M catherine thomas biography of william

My subject this morning concerns the pursuit of self-esteem.

M catherine thomas biography of william

I’m going to resist defining self-esteem and simply use the term to circumscribe a number of ways of viewing the self. I would like to explore the nature of the self and the conditions under which it flourishes. In particular, I want to ask this question: What is the eternal value of the pursuit of self-esteem?

Whatever the valid uses of the term self-esteem are, however much good is intended, I wonder if self-esteem isn’t a red herring.

The term red herring comes from the practice of dragging this smelly fish across a trail to destroy the original scent. Thus a red herring is a diversion intended to distract attention from the real issue. I suggest that the issue of self-esteem is a diversion to distract us from the real issue of our existence.

We might be justified in telling people to fix their self-esteem in order to solve their most basic problems if we knew