Ordinary self-consciousness

O’Brien, Lucy

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511732355.005

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Harris (, p.69) argued that the blush is the hallmark of a mental state he labelled “cute negative public self‐attention”. O'Brien () has presented an analysis of the mental state of “ordinary self‐consciousness” in terms of focus on the self from a third‐person perspective and awareness of being the object of potential evaluation by another. She suggests, as Harris does about his hypothetical state, that this state may be fundamental to shame and embarrassment and it would be valuable to develop this analysis to encompass the blush.…”

Section: Austen and Psychological Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Blush: Literary and Psychological Perspectives

Crozier

2016

J Theory Soc Behav

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Literary analysis of the blush in Austen's novels identifies three themes, namely the potential ambiguity of a blush, its association with modesty, and its erotic and gendered nature, issues that scarcely figure in current psychological explanations of the phenomenon. I examine these themes and compare them with current psychological accounts which assign a central place to embarrassment and, more specifically, emphasise either unwanted social attention, exposure of the self, or the blush's signalling function. Analysis of Austen's work suggests that greater attention should be paid to self-consciousness as it relates to threats to reputation, to the erotic dimension of the blush, and to potential gender differences. It should encourage researchers to be aware of limitations of psychological accounts and to expand their range of sources of information in order to enhance understanding of this elusive phenomenon.

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Section: Austen and Psychological Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Blush: Literary and Psychological Perspectives

Crozier

2016

J Theory Soc Behav

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“…8 8 In claiming that ordinary self‐consciousness involves taking these two perspectives, O'Brien (2011, pp. 106–107) suggests that they must be held at one and the same time.…”

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Ordinary self‐consciousness as philosophical problem

Laing

2021

European J of Philosophy

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Anscombe distinguishes two notions of “self‐conscious”: the philosophical notion, which refers to the special form of awareness one has of oneself as oneself, and the ordinary notion, which we employ when we speak of “feeling self‐conscious before another”. My aim in this paper is to show that ordinary self‐consciousness cannot be understood in terms of either of the forms of intersubjective relation standardly acknowledged in the philosophical literature. It cannot be understood reductively, in terms of the psychological states of each subject nor can it be understood in terms of an irreducible second personal relation. Instead, I argue that in order to understand the phenomenological structure of ordinary self‐consciousness, we must rehabilitate Sartre's thought that when I am conscious of myself as being the object of another's gaze, I experience myself as being acted upon by them, in such a way that what I experience them as doing to me and what I experience myself as thereby undergoing are two aspects of an irreducible interpersonal transaction.

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“…16 16 In characterizing “Ordinary Self‐Consciousness” (O'Brien, 2011) I deployed the metaphor of weight, using it to talk about assigning distinct weights to the evaluations of others, and to their evaluative schemas, where the greater the weight the more a subject cares: the more it weighs on her. …”

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confidence: 99%

“…18 18 See, for example, my study of “Ordinary Self‐Consciousness,” O'Brien, 2011. Let me take this chance to include an attribution that I ought to have included in that paper.…”

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Shameful self‐consciousness

O’Brien

2020

European J of Philosophy

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Shame can be occasioned in startlingly different ways. Here are two classic depictions-one in words, one in paintthat stand in contrast with each other. They also correspond, in a helpful way, to twin strands of philosophical theorizing about shame: as recognition of wrong done, and as innocent social exposure. Consider, first, the case of Tolstoy's Rostov. Rostov, not a bad man, but naïve, foolish and vain, has lost a good deal of money gambling. He goes to his kindly father, who is suffering significant money troubles himself, and asks "in the most casual tone, which made him feel ashamed of himself … as if merely asking his father to let him have the carriage to drive to town" to ask his father to clear his debt for him. "Dear me!" said his father, who was in especially good humour. "I told you it would not be enough. How much?" "Very much," said Nicholas flushing, and with a stupid careless smile, for which he was long unable to forgive himself, "I have lost a little, I mean a good deal, a great dealforty three thousand." Rostov's father "reddens with an apoplectic flush" and falls on to the sofa. This, for a moment, occasions a desperate attempt at bravado from his son: "It can't be helped. It happens to everyone!" said the son, with a bold, free, and easy tone, while in his soul he regarded himself as a worthless scoundrel whose whole life could not atone for his crime. He longed to kiss his father's hands and kneel to beg his forgiveness, but said, in a careless and even rude voice, that it happens to everyone! 1 The old count immediately relents, and starts to leave the room to try his best to raise funds. The bold easy tone cracks, and Rostov grabs his father's hand, sobbing. Even if we do not think him a "worthless scoundrel", Rostov has This essay is dedicated to Benjamin Sacks, and to Maya Sacks, without whom their mother would not have had the gumption to even think about honouring their father in this way.

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Ordinary self-consciousness

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

The Blush: Literary and Psychological Perspectives

The Blush: Literary and Psychological Perspectives

Ordinary self‐consciousness as philosophical problem

Shameful self‐consciousness

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