Understanding Honor: What It Means and Why d it matters, and how, practice it in your daily life.

Hello again dear reader,

Recently, I have been reading about ancient knights and warriors, as part of a research project that I am assisting with.  During my research I keep coming across” Honor” and what it means to various cultures, such as the Japanese Samurai, Roman Legionnaire, World War 1 and, World War II British soldiers, and many others. I started to think about what “honor” meant to me and what it has come to mean in the modern world.  I did a bit more research for my personal education, gave some serious philosophical thought to my version of honor and dignity, And this article, dear reader, is the result. Not only that, but I sincerely hope that it helps you, understand what it means to be honorable and how to carry yourself as an honorable person in daily life.

Introduction

Have you ever heard the word “honor” before? Maybe you've heard people talk about it, but do you know what it really means? It's a word that we use a lot, but it can be hard to explain. In this article, we'll explore what honor is, why it's important, and how it has changed over time.

Horizontal Honor

There are two types of honor: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal honor is all about mutual respect. It means that you have the right to respect from a group of people who are your equals. But this respect isn't just given out freely. There are certain standards that you have to meet to be respected by the group. These standards are called a code of honor.

A code of honor is a set of rules that everyone in the group has to follow. If you don't follow these rules, you lose your right to respect from the group. This is called shame. It's essential to feel shame when you don't meet the standards of the group because it helps keep everyone in line.

The group that follows the code of honor is called an honor group. Everyone in the group has to know each other and interact face-to-face. This is because honor can't exist in a society where anonymity dominates. The group also has to be exclusive. This means that not everyone can be part of the group. Only people who follow the code of honor can be part of the group.

Vertical Honor

Vertical honor is different from horizontal honor. It's not about mutual respect. Instead, it's about giving praise and esteem to people who are superior to you. This could be because of their abilities, rank, services to the community, kinship, office, or anything else.

Why Honor Matters

Honor is important because it helps us live in a society where everyone follows the same rules. It helps us know what is expected of us and what we can expect from others. When we don't respect the rules, we feel shame. This helps us correct our behavior and become better people.

Unfortunately, honor isn't as significant as it used to be. In the past, honor was a big part of society. People would even die for their honor. But today, honor is often seen as a joke. This is a problem because without honor, we don't have a way to keep everyone in line. We need to bring honor back and make it an indispensable part of our lives again.

Conclusion

Honor is a word that we use a lot, but it can be hard to explain. It's all about following a code of honor and being respected by others who follow the same code. Honor is important because it helps us live in a society where everyone follows the same rules. We need to bring honor back and make it a critical part of our lives again.

As always do reader. Thank you for the gift of your valuable time, if you enjoy reading my posts, please feel free to share them with whomever you deem worthy.

Editor's note: this article is by no means, designed to present a moral code, or rules for society. It is simply designed to give you dear reader an overview and basic definition of honor in the classical sense. So that you, can figure out what honor means in your society and peer groups, and live your life according to your individual societies agreed upon code of honor.