The Respect Motive

'Respect, man!'It is the latest form of greeting, and it's what we all need: the respect of others.It is 'the fundamental electricity of life', says the author, that 'energizes the individual and society'. The Greeks had a word for it - philotime, or love of honour. Spenser called his Queen of Hell by this name; but is our daily struggle for respect an evil as well as a necessity?David Townley says no, and the deconstructed plays, films, TV shows and everyday situations he uses to back his thesis make entertaining reading. From Durkheim to Sartre, from Oscar Wilde to Gore Vidal, he analyses the world in terms of our yearning for respect. He's particularly compelling when he highlights one of the demons of modern life - the unseen arbiter, the spectre of approval who governs our choices, in shopping, socializing, and sex. An d if we fail to find respect? Read on.