ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on Max Scheler’s philosophy of shame—a philosophy of emotion that is both phenomenological and sociological in its approach. Phenomenologically, Scheler treats intentionality in general and specifically value-determining intentionality as the basic form of human consciousness. Furthermore, Scheler argues that there is an affective character to intentional value determination, identifying sympathy and shame as vital feelings of our essential Gesamtpersonheit [collective personhood]. Sociologically, Scheler considers various cultural practices and experiences that evince the value-determining, affective essence of collective personhood. The chapter argues that Jewish assimilation, particularly in Scheler’s historical context of late nineteenth-century Germany, is a cultural practice that reveals the phenomenologically a priori nature of collective persons as intentional value determiners. Furthermore, Jewish assimilation is affectively characterized by what Scheler calls “spiritual shame,” i.e., the emotional state of being human as intermediate between lived embodiment and higher-order (collective) spirituality.
