A compelling exploration of how reputation affects every aspect of contemporary lifeReputation touches almost everything, guiding our behavior and choices in countless ways. But it is also shrouded in mystery. Why is it so powerful when the criteria by which people and things are defined as good or bad often appear to be arbitrary? Why do we care so much about how others see us that we may even do irrational and harmful things to try to influence their opinion? In this engaging book, Gloria Origgi draws on philosophy, social psychology, sociology, economics, literature, and history to offer an illuminating account of an important yet oddly neglected subject.Origgi examines the influence of the Internet and social media, as well as the countless ranking systems that characterize modern society and contribute to the creation of formal and informal reputations in our social relations, in business, in politics, in academia, and even in wine. She highlights the importance of reputation to the effective functioning of the economy and e-commerce. Origgi also discusses the existential significance of our obsession with reputation, concluding that an awareness of the relationship between our reputation and our actions empowers us to better understand who we are and why we do what we do.Compellingly written and filled with surprising insights, Reputation pins down an elusive subject that affects everyone.

Preface to the English Edition vii
Acknowledgments xiii
1 How I See Myself Seen 1
2 Is Reputation a Means or an End? 28
3 "Somebody Told Me," or How Reputations Spread 62
4 Assessing Uncertainty: How Trustworthy Is a Reputation? 86
5 The Paradox of the "Top Specialist" and the Heuristics of Reputation 113
6 Homo Comparativus: Status, Honor, and Prestige 147
7 Information and Reputation: The Collective Intelligence of the Web 171
8 Experts and Connoisseurs: The Reputation of Wine 195
9 Academic Reputation, or Voluntary Epistemic Servitude 216
10 Reputation in Democracies: Instructions for Use 241
References 255
Index 263