The term honor can be used in a variety of ways. Honor is all at once an adjective, a noun, a verb, and a way to address a person in a respectful manner. It encompasses a variety of qualities and values, codes and rules that are considered to be substantial by society and its inhabitants. The term is not universal, however, and can differ in accordance with location, a group of people, their beliefs and values (Why Honor Matters, 2019). Honor attributed to a repairman will be different from the honor of an Olympic star, for example. Honor is a quality important to many people, and it is helpful in high esteem in society throughout generations. The honor was something the knights of old times valued, a characteristic intrinsic to a person’s image in society. The honor of a person represents their ability to display and show proper conduct to other people, as well as the ability to be reliable and trustworthy. It is hard to precisely define the term, as it carries a lot of cultural and historical connotations with it, but generally, it is indicative of a person’s positive reputation and character. Honor can also be understood as a reward, a public acknowledgment of a person’s deeds and contributions to society. A hero or a veteran is often bestowed honors, meaning that other people have and will have recognized their actions as worth noting.
Why Honor is important
In society, it is difficult for people to understand others without having a certain measure of evaluating their character. For this, honor serves as a useful and intuitive way of measuring how much social standing a person has. If an individual is known to be dishonorable, many would choose to not associate with such a person, or give them less trust than other individuals. Honor determines the way other people approach interactions and transactions with oneself, and the way society can treat individuals. In the older times, the honor was valued higher than now, but the quality still has a high individual and spiritual meaning for many. Honor can be used as a personal tool for judging one’s actions and thoughts, to guide oneself on the path of growth and self-fulfillment. In relation to one’s own actions, it can mean doing the correct thing to represent one’s beliefs and social stances, the positions of their family and close ones. Honor can be used as a defining factor of a person’s character and moral worth, as well as to provide them with guidance on how to approach decision-making. In social settings, honor is also crucial to encouraging positive behavior and reinforcing good action. People that feel rewarded for their contributions are more likely to act in a way that is beneficial to others, and give others a necessary example.
Conclusion
In conclusion, honor is a term and a system of values and rules that are difficult but necessary to understand to live in society. By judging others on their moral qualities and actions, people can construct their personal understanding of the types of behaviors that can be considered honorable. It can be used both as a personal guiding tool to decide what kinds of decisions a person should make and as a way to reward the wanted behaviors from others. Honor is a socially constructed term that has the ability to make life more orderly and organized.
References
Why Honor Matters. (2019). Web.
