Justifiable Pride
Justifiable Pride
Aristotle, one of the great Greek philosophers, ranked pride as the second virtue after wisdom. Aristotle defined knowing our accomplishments and freely acknowledging our achievements. According to the Greeks, justifiable pride is appreciating one’s superiority and special worth over others. Aristotle believed that humility is a vice because the persons who have accomplished something are not true to their selves (Rawls, 2017). In contrast, pride is among the seven deadliest sins in the Christian tradition. From the Biblical perspective, pride is the root of all evil, and God hates pride (Proverbs 8: 13).
In terms of national pride in western culture, different presidents publicly refer to America as the greatest nation of the world, which can be a false pride (Khan Academy, 2016). Some leaders boast America has the best health system in the world without having their facts straight. Pride can be individual or collective like when parents take pride achievements of their children. Therefore pride can be good or bad. For instance, American presidents can use the phrase “you are the light of the World” (matt5:15) to instill national pride only if they refrain from claiming they are the greatest.
References
Khan Academy. (2016). Raphael, School of Athens [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-rome/high-renaissance1/v/raphael-school-of-athens.
Rawls, D. E. (2017). A narrative of western culture—with access. Ann Arbor, MI.