| « duty | Back to list | equality » |
envy
expressly identified in the Decalogue as a threat to the order of God's creation, and subsequently in the Christian tradition as one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The emotion is a common one and remarked in such adages as "Keeping up with the Jones" or "The grass is always greener on the other side". It is corrosive in so far as it tends to make self worth depend upon material acquisition. (It is a matter of debate whether a cultural emphasis on incentives has any bearing on people's susceptibility to be envious.)
See also:
Decalogue, sin
| « duty | Back to list | equality » |