Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - László Dányi: On the Bad Side of the Fence: Fiascos of Southern Ethos

Platón and later on Aristotle differenciated ethos referring to contentions and those moral norms that radiate from them, and éthos encapsulating the moral character and the moral feature. Out of these two definitions my usage of the word ethos is closer to what the two Greek philosophers called ethos, that is why I rely on that form, however, I borrow the quality of independence, individuality and nonconformity of éthos. I presume that to a certain degree characters are culturally determined and they cannot fully escape the ethos of their group or community. By limiting the validity of ethos, I assume that ethos elements are entangled in gynoscopic relationships with one another and can be crystallized into four major groups, and these are 1/universal, 2/ regional and group, 3/ individually sustained and 4/ individually conducted. The expressions only denote peaks in each category, and each division shares common elements with others, and at the blurred borderline of each several other categories could be established. The ethos of a people is projected onto, is mirrored in, and radiates from the personality and disposition of the individual whose thoughts, ideas, values and actions are immersed in the ethos of the people. The individual's thoughts, ideas and activities are projected onto different fields of the ethos that are complex patterns of institutions that cluster social norms around particular demands. Universal ethos captures those myths, values, norms, institutions and firmly held beliefs that transcend nations and peoples, and widely recognized and accepted by most people. In regional ethos the aforementioned elements of ethos are accepted by nations, peoples, ethnic groups, whereas group patterns validate themselves in the conventions, norms and behavioral code systems of professional and social groups. I divided individual ethos (which is an individual's ethos here) into two spheres—individually sustained and individually conducted

— because on a theoretical basis the individual is aware of certain elements of the other ethos groups, and I also believe in the personal practical applicability and manipulative force of ethos in the field of behavior. In this distinction an individual's concepts of right patterns of behavior are compared to the individual's particular actions and thoughts which are in an "avowing-disavowing" relationship with the 175