Two Revelations About Shame

A sharp and provocative philosophical analysis of the current social debate on the subject of ‘shaming’ by SPIEGEL bestseller author Robert Pfaller.
In our social media culture, many people think that others should be shamed: large corporations, tax evaders, white, heterosexual males, the fat, the ugly, opponents. In the past, people wanted to discuss with those who thought differently. Today, we try to prevent them from speaking. This is similar to shame. Because with shame, something always has to go: someone wants to sink into the ground or would rather be dead.
In his new book, Two Revelations About Shame, Robert Pfaller examines the background to this phenomenon. He refutes the two main misconceptions about shame: firstly, the theory of cultural anthropologists that in cultures of shame people adjust their behaviour to the opinions of others. And secondly, the theory of psychoanalysts that shame consists of an ‘ideal inadequacy’, that people feel shame as a result of feelings of inferiority.
This book refutes both views. At the same time, Robert Pfaller develops better strategies for freeing us from the painful states of shame. Because it doesn't help to modify Barbie dolls or send plus-size models down the catwalk. Only a better understanding of shame can open our eyes to ways out of the dead ends of today's pseudo-shame culture.
Pfaller's strength ‘lies in his ability to track down the paradoxical developments of our time and to find a fitting term for them.’ -- Konrad Paul Liessmann

"a fulminant essay that brings together cultural theory and contemporary diagnostics with many intellectual goosebump moments." Die ZEIT, Ijoma Mangold

"Robert Pfaller's perceptive essay on shame is not only a philosophical analysis but also a reckoning with 'cancel culture'." titel thesen temperamente (ARD), Max Burk

"A fine plea for discretion, poise, and the increasingly forgotten mode of 'as-if.'" Welt am Sonntag, Marie-Luise Goldmann