Hypocrisy…

As a child, my appeals to logic and equality were met by my elders with the rejoinder to “do as I say, and not as I do.”

Aged 10, my primary school report card remarked unfavourably upon my penchant for the employment of ‘adult phraseology’.

I have no reason not to identify myself as a hypocrite – the context of which is my belief and understanding that hypocrisy is a fundamental part of the human condition. We are all hypocrites and to call someone a hypocrite is therefore inherently hypocritical.

Chambers Dictionary:

hypocrisy noun (hypocrisies) 1 the act of pretending to have feelings, beliefs or principles which one does not actually have. 2 the act of concealing one’s true character.
ETYMOLOGY: 13c: from Greek hypokrisis play-acting.

The complete idiot’s guide to psychology:

We’re all actors following scripts.

Billy Rattlerod:

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.

Wikipedia:

It is a common fallacy (see List of fallacies) to accuse someone of being a hypocrite in an attempt to invalidate their argument. This can be known as an ad hominem attack. In other words, just because someone is a hypocrite, that does not make them wrong.

http://www.livescience.com:

Why We’re All Moral Hypocrites

Most of us, whether we admit it or not, are moral hypocrites. We judge others more severely than we judge ourselves.

Hypocrisy – Ethical Investigations, 2004, by Béla Szabados & Eldon Soifer:

Kant applies the sort of reasoning just outlined in defence of another form of pretence as well, which is even more striking, given our current interest in hypocrisy. This involves presenting oneself as virtuous, even when one is not. Kant welcomes the presentation of a dignified bearing, or the appearance of modesty, even when this is in fact an ‘illusion’, or a case of ‘disguising’ oneself…. But on one standard reading, this is exactly the sort of behaviour that is considered hypotcritical.

http://forums.philosophyforums.com

Inevitable Moral Hypocrisy
Philosophy’s eternal embarrassment

When it comes to ethics and morality we are all hypocrites. Moral hypocrisy is inevitable, part of the human condition, as natural as breathing.
By this I do not mean that people espouse a moral code that they do not follow themselves. If only it were that simple. The hypocrisy of morality is deeper than that.

The nature of morality and ethics can be summed up in two contradictory observations:

1) Morality is subjective, a function of individual perception. Everyone has a unique opinion about right and wrong, every society, culture, and religion its own social rules. There is no logical or scientific proof that any of them are objectively true.

2) We all believe our own morality and ethics to be objectively true. It seems as real and obvious to us as sunlight or gravity.

This paradox has forever confounded philosophers who have sought, by one means or another, to break out of the paradox. To avoid the hypocrisy that they despise in those around them.

But the human condition is such that hypocrisy is inevitable and unavoidable.

Now, what I want to know is when, and how, did the charge of hypocrisy become such a powerful one? Why am I apparently so rare in laughing off such charges as banal and tautological truisms?

“Oooh, you’re sooooooo human!” Doesn’t sound like much of an insult, unless it’s coming from an artificial or alien intelligence. For which I’m prepared to make a grudging exception.

“Oooh, you’re sooooooo hypocritical!” Sounds just like the way to close down most arguments effectively if you’re, consciously or otherwise, handy with logical fallacies.

They are equivalent statements.

Ohhh.. wait a minute… religious conditioning…

How can you say to your Brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.‎

Gospel according to Luke.

Say no more, Derek, say no more.

AJ