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GRENBERG, Jeanine. Kant and the Ethics of Humility: A Story of Dependence, Corruption and Virtue. New York: Cambridge University Press. xi + 269 pp. Cloth, $75.00 In her book, Kant and the Ethics of Humility, Jeanine Grenberg argues convincingly that Kant's ethical theory not only can accommodate a virtue perspective whose central focus is humility, but needs to do so in order to provide a complete account of moral personhood. In making her case, Grenberg considers a broad range of issues surrounding the role of virtue in Kant, contrasting the function of virtuous character traits in Kant with Aristotelian and Stoicstyle approaches. The uniqueness of her position comes out in the way she defends the notion of humility, in which she complements her sound knowledge of Kant and virtue theory with the use of numerous literary examples that help make concrete the experience of the humble agent.
The book begins by discussing how the virtue of humility has become marginalized, and what is needed to rehabilitate it as a central virtue. As Grenberg sees it, the crucial question for any adequate account of humility is ". . . whether, and the extent to which, human limitation has moral significance . ....