Table Of ContentTHE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF
PHILOSOPHY OF HUMILITY
Humility is a vital aspect of political discussion, social media and self-help, whilst recent empirical
research has linked humility to improved well-being, open-mindedness and increased accuracy
in assessing persuasive messages. It is also a topic central to research and discussion in philosophy,
applied ethics and religious studies.
The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Humility is the frst collection to present a comprehensive
overview of the philosophy of humility, whilst also covering important interdisciplinary topics.
Comprising 41 chapters by an international team of contributors, the Handbook is divided into
seven parts:
• Theories of humility
• The ethics of humility
• The politics of humility
• Humility in religious thought
• The epistemology of humility
• The psychology of humility
• Humility: applications to the social world.
Essential reading for students and researchers in ethics, epistemology, political philosophy and
philosophy of mind and psychology, this Handbook will also be extremely useful for those in
related disciplines such as psychology, religious studies and law.
Mark Alfano is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands, and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University, Australia.
Michael P. Lynch is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University
of Connecticut, USA.
Alessandra Tanesini is Professor of Philosophy at Cardiff University, UK.
Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy
Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy are state-of-the-art surveys of emerging, newly refreshed and
important felds in philosophy, providing accessible yet thorough assessments of key problems,
themes, thinkers and recent developments in research.
All chapters for each volume are specially commissioned, and written by leading scholars in
the feld. Carefully edited and organized, Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy provide indispensable
reference tools for students and researchers seeking a comprehensive overview of new and
exciting topics in philosophy. They are also valuable teaching resources as accompaniments to
textbooks, anthologies and research-orientated publications.
Also available:
The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Relativism
Edited by Martin Kusch
The Routledge Handbook of Metaphysical Grounding
Edited by Michael J. Raven
The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Colour
Edited by Derek H. Brown and Fiona Macpherson
The Routledge Handbook of Collective Responsibility
Edited by Saba Bazargan-Forward and Deborah Tollefsen
The Routledge Handbook of Phenomenology of Emotion
Edited by Thomas Szanto and Hilge Landweer
The Routledge Handbook of Hellenistic Philosophy
Edited by Kelly Arenson
The Routledge Handbook of Trust and Philosophy
Edited by Judith Simon
The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Humility
Edited by Mark Alfano, Michael P. Lynch, and Alessandra Tanesini
The Routledge Handbook of Metametaphysics
Edited by Ricki Bliss and JTM Miller
For more information about this series, please visit: https: //ww w.rout ledg e.com /
Routl edge- Handb ooks- in-Ph iloso phy/b ook-s eries /RHP
THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK
OF PHILOSOPHY OF HUMILITY
Edited by Mark Alfano, Michael P. Lynch and
Alessandra Tanesini
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Mark Alfano, Michael P. Lynch and Alessandra Tanesini; individual chapters,
the contributors
The right of Mark Alfano, Michael P. Lynch and Alessandra Tanesini to be identifed as the authors of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-815-36411-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-10753-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS
List of contributors ix
Acknowledgements xii
Introduction 1
Mark Alfano, Michael P. Lynch and Alessandra Tanesini
PART 1
Theories of humility 7
1 Theories of humility: An overview 9
Nancy E. Snow
2 “I am so humble!”: On the paradoxes of humility 26
Brian Robinson
3 Humility is not a virtue 36
Paul Bloomfeld
PART 2
The ethics of humility 47
4 Humility and human fourishing 49
Robert Roberts
5 Humility and self-respect: Kantian and feminist perspectives 59
Robin S. Dillon
v
Contents
6 The puzzle of humility and disparity 72
Dennis Whitcomb, Heather Battaly, Jason Baehr and Daniel Howard-Snyder
7 Humility and truth in Nietzsche: The humblebrag of the lambs 84
Nickolas Pappas
8 The comparative concern in humility and romantic love 97
Aaron Ben-Ze’ev
9 Pride and humility 106
Michael S. Brady
10 Ashamed of our selves: Disabling shame and humility 117
E.M. Dadlez and Sarah H. Woolwine
PART 3
The politics of humility 127
11 A humble form of government: Democracy as the politics of collective
experience 129
Michael A. Neblo and Emily Ann Israelson
12 Conviction and humility 139
Michael P. Lynch
13 Humility and the toleration of diverse ideas 148
Casey Rebecca Johnson
14 Humility, forgiveness, and restorative justice: From the personal to the political 157
Carl Stauffer
15 Can humility be a liberatory virtue? 170
Heather Battaly
PART 4
Humility in religious thought 185
16 Humility among the ancient Greeks 187
Sophie Grace Chappell
17 Aquinas on humility and relational greatness 202
Andrew Charles Pinsent
vi
Contents
18 Faith and humility: Confict or concord? 212
Daniel Howard-Snyder and Daniel J. McKaughan
19 Humility in the Islamic tradition 225
Sophia Vasalou
20 Buddhist humility 236
Nicolas Bommarito
21 Humility in early Confucianism 245
Alexus McLeod
22 Humility and the African philosophy of ubuntu 257
Thaddeus Metz
PART 5
The epistemology of humility 269
23 Intellectual humility and contemporary epistemology: A critique of
epistemic individualism, evidentialism and internalism 271
John Greco
24 Humility and self-knowledge 283
Alessandra Tanesini
25 Intellectual humility and epistemic trust 292
Katherine Dormandy
26 Intellectual humility, testimony, and epistemic injustice 303
Ian M. Church
27 False intellectual humility 313
Allan Hazlett
28 Intellectual humility and argumentation 325
Andrew Aberdein
29 Intellectual humility and assertion 335
J. Adam Carter and Emma C. Gordon
30 Humility, contingency, and pluralism in the sciences 346
Ian James Kidd
vii
Contents
31 Humean Humility and its contemporary echoes 359
James Van Cleve
PART 6
The psychology of humility 373
32 Humility in personality and positive psychology 375
Peter L. Samuelson and Ian M. Church
33 Psychological measurement of humility 387
Rick H. Hoyle and Elizabeth Krumrei Mancuso
34 The moral psychology of humility: Epistemic and ethical alignment as
foundational to moral exemplarity 401
Jennifer Cole Wright
35 The role of knowledge calibration in intellectual humility 411
Nicholas Light and Philip Fernbach
PART 7
Humility: Applications to the social world 425
36 Humility and terrorism studies 427
Quassim Cassam
37 ‘Knowledge is power’: Barriers to intellectual humility in the classroom 439
Lani Watson
38 Humility in law 451
Amalia Amaya
39 Extended cognition and humility 464
Duncan Pritchard
40 Arrogance and servility online: Humility is not the solution 472
Neil Levy
41 Humility in social networks 484
Mark Alfano and Emily Sullivan
Index 495
viii
CONTRIBUTORS
Andrew Aberdein is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Arts and Communication,
Florida Institute of Technology, USA.
Mark Alfano is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands, and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University, Australia.
Amalia Amaya is a British Academy Global Professor in the Law School at the University of
Edinburgh, UK.
Jason Baehr is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles,
California, USA.
Heather Battaly is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut, USA.
Aaron Ben-Ze’ev is Professor of Philosophy at, and Former President of, the University of
Haifa (2004–2012), Israel.
Paul Bloomfeld is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut, USA.
Nicolas Bommarito is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buffalo, New
York, USA.
Michael S. Brady is Head of School and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Glasgow,
UK.
J. Adam Carter is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Quassim Cassam is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, UK.
Sophie Grace Chappell is Professor of Philosophy at the Open University, UK.
Ian M. Church is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Hillsdale College, Michigan, USA.
E.M. Dadlez is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Central Oklahoma, USA.
Robin S. Dillon is the William Wilson Selfridge Professor of Philosophy and Director of
Lehigh University Center for Ethics, Pennsylvania, USA.
ix
