Daily Discussion No. 11: What Does it Mean to be an "Honorable" Person?

Welcome to another edition of "Daily Discussion," a community engagement initiative I started some months back, designed to stimulate more interaction and engagement on Steemit. 

When we watch TV programs, or read historical fiction, or even watch movies, we often hear statements made along the lines of "He was an Honorable Man!" or may "That Just Wouldn't Be HONORABLE."

But What Does That MEAN?

Most of us probably have some sort of idea what's being talked about, but "honorable" is really a pretty subjective term.

Back when I was in college, one of my friends had the worst imaginable crush on one of the girls in a marketing class we were taking together. He was basically one sad and lovesick puppy!

But in spite of his very intense feelings, he chose to never talk to this particular young woman. You see, we knew she was married and according to Henry (my friend) it just "wouldn't be honorable" for him to make any kind of advances. 

Different situation: My cousin and I (as starving students) were eating lunch on a bench on the pedestrian area of central Copenhagen. It was a busy summer day; we happened to be sitting opposite a busy bank. In the many comings and goings, a couple (from the looks of them, quite "upscale") sat on a beach opposite us, loaded down with shopping bags. 

The husband went into the bank, presumably to exchange money, and came back out holding an envelope he put into one of their bags. They sat for a bit; then we noticed they had left. But they'd left behind one bag; the bag the husband had put the envelope from the bank into.

We went and got the bag, but we couldn't see the couple. There were a couple of books and magazines in the bag, along with what seemed to be a bank envelope and a passport wallet (this was 30+ years ago, before people were as security obsessed as they are today). 

We took the bag into the bank and turned it in-- even though there was probably the equivalent of $2000 cash (in 1983 money) there-- because it felt like the honorable thing to do.

So What IS "Honorable?"

A lot of dictionary definitions revolve around ethics and morals. They suggest that honorable suggests simply doing "the right thing," regardless of whether it's what you want or it's good, bad or indifferent for us.

But "self-sacrifice" isn't necessarily part of the definition.

Let's Discuss! There are no right or wrong answers here; also no judgment!  How do we know what the "honorable thing" is, at any given time? Is it the product of learned behavior we have absorbed from our environment? Or is it more the case of a "do onto others" principle? Or is "honorable" more a result of our own personal value sets-- meaning that my version of honorable isn't necessarily the next person's? Alternatively, do you believe the entire notion of "honorable" is an outmoded idea, in today's society? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

To learn more about the Daily Discussion initiative, please visit the Introductory Post for a full description and participation guidelines. 

created by @zord189

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180128 15:23 PDT