Respect: A philosophical perspective

This article explicates the concept of respect as philosophers discuss and utilize it. After identifying the main questions about respect which philosophers have raised and addressed, including questions about the nature, importance, objects, grounds, psychological and behavioral elements, and implications of respect, I sketch an account of the most general elements of the attitude of respect and identify different kinds of respect and their connections to and differences from similar attitudes such as esteem and honor. I then discuss the most influential account of respect for persons, that of Immanuel Kant. The final section explores the importance of respect in moral, social and political life and in moral, social, and political theory, and highlights some implications for issues in applied ethics and social and political theory.