Political Hypocrisy

The Mask of Power, from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-691-14815-1
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 288 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 468 g

What kind of hypocrite should voters choose as their next leader? The question seems utterly cynical. But, as David Runciman suggests, it is actually much more cynical to pretend that politics can ever be completely sincere. The most dangerous form of political hypocrisy is to claim to have a politics without hypocrisy. Political Hypocrisy is a timely, and timeless, book on the problems of sincerity and truth in politics, and how we can deal with them without slipping into hypocrisy ourselves. Runciman tackles the problems through lessons drawn from some of the great truth-tellers in modern political thought--Hobbes, Mandeville, Jefferson, Bentham, Sidgwick, and Orwell--and applies his ideas to different kinds of hypocritical politicians from Oliver Cromwell to Hillary Clinton. Runciman argues that we should accept hypocrisy as a fact of politics, but without resigning ourselves to it, let alone cynically embracing it. We should stop trying to eliminate every form of hypocrisy, and we should stop vainly searching for ideally authentic politicians. Instead, we should try to distinguish between harmless and harmful hypocrisies and should worry only about its most damaging varieties. Written in a lively style, this book will change how we look at political hypocrisy and how we answer some basic questions about politics: What are the limits of truthfulness in politics? And when, where, and how should we expect our politicians to be honest with us, and about what?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Runciman, David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Ethik, Moralphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Hobbes and the Mask of Power 16
Chapter 2: Mandeville and the Virtues of Vice 45
Chapter 3: The American Revolution and the Art of Sincerity 74
Chapter 4: Bentham and the Utility of Fiction 116
Chapter 5: Victorian Democracy and Victorian Hypocrisy 142
Chapter 6: Orwell and the Hypocrisy of Ideology 168
Conclusion: Sincerity and Hypocrisy in Democratic Politics 194
Notes 227
Bibliography 245
Index 259

Über Autor(innen)

Runciman, David
David Runciman is reader in political theory at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Trinity Hall. He is the author of "The Politics of Good Intentions" (Princeton), and writes regularly about politics for the "London Review of Books".