I see this word being bandied around in a derogatory manner and wonder why the word is used so much. So that's not the discussion, the discussion if you will is whether Hypocrite is always used properly or has its use expanded to include types that aren't necessarily hypocrites? For instance advice givers who advise you against doing the things they do, is it truly hypocritical to openly do what you do but advise others not to be like you? I mean if a smoker tells you you shouldn't smoke I personally don't believe they should be labeled a hypocrite, they aren't hiding their habit and are acknowledging it's bad to start and advising from an experienced perspective. Application of Hypocrite to any who lives a complicated life but doesn't hide their shortcomings and gives sound advice out of experience seems to me to be an action of avoiding acknowledging that their words have merit. Now an actual hypocrite hides their behavior while putting on a persona in public, they are not honest with others and their actions under their public persona is in fact for personal gain of some sort whether social standing or moral authority or profit, etc... My opinion is that hypocrite is being too broadly applied and isn't being used as defined. So what's y'all's take on the whole hypocrite thing?
You just described Rousseau, whose ideas formed the cornerstone of modern political, educational and social thought, contributed considerably to the Enlightenment and gave shape to the French Revolution.
hypocrite (noun) hyp·o·crite | \ ˈhi-pə-ˌkrit \ Definition of hypocrite 1: a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion 2: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings Feel like this is a better definition, not just a ptr.
That's a distortion of the root, which implies being fake, an actor, someone who pretends. That's exactly why I made the thread, because the idea behind the use of Hypocrite seems to have changed to include people who are open and honest with their actions but advise against them. I mean does it make you fake or a pretender to use the experience you have to give advice if you don't hide your own actions, yes it might be a little bit of a contradiction but I wouldn't put it in the realm of hypocritical. Also the definition given is more in-depth then what you have quoted.
I never really seen anyone calling someone who advise against bad habits that they are struggling with as hypocrites. People who don't appreciate the advice would reply "practice what you preached" than labeling those people as hypocrites. It would really be helpful if you send a link or something that uses the word hypocrite this way. Found it from a news article? From a forum somewhere? Facebook? Twitter?
In my opinion, part of the reason for hypocricy is that there is a massive gap between our logic and our emotions. This is why when something is abstract, like it is being done to someone else, it is easy for us to use "logic" and, for example, tell an angry person to calm down, yet when something happens to us, it's no longer our "logic" that is speaking but our emotions and that can sometimes knock our thinking into a cocked hat. Then there is also human self centeredness where we think our problems are bigger than other people's and that gives us a "free pass" sometimes. Do you know that 80% of the people in prisons do not believe they belong there? Even if they were caught red handed for robbery, rape or murder? It's partially due to this that double standards happen, we end up to focused on "us" and lose track of the "others" that we are doing things to.
I actually have encountered this line in arguments, it's semi-linked to the ad hominum method of argument. When someone suggests something the other does not like, the person then implies that the suggestor has committed the same wrong and hence is a "hypocrite" and his advice can then be ignored. It's usually a method to justify ignoring someone's advice than an attack on the person.
No, it's just from hearing it used, seeing it used all my life and always finding it's application to be used especially when it comes to some giving others advice based off their own failings to be another form of avoiding self improvement or self control.
Still. Some tangible examples would be nice. The examples presented here are anecdotal or hypothetical.
A smoker who tells other people not to smoke has bipolar disorder. A smoker who smokes in lavatories, has black teeth and bad breath .. while telling you not to smoke because he does not? This guy is either a hypocrite or belongs in asylum.
I think there are degrees before calling someone a hypocrite. The only people I would generally call hypocrites, are those who advocate for social and political revolution and never practice what they preach.
Hmm, hypocrisy is the result of someone defining your actions and words. Usually hypocrites are not aware of their hypocrisy. To those who are aware of their own hypocrisy, it does not change the fact they are hypocrites. Humans are hypocrites by nature, because they are not like characters with moral alignments. Though hypocrisy has different degrees of disdain, like white lies compared to lies themselves. A hypocrites is not necessarily a bad person and a bad person is not always a hypocrite either. To do things without remorse, hesitation, or regret makes you somewhat an inhuman being to your fellow humans. The difference is in belief and one's own code or ideal. I assure you, fear those who do things without reflection, because they are dense as a neutron star and disastrous as a black hole swallowing everything in their path.
Yes i discuss this issue with another group of people a few months ago. Hypocrite have a negative connotation and it shouldn't be use so broadly. If someone went to jail for robbing people and got out teaching kids not to rob, by definition he is a hypocrite but calling a hypocrite sounds bad because people made it a word that means the person is bad.
this is a dumb thing unless they aren't voting. Like i see no point in not eating meat when we have a meat industry. It would be better voting in people that would change the system than going vegan.
An old man was going for a walk, then he noticed a little boy feeding a thin, shaggy looking dog with bits of bread. Then he went up to the little boy and asked why he was sharing his bread with dogs. Then the little boy answered "because they have nothing, no home, no family and if I don't feed them they will die". "But there are homeless dogs everywhere" answered the old man "your efforts really don't make a difference" The boy replied to the old man while stroking the dog "But for this little dog, it makes all the difference in the world" I am showing how subtle and deep hypocrisy can be, rather it depends on perspective of humans, if you read the brief story above you could understand who is being hypocrite? Is it old man? Or is that little boy or both of them.
This. The real life examples I can think of are celebrities who advocate for less polution and going green, who then fly private jets around. "Oh, but through my activist efforts, I've banked up enough credit to make up for it." Nope, they are still actively adding to the polution problem they supposedly deplore. Hypocrite. The other hypocrite example that annoys me is when there are politicians and celebrities in America that always jump on the anti-gun bandwagon anytime there is a shooting. But they themselves own guns or hire private security with guns. Using the tragedy to publicly espouse their politics while benefting from the thing they decry is a perfect example of a hypocrite.