The document discusses different types and definitions of hypocrisy. It defines hypocrisy as deliberately deceiving others or enacting double standards to further selfish ends. It provides examples of famous fictional hypocrites from literature and discusses how hypocrisy can grow within corrupt systems with limited checks on unethical practices, leading to issues like collusion and the system's eventual collapse. It also notes that politics requires a level of necessary hypocrisy to achieve compromise between competing interests.
"Hypocrisy-Revealing The Ugly Truth" by Andrew Macklin. The Philosophers Corner. August 2010
1. ‘ Hypocrisy’ Andrew Macklin Philosopher’s Corner two definitions: 1 hypocrisy is to deceive others to achieve a self-interest 2 hypocrisy is the enactment of double standards to achieve a self-interest
2. ‘ Yes brother, I am wicked, I am guilty, A miserable sinner, steeped in evil, The greatest criminal that ever lived. And should you trust my outward semblance, brother, Or judge therein that I am the better man? No, no, You let appearances deceive you; I’m anything but what I am thought to be . . .’ Moliere’s Tartuffe
3. Is hypocrisy wrong? the 30-year toxic poisoning of the water systems of Ecuador by Chevron Texaco
4. famous fictional hypocrites Shakespeare’s Iago from Othello (c1601), Molliere’s Tartuffe ( 1664) and Dickens’ Uriah Heap from David Copperfield ( 1850) etymology: heart. etymology hypo means ‘under’ and the verb krinein meaning ‘to judge’ thus the original meaning implied a deficiency in the ability to interpret truth a deceptive heart
5. 1 hypocrisy is lying and deception about who or what you are, to others, because of an ulterior motive to further selfish ends – money, sex, power, control, reputation etc lying deception ulterior motives selfish ends 2 hypocrisy is the enactment of double standards – to preach one way of living while covertly indulging in the very practices you condemn to further selfish ends double standards preaching a way of living indulging in the practices you condemn selfish ends
6. china sells arms to the Sudanese government causing atrocities in Darfur to get oil and then says: "China opposes the International Criminal Court's issuing of an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president Hassan al-Bashir, this warrant interferes in the peace process.” March 2009, UPI
7. victim of James Hardie asbestos co-dependent keywords: ulterior motives + deception knowingly hiding wrong
8. Kant’s ‘ formula of the end-in-itself’ + Marx’s ‘ commodity ‘fetishization’ = ‘ embodied injustice’ 13-year-old Liyakot Ali works in a silver cooking pot factory in Old Dhaka. He works 10 hour days in hazardous conditions, for a weekly wage of 200 taka (3 USD), Bangladesh June 2008
9. the deceptions of hypocrites challenge our understanding of truth and destroy our trust e.g. climate denialists paul wolfowitz keywords: lying deception (and protection) paedophile Gerald Ridsdale arrives at court with George Pell (1992 )
11. coping hypocrisy justifications cognitive dissonance unselfconscious hypocrisy sincere hypocrisy self-deception self-delusion narcissism unknowing hypocrisy the enactment of double standards – to preach one way of living while covertly indulging in the very practices you condemn to further selfish ends
12. unknowing hypocrisy When there is no intent to deceive or insincerity involved does this mean there is no hypocrisy? backpackers in Burma
14. types of hypocrisy: knowing, hard or venal hypocrisy unknowing or unselfconscious hypocrisy the politician the fanatic
15. the venal hypocrite knowingly and habitually engages in intentional and deliberate deception to further selfish ends with consequences that affect the lives of others Charles Ponzi mugshot (1910) (right) Bernie Madoff mugshot (2009) The Ponzi scheme entices new investors by offering abnormally high returns on investments others cannot. You do this by paying early investors with money from later investors rather than from any actual profit earned.
16. }}}}}}affinity fraud Prosecutors estimate losses at Madoff’s hand totalled $64.8 billion. Major assets on arrest included securities ($45 million), cash ($17 million), half-interest in BLM Air Charter ($12 million), a 2006 Leopard yacht ($7 million), jewellry ($2.6 million), Manhattan apartment ($7 million), Montauk home ($3 million), Palm Beach home ($11 million), Cap d' Antibes, France property ($1 million), and furniture, household goods, and art ($9.9 million).
17. Milton Friedman Ronald Reagan Alan Greenspan ‘ The best way to rob a bank is to own one.’ hypocrisy grows in a corrupt system where there are limited checks and balances on unethical practices e.g. deregulation and privatisation are the cornerstones of of Milton Friedman’s Neo-Liberal capitalism (or economic rationalism)
18. hypocrisy leads to corruption - sycophantry, groupthink and collusion - within an entire system leading to its eventual collapse
19. politicians politics is characterized by relationships among different and competing groups with conflicting interests that are dependent on each other to achieve their own ambitions leading to necessary hypocrisy or the hypocrisy of compromise
20. double think “ The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them . . .To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them . . . to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies.” George Orwell André Gide, ‘ The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.’
22. ‘ During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.’ George Orwell Naom Chompsky
23. Bibliography Ruth W. Grant, Hypocrisy and Integrity Machiavelli, Rousseau and the Ethics of Politics , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals , London: Routledge, 2002. Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince , Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1532/1998. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract and Other Later Political Writings, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1762/1997. David Runciman, Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power From Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond , Princeton University Press, 2008. Bela Szabados, Hypocrisy Ethical Investigations , Toronto: Broadview Press, 2004. activism boycotting campaigning civil disobedience cooperative movement culture jamming demonstration direct confrontation disinvestment (economic boycott) dissent franchise activism fifth column green activism internet activism lobbying protest revolution rebellion street marches striking volunteering