THE INCREASING NEED FOR HUBRIS OVER PRIDE

All emotions have a use. Whether they are the very basic emotions of animals, or combinations of the much more diverse emotions of humans, they act as the warning flags to those things that are dangerous to us, and as beacons to those that benefit us. For an animal, it is only a matter of discerning whether it is in their best interest to fight or flee, but even with the incredible intelligence of humans and the countless ways in which they could benefit from them, it is more likely that humans wouldn't know what to do with half the emotions they have, nor what they could be used for. So instead of fight or flight, they simply roll over where they are to be eaten alive by the others.
But it seems that with our ability to become more complex with our emotions, we have also become more innattentive to their functions, and now, we have a whole array of emotions that are doing very little at all to improve our human condition. We have ignored some very critical ones, and given credence to others to such a degree that we would rather concern ourselves with having the emotion but not knowing what to do with it. With no real purpose, I have to ask myself if it should be considered an emotion at all.One of the most interesting emotions is that of pride, because while pride is seen as the crown of the virtues to the Greeks, it is seen as a moral failing by almost all major religions. In the defense of pride, however, I have to mention that I think religions in general fail to inform their mindless minions of the positives to an emotion by ignoring the balance between the positives to pride instead of the negative that works more in their favor by failing to care enough to look at the whole breadth of an idea.
Judaism denounces it. The phrase "Pride goes before a fall" is a section of a passage from Proverbs. Many more verses of the Old Testament speak of pride and arrogance; a twisted combination of the want for pride without living up to it. "Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and looks not to the proud, nor to those that turn aside to lies." Psalm 40:4 says: "Talk no more exceeding proudly, nor let arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed."
In Christianity, pride is seen as the excessive love of one's own worth usually by attempting to remove oneself from subjection to God or valid authorities. A scriptural reference to pride in Psalms 10-4 says "In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.". It is often assumed that of the Seven Deadly sins, pride is the progenitor of all others, and led Saint Thomas Aquinas to write that "inordinate self-love is the cause of every sin." Maybe a bit of a stretch to attribute all of them to pride, but how many times have you watched or listened to an over rated blow hard talk about what a wonderful person he is without seeing a damn thing ever come from him?
In Islam, pride is forbidden as well. According to a narration from Muhammad, "He in whose heart there is as much as an atom of arrogance will not enter paradise". A man who had heard him replied "A man likes his garment to be beautiful and his sandals to be beautiful.", but Muhammad countered again stating "...arrogance is disdaining what is true and despising people."
Aristotle identified pride (megalopsuchia) as proper pride; the greatness of soul and magnanimity as the crown of the virtues, distinguishing it from vanity, temperance, and humility. He actually set it as the crown, however, because it was only gained by achieving all of the other qualities FIRST. And the most important aspect of this pride is that it is not sought. It is simply achieved by acting outwardly with the qualities that cause pride, and felt inwardly by the recognition that others are aware of it. Anything else that is gained as recognition WITHOUT being those things first is undeserving of pride. It becomes something far more insidious, but I'll get to that later.
Objectivism is one of the few modern philosophies or religions that list pride as a virtue. According to Ayn Rand, pride is one of the seven main virtues. In "The Virtue of Selfishness" she wrote:
"The virtue of pride can best be described by the term: “moral ambitiousness.” It means that one must earn the right to hold oneself as one’s own highest value by achieving one’s own moral perfection—which one achieves by never accepting any code of irrational virtues impossible to practice and by never failing to practice the virtues one knows to be rational—by never accepting an unearned guilt and never earning any, or, if one has earned it, never leaving it uncorrected—by never resigning oneself passively to any flaws in one’s character—by never placing any concern, wish, fear or mood of the moment above the reality of one’s own self-esteem. And, above all, it means one’s rejection of the role of a sacrificial animal, the rejection of any doctrine that preaches self-immolation as a moral virtue or duty."
Pride is seen as a positive, correct, life-affirming attitude to have, as it celebrates one's achievements and promoted selfworth. It is achieved by consistently practicing productiveness, rationality, independence, honesty, integrity, justice and all of the other virtues, and the end result is one of the three cardinal Objectivist values. The value of self-esteem.
Once again, how many times have you seen a person wish and expect this kind of pride from others, but do very little to surround themselves with people who are, or live up to the qualities that deserve that pride? Pride is the reward of accomplishment through humility.
So what is going on here? How is it that we are all expected to be proud, but as soon as we are, we are seen as TOO proud? And the key to understanding pride is to view it as a delicate balance between what it is that you have, and what you did to get it. What it is inside of you that can be viewed by others as an expression of humility while at the same time feeling the pride of knowing internally that you deserve it without feeling the need to show it outwardly.
Think of pride as something that one should strive and climb to achieve, but not something that can be had by sacrificing anything else. Like the careful walk up one side of a teeter-totter and then venturing only so far as to lift the beam off the ground and balance one side with the other. Knowing the fine line between these two is the very place where people wander past the fulcrum virtue of pride and drift into something wholly different. This is the journey into Hubris. Hubris is a sense of self exaggerated pride. Pride that works simply to gain the emotional reward of without anything else to back it up. Hubris is what so very many people call pride because they get the benefit of the feeling for themselves, but not due to the projected admiration from others because of the efforts of maintaining the humility.
There are two main types of pride that relate to hubris. The first is Alpha pride. Alpha Pride, or pride inside yourself, is described as a behavior that reflects less emotional expression. Alpha pride concerns feelings of inward gratification rather than the outward expressions of beta pride. Beta Pride (Pride in behavior) is described as a behavior that contributes to hubris negatively. Beta pride is more of an emotional expression. Emotional expressions are often intended as communicative acts addressed to another person rather than direct reflections of an underlying mental state. Several theories are related to the relationship of beta pride and the unconscious feelings of detachment/unconcern.Pride is "a pleasant emotion that results from a positive self-evaluation" (Lewis, 2002). The standard view of pride was that it results from satisfaction with meeting the personal goals set by oneself. Most research on pride attempts to distinguish the positive aspects of pride and the negative. Pride involves exhilarated pleasure and a feeling of accomplishment. Pride is related to "more positive behaviors and outcomes in the area where the individual is proud" (Weiner, 1985). Pride is generally associated with positive social behaviors such as helping others and outward promotion. According to Bagozzi et. al, pride can have the positive benefits of enhancing creativity, productivity, and altruism.
Hubris, by contrast, involves an arrogant tone and satisfaction in oneself in general. Hubris seems to be associated with more intra-individual negative outcomes. Hubris is related to expressions of aggression and hostility (Tangney, 1999). Hubris, ironically, is not automatically associated with high self-esteem, as one might expect but with highly fluctuating or variable self-esteem (Rhodwalt, et al.) Excessive feelings of hubris have a tendency of creating conflict and sometimes terminating close relationships. Hubris is considered one of the few emotions without some kind of positive function.
It is an all too common occurence, however, to be in desperate need of pride in ourselves for the things around us and to wish it as the virtuous form of pride when it is seen by others within ourselves. We want to be seen as having it in a way that expresses humility to others and at the same time fills that inner part to be proud. But when the things around us are not living up to your expectations to give you the ability to recieve that pride, we settle for what is offered as a default, and are then seen as having the overweaning pride of hubris.
The trick to this is to realize that pride is not something that can be gained by the accomplishments of others, and to attribute your own self esteem to the wishes and whims of others, who may or may not feel the same importance to the things that give you pride, may be setting yourself up to having to live with the understanding that the self esteem is purchased by you, but only sold when it is convenient to them. Pride for who you are and what you give to others reinforces positive pride, and by doing them of and for yourself,and with humility, results in good and well deserved pride. Pride that is dependant solely on the perception of others without honestly possessing those things worthy of pride, or by giving pride to those who do not wish to gain it honestly, is not pride.
Be very careful with the emotion of pride. Like everything else in life, it is to be appreciated in small doses. Not enough, and you are seen as unnappreciated and used. Too much, and you are seen as greedy and selfish. It is a long slow climb, but people who recognize that pride is a journey that can only be appreciated by going halfway. A hard thing to do for a person who already exceeds the goal of pride and wishes to take just one more step up to gain more and, instead, tilts the level into the abyss. Be a proud person, but remember that pride is something that is gained because you did what was required without expecting an emotional return, and then be proud that you were given that admiration regardless of asking for it.

References:* Cairns, Douglas L. "Hybris, Dishonour, and Thinking Big." Journal of Hellenic Studies 116 (1996) 1-32.* Fisher, Nick (1992). Hybris: a study in the values of honour and shame in Ancient Greece. Warminster, UK: Aris & Phillips. A book-length discussion of the meaning and implications of hybristic behavior in ancient Greece.* MacDowell, Douglas. "Hybris in Athens." Greece and Rome 23 (1976) 14-31.* Owen, David (2007) The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power Politico's, Methuen Publishing Ltd.* The Nicomachean Ethics By Aristotle, James Alexander, Kerr Thomson, Hugh Tredennick, Jonathan Barnes translators* Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 4.3* Understanding Philosophy for AS Level AQA, by Christopher Hamilton (Google Books)* Aristotle Rhetoric 1378b.*“The Objectivist Ethics,” The Virtue of Selfishness, 27,