You might say, “I still don’t see the difference between the two. I think your definition of 'self-esteem' is too narrow. You are splitting hairs here.”

What really matters here is to understand the issues more than for us to agree on the terminology. My definition of self-esteem in the original publication is identical to my definition for self-respect in this course. I think self-respect is a better term for the subject matter in this course, one that avoids the “feeling happy about yourself” image that “self-esteem” conveys.