Mandeville on self-liking, morality, and hypocrisy
Date
2022-02-08
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Source Title
Intellectual History Review
Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
1749-6985
Publisher
Routledge
Volume
32
Issue
1
Pages
157 - 178
Language
English
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Abstract
I explore Mandeville’s account of moral judgement and its implications for the understanding of hypocrisy. According to Mandeville, we have a psychological need to like ourselves sufficiently, so as to carry on with our lives. Because our self-liking necessarily depends on the opinions others form of us, we are extraordinarily sensitive to praise and condemnation. The practice of moral judgement exploits this sensitivity. Hypocrisy is an intrinsic element of this practice.