Overview
- Bisects hypocrisy’s role in political theory into the “psychological hypocrisy” of good manners
- Illustrates relationship between two kinds of hypocrisy and political actors and their implication for liberal democracy
- Discusses approaches to addressing problems of hypocrisy in the context of democratic politics
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Unconfessed by definition, hypocrisy is one of the most used and abused polemical categories, even today, to denounce the "masked cynicism" of certain social actors, especially when they hold public office. But has hypocrisy always been just that? Should we really always be wary of it and challenge its every manifestation? What forms of hypocrisy can we distinguish? What kind of relationship exists between hypocrisy and the lack of self-critical attitude of those who are used to challenge the conduct of others? And above all: what relationship exists between this common vice, democratic politics and the institutional reproduction of different forms of oppression and domination? These are just some of the questions that inspire this philosophical journey back into the history of one of the most chameleonic concepts of Western culture. In Mazzone’s conception, democratic hypocrisy includes argumentative strategies used by institutional actors to refuse any kind of responsibility whentheir decisions, actions or roles are called into question by the protests of citizens in a democratic context. He reveals the relationship that exists between such “apologetic narratives” and the institutional reproduction of different forms of oppression and domination. Ultimately, the book urges civic vigilance against underhand wannabe authoritarians, who – as a group – are evolving to find new ways to trick people into opposing democracy.
Reviews
“Mazzone has focused our attention on an important and underappreciated topic; the way hypocrisy suppresses the complaints of the oppressed and poses a particular threat not just to our politics but to democracies as a whole. The topic could hardly be more urgent.” (Ekow N. Yankah, Thomas M. Cooley Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Leonard Mazzone is Research Associate in Social and Political Philosophy at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Florence, Italy.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Democratic Hypocrisy
Book Subtitle: Domination, Egalitarian Criticism and Apologetic Narratives
Authors: Leonard Mazzone
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33820-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-33819-9Published: 30 July 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-33822-9Due: 30 August 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-33820-5Published: 29 July 2023
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 187
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Political Theory, Political Philosophy, Ethics, Political History