NationStates Jolt Archive

Just wondering, I think that sometimes honour is overated.....

If you expect others to have it you will be dissappointed

If you have it it's a curse.

Yeah i agree with you

Depends what you mean by honour there are many definitions

Honour (or honor) 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-important 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 it 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 preservation 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 viewpoint 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-enforcement 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 honour 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.

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 many countries the term honour can refer to an award given by the state. Such honours include military medals, but more typically imply a civilian award, such as a British OBE, a knighthood or membership of the French Légion d'honneur.

In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprised of dozens or hundreds of manors. Holders of honours (and the kings to whom they reverted by escheat) often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc.

The typical honour had properties scattered over several shires, intermingled with the properties of others. Usually, though, a more concentrated cluster existed somewhere. Here would lie the caput (head) of the honour, with a castle that gave its name to the honour and served as its administrative headquarters.

A lordship could consist of anything from a field or two to vast territories all over England. Thus the designation honour can distinguish the large lordship from the small. The term has particular usefulness for the eleventh and twelfth centuries, before the development of an extensive peerage hierarchy.

The honours system of the United Kingdom is a means of rewarding bravery, achievement or service to the country. The system is made up of three types of award: honours, decorations and medals.

Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement and service;
Medals are used to recognise bravery, long/valuable service and/or good conduct;
Decorations tend to be used to recognise specific deeds.


"... during the time that the aristocracy 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.

"We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." - C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

"We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." - C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

This is surely one of the greatest quotes from the 20th Century.

Yep :)

C S Lewis is one of the great thinkers of the 20th Century :)

Depends what you mean by honour there are many definitions

Say what you mean and mean what you say

Say what you mean and mean what you say
That has to be the legend of all phrases...well done lol i love it. :p

I like to keep it simple

I honestly believe that society would be better if more people believed in honour, as long as their honour agrees with what is legal and right. My own honour differes in minor ways from society but only because of my beliefs. I would not murder someone for a slight on my honour, for example, whereas years ago, an insult to me or my family would be pistols at dawn

Isn't there a NS Issue in-game, that asks if we want to return to the old ways of settling disputes by having pistol and sword fights at dawn?

Just wondering, I think that sometimes honour is overated.....
Call it what you will, I have to live with me.

Depends how you define honour. If you have to commit hara-kiri when you are defeated in battle, then you're taking it a bit far, but having a set of rules which you are socially (rather than legally) obliged to abide by has to be a good thing.

Depends how you define honour. If you have to commit hara-kiri when you are defeated in battle, then you're taking it a bit far, but having a set of rules which you are socially (rather than legally) obliged to abide by has to be a good thing.
I think there's a difference between "honor" and specific "CODES of honor." The first pertains more to how we see ourselves, the second more to how our culture would prefer we behave.

I think there's a difference between "honor" and specific "CODES of honor." The first pertains more to how we see ourselves, the second more to how our culture would prefer we behave.

I see. A personal code works fine, an imposed code is control the masses kind of thing..

But a personal code can be confused with morals..

But a personal code can be confused with morals..


Yeah, that's kind of what I did. I knew what I meant, it just came out wrong.

I believe that honour can be a very good thing if not taken too far. In a society where no-one stabs each other in the back, there is no betrayal of trust, your word is sacred, and you would never, ever double-cross or exploit anyone, there is the sort of honour I would like to see. However, when you commit ritual suicide at the slightest provocation and disembowel anyone who insults you even mildly, then that is taking it too far.

That said, I believe that the world would be a much better place if everyone lived by my first example.

Honesty isn't good or bad, in my opinion. But it is definitely worth admiring when I see it in people. :)

-Asylum Nova