Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue

FAIN: FZ-271344-20

Christopher M. Bellitto
Kean University (Union, NJ 07083-7133)

Research and writing of a book on the idea of humility in world literature, religion, philosophy, mythology, and theater. 

My goal is to write an accessible history of humility to get a wide conversation going about how to recover a healthy sense of this virtue for our divided society. Research for this interdisciplinary project is complete due to two internal release-time grants at my institution. Primary and secondary texts included humility in ancient world literature; Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; eastern and western ethics and philosophy; mythology and theatre (Greeks through medieval morality plays); and Enlightenment and contemporary discussions on education in virtue and citizenship. I tracked how the virtue of humility came to be denigrated as the vice of humiliation. That misconception has often led to the dangers of hybris, arrogance, and narcissism, especially among decision makers in civic society, which dovetails with the NEH initiative, “A More Perfect Union.” Exploring the history of humility just might prove to be our path back to civility in public discourse.

Associated Products

History is an exercise in humility (Blog Post)
Title: History is an exercise in humility
Author: Christopher M. Bellitto
Abstract: History reminds us that things don’t always get endlessly better. As a colleague of mine says, “It’s always fun until the historians show up.” When you hear people start sentences with phrases like, “For the first time in history …” or “Never before has …” — that’s when historians push the pause button. We bust myths. We pop balloons. We’re annoying, but humility is a virtue that history can teach.
Date: 11/10/2021
Primary URL: http://https://crc.blog.fordham.edu/ethics-morality/history-is-an-exercise-in-humility/
Primary URL Description: Fordham University Center for Religion and Culture
Website: https://crc.blog.fordham.edu/ethics-morality/history-is-an-exercise-in-humility/

Visiting Scholar, Princeton Theological Seminary (Staff/Faculty/Fellow Position)
Name: Visiting Scholar, Princeton Theological Seminary
Abstract: I was a Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary during the time of this NEH grant, which allowed me to use the library for research and writing. There was no income involved, but I was given an office, library access, and privileges for scanning, printing, and borrowing.
Year: 2021

Sabbatical, Kean University (Staff/Faculty/Fellow Position)
Name: Sabbatical, Kean University
Abstract: As a result of the NEH grant, I was awarded a Fall 2021 sabbatical from my home institution to write my book.
Year: 2021

Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue (Book)
Title: Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue
Author: Christopher M. Bellitto
Abstract: This book will be published July 2023. Recovering humility is an alternative to the diseases of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism that have infected us. We live in a world of “I’m right and you’re bad—so you have no right to your opinion or a place at the table.” This is the self-absorbed product of reckless partisanship, not a well-informed commitment to shared citizenship. It is also a very bad management principle. Rigid me-ism does precisely nothing to move us forward via dialogue, compromise, and consensus—which, admittedly, is not as enticing and exciting since that way of proceeding thrives in the grey area. Yet slogging through the grey has proven itself to be far less divisive and indeed far more successful than a cartoon-like black-and-white opposition that may make us feel vindicated but gets us precisely nowhere. The frightening alternative to a life of humility has been the death of civility. History demonstrates that when the virtue of humility is cast aside, hubris follows. I pursued that history by exploring treatments of humility in Greco-Roman history, philosophy, and literature; ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; and Enlightenment and contemporary discussions on education in virtue and citizenship. What I found was a lost virtue.
Year: 2023
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781647123765
Copy sent to NEH?: No

“Humility and Learned Ignorance in the Middle Ages.” Annual Winter Lecture, International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology, February 2024 (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “Humility and Learned Ignorance in the Middle Ages.” Annual Winter Lecture, International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology, February 2024
Abstract: Annual Winter Lecture, International Society for the Study of Medieval Theology, webinar
Author: Christopher M. Bellitto
Date: 02/15/24
Location: webinar

“`Too Humble is Half Proud’: Recovering the Lost Virtue of Humility.” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “`Too Humble is Half Proud’: Recovering the Lost Virtue of Humility.”
Abstract: Fetzer Center, Kalamazoo MI
Author: Christopher M. Bellitto
Date: 05/09/23
Location: Fetzer Center, Kalamazoo MI

Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue (Book)
Title: Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue
Author: Christopher M. Bellitto
Abstract: This cultural history of humility reveals this lost virtue as a secret defense against arrogance and incivility History demonstrates that when the virtue of humility is cast aside, excessive individualism follows. A person who lacks humility is at risk of developing a deceptive sense of certitude and at worst denies basic human rights, respect, and dignity to anyone they identify as the enemy. Humility, a cultural history and biography of the idea of humility, argues that the frightening alternative to humility has been the death of civility. In this book, Bellitto explores humility in Greco-Roman history, philosophy, and literature; in the ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; in the Enlightenment; and in contemporary discussions of education in virtue and citizenship. The author encourages readers to recover and reclaim this lost virtue by developing a new perspective on humility as an alternative to the diseases of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism in society. This book offers a fresh perspective on this lost virtue for readers concerned with the culture wars and those interested in finding a path to renewed civility.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/Humility-2
Primary URL Description: Georgetown University Press
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781647123765
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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