Catalog Semantic Ethics · Illustrative example
Amae 甘え
The cultivated capacity to presume upon another's goodwill, and to receive that presumption with skill.
- Language
- Japanese
- Where spoken / practiced
- Japan
This page is a Semantic Ethics sample of catalog form. It is not a finished CAV study and does not introduce invented sources.
Working note
Amae is often reduced to dependence or spoiling. In ordinary Japanese use it can name a valued interpersonal intelligence: knowing when it is right to lean, and how to make leaning livable for the other person. The concept became widely discussed in English after Takeo Doi's 1971 book The Anatomy of Dependence — a public, well-known source, not a CAV finding.
Where generic English fails
Independence, boundaries, and 'healthy attachment' are useful clinical English. They still treat leaning as a deficit to be managed. Amae can describe a competence: the art of being received.
Diplomatic use
Negotiators trained only in assertive clarity may hear a request for care as weakness or manipulation. An amae-literate reading asks whether the relationship is being asked to hold something that a contract cannot.
Limits
Amae is not a national personality. Japanese speakers disagree about its scope, valence, and contemporary relevance.