Honor: A History

The book is very readable and I learned a lot from it. The concept of honor has indeed become almost alien to those of us in the West. But it is a large part of what fuels the men and women of those societies we find ourselves at odds with in the Middle East. We must try to understand the honor which motivates our enemies and our potential allies, and it should be required reading for the policy-makers and major writers on both sides of the Atlantic. Bowman points out that there are still honor cultures in America, such as in some ethnic groups and in the military. His own accounts of his later guilt from avoiding service in Vietnam are especially poignant now. Iraq has resurrected the ghost of Vietnam, both for those who served, and those who did not. I really appreciated the way the author disentangled the concept of honor from Islam. Many of those strictures we find harshest in Islamic society actually predate Islam. However, as Bowman points out, Muslim countries do not have a history of divorcing their culture from their religion. The reasons for this are simple. Jesus stood against much of the honor code of the Middle East. "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword," and "Turn the other cheek," were invitations to step off the honor-driven cycle of persecution returned with persecution, and violence returned with violence. We Christians have largely not lived up to these ideals, but they have influenced the history of Western law and our political philosophy nonetheless. There is a built-in distrust of honor for honor's sake in our society. Part of this is due to disillusionment with past wars, and part is due to our Christian philosophical heritage. Bowman posits a return to honor, so that we can effectively interact with the rest of the globe. I am not so sure I buy into this. I take Christ's invitation seriously, and think that it probably offers the only way out of the cycle of violence in our world. But is unlikely that this utopia will come about short of another or a final divine intervention. For now, we must at least educate ourselves and understand honor as a motivator for friend and foe alike.

I've been reading Harvey Mansfield's "Manliness" at the same time as this book and find they are a good complement to each other, though I find Bowman's much more interesting, readable, and important of the two. The cultural and anecdotal references Bowman uses to highlight and illustrate his analysis are effectively employed and seldom over-used. The book never came close to being tedious. Just a terrific read all round.

A most interesting work which looks at honor over history and over the entire world. His pictures of honor change as you use these glasses to observe the situations. It is interesting that you don't hear much about honor these days in the Western World. Perhaps the concept has been replaced by a rule of law, but with an underlying feeling that it is OK to break the law in many instances - indeed it is probably impossible to go through life without breaking a few laws - speeding comes to mind, as does the prolific use of drugs - then there are all those laws that you don't even know about (it's illegal to lead an animal here after you've been drinking). Certainly the feelings about honor were different in places like the American west (at least in the movies). And the apparent differences in the Islamic world, Japan (in their own view and in our Western view especially during World War II), and other cultures. This is a most interesting book that covers an interesting subject very well.

HONOR could've been featured in our History Shelf area, but is reviewed here for its broader interest to not just history buffs but fans of philosophy and social science. James Bowman, who's written for Wall Street Journal and is currently a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Institute, describes how the Western honor system is manifested in our society, how it always differed from concepts in other parts of the world, and where its roots lie. From early records of civilization and ideas of honor to hoe the ideal evolved through the centuries up to modern times, Bowman's document covers the evolution of values and its tests in modern times. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Harvey Mansfield's recent book "Manliness" caused quite a stir when it was published early this year. At the risk of overly simplifying his erudite work, "Manliness" is a defense of what he calls "assertiveness." Dr. Mansfield gives only a tepid defense of such behavior, believing it to be fifty percent positive and fifty percent negative. Personally, I would describe "assertiveness" as a defining element of being a male, common to almost all species and expressed in violence and sexual adventurism. Male behavior also has an unfortunate bully mentality, a tendency to subordinate itself to superior force and assert one's power over lesser beings. Manliness, to my mind, is the concept which regulates such behavior and directs it into socially useful channels, and encourages one to defend one's concept of Right against overwhelming odds. A bar fight is male behavior, the Normandy invasion was manly behavior. Mr. Bowman would consider my concept of "manliness" to be a peculiarly Western and archaic version of honor. It is hard to compare the two books: Dr. Mansfield's book is a work of philosophy, while Mr. Bowman's book is a history of a social concept (and also an enthralling cultural history of the twentieth century, as viewed through the prism of that concept). Mr. Bowman's book, however, is by far the more important of the two. First, because, by definition, "assertiveness" doesn't need anyone to defend it. It is still the most important quality to have to succeed in business, and, increasingly, in other professions. Even its avowed enemies fall prey to it, as witness Gloria Steinem's pathetic memoir of the short period of time when she was the main squeeze of an alpha male. Honor, on the other hand, has no defenders. Abandoning honor has liberated men from their obligations and the main beneficiary of the concept - civilization - has no defenders. Another reason why Mr. Bowman's book is far more important is because he addresses perhaps THE fundamental difference between the West and radical Islam. The first section of the book - where Mr. Bowman discusses primitive honor systems, which have been largely maintained in Muslim countries - and the last - the "where do we go from here?" - section should be required reading for any soldier, politician, commentator or critic interested in the War on Terror. After the first section, Mr. Bowman takes us on a tour of the evolution of honor in the Western world from something similar to the primitive form common in most of the world to that fragile, but refined concept the Victorians bequeathed to us. From there, Mr Bowman takes us through the decline of the concept through the last hundred years. Anyone familiar with Mr. Bowman's sparkling book and film reviews and media criticism for such publications as TLS, the New York Sun, the American Spectator and New Criterion will know what an engaging tour guide he is. He touches on everything from Shakespeare to comic books with confidence and insigh