ABSTRACT
Most authors writing on shame nowadays agree in characterizing it as an emotion of self-assessment, an emotion that intentionally targets and evaluates the one who feels it (see Chapter 30 in this volume; cf. also Chapter 27 in this volume). Now, if this is true, some instances of shame seem puzzling, because the circumstances in which they typically arise don’t appear to offer the right kind of basis for a self-evaluation: hetero-induced shame 1 (or shame felt about somebody else’s actions or features) and survivor shame (or shame felt about having been the victim of an abuse). Here are some examples. Consider, first, hetero-induced shame: You take a friend to a classical music concert where your son, a professional piano-player, is the main soloist. When he comes on stage, he is visibly drunk and offers a disgraceful performance. You feel ashamed.
