What is 'Pride'?

[Lester B]

I once took a class several years ago where one of the challenges was to take words where the the definition is implied in language but not necessarily the same for everyone and attempt to define them yourself. Sometimes you can really surprise yourself when you stop to think about the assumptions we make about language and such.

In an effort to improve certain thought processes and writing skills, I have revisited some of these lessons from that class. After I got into it, I realized there may be people here who may appreciate such an exercise.

Anyhow, if you care to, post your definition of the word 'Pride'.

To stop the cheaters, here is the definition according to Merriam-Webster (in white): <font color="white">Main Entry: 1pride
Pronunciation: 'prId
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English pryde, from prud proud -- more at PROUD
1 : the quality or state of being proud: as a : inordinate self-esteem : CONCEIT b : a reasonable or justifiable self-respect c : delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship &lt;parental pride&gt;
2 : proud or disdainful behavior or treatment : DISDAIN
3 a : ostentatious display b : highest pitch : PRIME
4 : a source of pride : the best in a group or class
5 : a company of lions </font>

Later

PG

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Pride is a feeling of worth gained from accomplishment. There are some who think pride is a bad thing. I disagree. Without the ability to feel good about accomplishment or good deeds, how can one feel shame for failure or bad deeds?

It's also what you call a bunch of lions. Go figure.

[Bork]

[ QUOTE ]
Pride is a feeling of worth gained from accomplishment. There are some who think pride is a bad thing. I disagree. Without the ability to feel good about accomplishment or good deeds, how can one feel shame for failure or bad deeds?

It's also what you call a bunch of lions. Go figure.

[/ QUOTE ]

So do you think shame is a good thing, because without it how could one feel pride for ones good actions?

I don't think one has to have the ability to feel pain in order to feel pleasure or vice versa. If my brain was operated on and all my pain receptors were removed that would definitely be a bad thing for me, but it would not cause me to be unable to feel pleasure. I think the same goes for pride vs shame, either could be felt if the other didn't exist.

[Lester B]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the same goes for pride vs shame, either could be felt if the other didn't exist.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then a good follow up question would be, do sociopaths feel pride?

[Bork]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think the same goes for pride vs shame, either could be felt if the other didn't exist.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then a good follow up question would be, do sociopaths feel pride?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/428/428lect16.htm

Organized Sociopathic Hatred:
lack of remorse or shame
pathological egocentricity and incapacity for love

I'm not sure if pathological egocentricity counts as pride, but I dont think whether sociopaths feel pride is directly relevant to my claim.

I merely claimed that it is possible for one to have the ability to have pride without having the ability to feel shame. This is not to say that there are any genuine cases of it.

[soon2bepro]

Bork: Kurn is correct in the sense that the precursor for pride and shame appears to be the same, only opposed. What he was trying to say is that if your good actions don't make you pride, your bad actions will probably not make you ashamed either.

Of course, we could be wrong, but your argument didn't prove that.

They're psychological feelings, not sensitive such as physical pain or pleasure

On to the original post:

First of all pride is a feeling, which makes it almost impossible to describe accurately.
What one tries to do when describing a common noun such as "spoon" is describe the object so the other person can realize what you're talking about. When you try to describe a concept, such as "terrorism", it's orders of magnitude harder, since you have to explain the concept and especify mostly every single case where it fits. When one has to describe a feeling, it's much, much harder. What you're hoping to do is mixing a description of what the person's actions and thoughts are, with a couple of similar feelings to use as reference. It's a tremenduously hard task. However, since most persons already experienced something like that (or we think they did), they can relate their experiences with that explanation and understand quickly. The problem with this process is that it very often produces major confusion.
In fact, there is no way to prove that a person really understood what you said when you name a feeling or describe it, since in order to understand you he must relate your words with his/her own previous experiences, hopefully they'll be similar, but you can't really tell if they're "the same" or not.

All that bull being said, I'll try to give a description for Pride.

A positive feeling which consists in feeling good about oneself when considering one's good accomplishes made or positive attributes. Also: A negative (usually aggressive) feeling having to do with one protecting the previously stated precursors (good accomplishes and attributes); usually when someone else puts them in jeopardy or doubt.

[Lester B]

[ QUOTE ]
A positive feeling which consists in feeling good about oneself when considering one's good accomplishes made or positive attributes. Also: A negative (usually aggressive) feeling having to do with one protecting the previously stated precursors (good accomplishes and attributes); usually when someone else puts them in jeopardy or doubt.


[/ QUOTE ]

By your definition it would be impossible to take pride in an accomplishment or attribute that is/was out of one's control and/or didn't have anything to do with that individual(s).

And BTW, if you suspect that I intended this to become a philosophical discussion I subconciously may have.

It's certainly turning out that way at any rate.

PG

[soon2bepro]

It's not impossible, but it does need that you feel in some way that you did have something to do with it.

Like fans who get pride when their team wins. They did nothing! Yet they feel part of the team (or rather they feel the team is a part of them), so yes they can feel pride.