Philosophy Lecture

Join us for a lecture by Dr. Alida Lieberman on “In Defense of Clear-Sighted Hypocrisy”

Moral hypocrisy—understood as a lack of consistency between what you believe you ought to do and what you actually do—is routinely condemned. However, the presenter argues that openly embracing our own hypocrisy—and being more accepting of hypocrisy in others—has both instrumental and non-instrumental moral benefits. Many people resolve the dissonance caused by a gap between their values and their actions by engaging in self-deception, wishful thinking, or standard-lowering. Instead, a more productive response is to be more open and honest about your failures. Sometimes, moral improvement only occurs if one is willing to pass through a transitional hypocritical phase that involves opening one’s mind to the prospect of change, even while your behavior remains stubbornly fixed. And even when such clear-sighted hypocrisy does not lead to moral improvement, it is valuable for its own sake: it is morally better to grapple with the uncomfortable self-knowledge of your own shortcomings than to avoid discomfort by refusing to engage in real self-reflection.

Admission is 5$
45 min lecture followed by 15 Q&A