  Various philosophers have seen modesty as functioning as a brake on certain bad tendencies. Iris Murdoch, for example, sees humility as a brake on pride; see Milligan (2007) for a detailed discussion of humility in Murdoch. Foley (2004) highlights a similar strand in Aquinas, who describes modesty and humility as moderating desires for personal excellence. Kant sometimes describes humility as moderation not of our personal desires, but of our demands on others (Doctrine of Virtue 6:462). While Sidgwick (1907/1981, 335) describes the function of humility as, in part, repressing certain emotions of self-admiration.