Abstract

The first part of the paper examines the significance of shame values in South Asian societies and the implications of this for schools. The second section considers the common anthropological distinction and disjunction between ‘shame culture’ and guilt culture. The third section draws on the recent study of Ancient Greece by Bernard Williams. Williams suggests that the conflict between shame values and autonomy is not inevitable. In fact, shame values may have much to contribute to ethical thought, exposing weaknesses in contemporary Kantian moral outlooks and contributing to fuller conceptions of personal autonomy and personal identity, thus holding, as the final section indicates, important educational implications.