Catalog Semantic Ethics · Illustrative example
Philotimo φιλότιμο
A love of honor that obliges generous, fitting action even when no rule requires it.
- Language
- Greek
- Where spoken / practiced
- Greece and the Greek-speaking world
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
Philotimo names a moral pressure that is neither mere pride nor generic kindness. It is the felt duty to act in a way that keeps faith with one's name, household, and community — especially when the cost is private and the witness is few.
Where generic English fails
English words such as honor, pride, or generosity travel, but they split what philotimo holds together: reputation as an ethical organ, not a public-relations asset. To say someone 'was kind' flattens the specific shame of failing to rise to an unasked obligation.
Diplomatic use
In mediation, an appeal to 'respect' may miss the local grammar of honor. A philotimo-literate reading asks what unstated duty a party believes they have already fulfilled — or been denied the chance to fulfill.
Limits
Philotimo is lived and argued over in Greek. This note is a working sketch, not a definition for Greeks.