—worse yet—as nothing but a disguise for moral hypocrisy or unjust social hierarchies. Such sentiments either mistakenly assume that most manners merely frame the "real issues" of any interpersonal exchange or are the ugly vestiges of outdated, unfair social arrangements. But in On Manners, Karen Stohr turns the tables on these easy prejudices, demonstrating that the scope of manners is much broader than most people realize and that manners lead directly to the roots of enduring ethical questions. Stohr suggests that though manners are mostly conventional, they are nevertheless authoritative insofar as they are a primary means by which we express moral attitudes and commitments and carry out important moral goals.

Drawing primarily on Aristotle and Kant and with references to a wide range of cultural examples—from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm—the author ultimately concludes that good manners are essential to moral character.

Index

Abrahams, Robin 44

advice: giving politely 116–19, 129–31

aesthetics see taste

Age of Innocence see Wharton, Edith

airplanes 136, 144

akrasia see weakness of will

American Idol 89–90

Aristotle 15, 18, 26–27, 116; account of virtue 55–9; on friendliness 135; on techne 161

artificiality of polite behavior 70–71, 75

Amazon.com 114–15, 124–5, 127–8, 131

ambulances 13

animals 11n10, 129

anonymity 9, 90; in gift-giving 130

Aquinas, Thomas see Thomas Aquinas

attentiveness 64–5; in hospitality 156–7; by pretending not to attend 65, 139–43

attire: funerals 24; head coverings 41; pajamas 142, 144; shoes 14, 24

Augustine, Saint 100

Austen, Jane 15–16; Emma 70–1, 156; on estates and hospitality 153–7, 163; Mansfield Park 17, 155–7; Persuasion 17, 155, 157; Pride & Prejudice 16–18, 132–4, 153–5, 163–4; Sense & Sensibility 17

authority: of commands 28–30; of experts 45–7, 66–8; of judgments of taste 157–9; 162; of moral principles 20–2, 41; of specific etiquette rules 23–4, 29–30, 40–2, 51–5

babka 1–2, 4, 19, 42, 164; chocolate versus cinnamon 123

backstage see Goffman, Erving

Baldridge, Letitia 44

Beecher, Catherine 162

Benedict of Nursia 148–9

beneficence 116–124, 131; Kant, Immanuel on 119–122, 124; and physical proximity 135–6, 138, 145; utilitarianism on 122–4;

bindingness see authority

blogs 72–4

body languag...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• One. Introduction
• Two. The Link Between Morality and Manners
• Three. Etiquette Expertise
• Four. Self-presentation
• Five. Polite Lies
• Six. Giving and Receiving
• Seven. Neighbors
• Eight. Hospitality and Taste
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Credits
• Index