Resentment and Assurance

Abstract Resentment is a kind of anger. It is widely agreed that resentment predicates some kind of wrong at others’ hands and that it is in some way a defensive emotion in its operation or its manner of expression. The most widely cited contemporary account of resentment, Jean Hampton’s, renders the anger, wrong, and need for defense in a particularly colorful way. Hampton’s is an individualistic and agonistic account of resentment. Beings acutely aware of their “value and rank” are moved to anger by injuries to themselves that challenge their presumed standings, and they are mobilized in fearful defense of the self-esteem these standings under-write.