True self-love and true self-sacrifice
In recent commentary on Kierkegaard’s Works of Love, a distinction is commonly drawn between ‘proper’ and ‘selfish’ forms of self-love. In arguing that not all vices of self-focus can be captured under the heading of selfishness, I seek to distinguish selfishness from self-centredness. But the latter vice has a far more handsome cousin: proper self-focus of the kind necessary for ‘becoming a self’. As various feminist thinkers have argued, this will be missed if we valorise self-sacrifice too uncritically. But nor need the latter concept be ditched. By distinguishing varieties of self-sacrifice, we can see the importance of avoiding the all too easy slide from proper self-sacrifice to outright self-annihilation. And we can discover that this avoidance is aided by recognising a kind of pride as part of true self-love.
Item Type | Article |
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Additional information | “The original publication is available at springerlink.com.” Copyright Springer. DOI: 10.1007/s11153-009-9201-5 |
Date Deposited | 15 May 2025 12:06 |
Last Modified | 28 Jun 2025 23:01 |
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