HYPOCRISY, WITH A NOTE ON INTEGRITY

Abstract

aIyPOCRISY is a puzzling vice. Like its manifestations, there is more to it than is ap? parent at first glance. I wish to do two things in the following investigation. First, I pro? pose to examine the structure of hypocrisy and of hypocritical behavior, and in so doing uncover what we take to be so unsettling about it. Second, I want to use our clearer understanding of hypocrisy to help to under? mine the appeal of consequentialist ethics. A note on methodology will be required to justify the first endeavour. An appeal to Bernard Williams' discussions of integrity will help in accomplishing the second goal. An initial account of what is wrong with hypocrisy generally makes mention of the lies told and the dissembling regarding mo? tives involved in hypocritical behavior. Some hypocrites irk us because they conceal their real motivations, professing to have more worthy intentions than they in fact have and hoping to convince us of this by acting as these professed intentions would lead them to act. But then we have to admit that the

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