THE PHILOSOPHY OF ENVY Envy is almost universally condemned and feared. But is its bad reputation always warranted? In this book, Sara Protasi argues that envyismoremultifacetedthanitseems,andthatsomevarietiesofit can be productive and even virtuous. Protasi brings together empir- ical evidence and philosophical research to generate a novel view according to which there are four kinds of envy: emulative, inert, aggressive, and spiteful. For each kind, she individuates different situational antecedents, phenomenological expressions, motivational tendencies,andbehavioraloutputs.Shethendevelopsthenormative implications of this taxonomy from amoral and prudential perspec- tive, in the domain of personal loving relationships, and in the political sphere. A historical appendix completes the book. Through a careful and comprehensive investigation of envy’s com- plexity, and its multifarious implications for human relations and human value, The Philosophy of Envy surprisingly reveals that envy plays a crucial rolein safeguardingourhappiness.   isAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversity of Puget Sound. She has published essays on love, envy, beauty, pornography,and pedagogy. THE PHILOSOPHY OF ENVY SARA PROTASI UniversityofPugetSound UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridge,UnitedKingdom OneLibertyPlaza,thFloor,NewYork,,USA WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,,Australia –,rdFloor,Plot,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,NewDelhi–,India AnsonRoad,#–/,Singapore CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitofeducation, learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/ :./ ©SaraProtasi Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData :Protasi,Sara,–author. :Thephilosophyofenvy/SaraProtasi,UniversityofPugetSound,Washington. :Cambridge;NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,.| Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. :(print)|(ebook)| (hardback)|(paperback)|(epub) ::Envy.|Ethics.|Socialpsychology. :.(print)|.E(ebook)|/.– LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/ LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/ ----Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. For M and m, amori della mamma: may you learn to love and envy well. 我的寶貝 “ ” For Shen-yi, : words cannot describe. Contents List of Figures page ix List of Tables x Preface and Acknowledgments xi Introduction: The Sidelong Gaze   What Is Envy?  . Introduction:TwoDifferentGreen-EyedMonsters  . EnvyandJealousyasRivalrousEmotions  . ToLackortoLose,ThatIstheQuestion  . Complications:Ambiguous,Hybrid,andTransitionalScenarios  . WhatIsEnvy,Then?ADefinition   Varieties of Envy  . Introduction:EnvyIsSaidinManyWays  . WhatDoesEnvyDo?LevelingUpandLevelingDown  . TheVariablesofEnvy:FocusofConcernandPerceived ObtainabilityoftheGood  . TheVarietiesofEnvy   The Value of Envy  . Introduction:IsEnvyGuiltyasCharged?  . Preliminaries  . “ItShouldHaveBeenMe!”  . “ItShouldBeMe!”  . “ItCouldHaveBeenMe!”  . “ItCouldBeMe!”  . OntologyandNormativityComingTogether  . EmulativeEnvyasaVirtuousEmotion  . TowardaTheoryofRemediesofEnvy   Love and Envy, Two Sides of the Same Coin  . Introduction:LoveDoesNotEnvy,OrDoesIt?  . Preliminaries:Love,Envy,andTwoKindsofIncompatibility  vii viii Contents . Comparison,Similarity,andDesireforEsteem:WhereLove andEnvyThrive  . InPraiseofEnvyingtheBeloved   Political Envy  . Introduction:EnvyasaPoliticalEmotion?  . TheRhetoricofClassEnvyandEnviousEgalitarianism  . EnvyandPrejudice  . VarietiesofPoliticalEnvy  . TamingtheGreen-EyedMonsters  Conclusion: Envy and Human Goodness  Appendix In the Beginning Was Phthonos: A Short History of Envy  A. Introduction:EnvyinWesternHistoryofPhilosophy  A. EnvyasaPathosintheAncientGreekTradition  A. EnvyasaSininChristianandIslamicThought  A. EnvyintheModernEra  A. EnvyinJohnRawls  References  Index  Figures . Varieties of envy page  . Gabriele Taylor’s taxonomy  ix