What is it about hypocrisy which so uniquely angers people?
Jeremy Lott: The moral free riding. I, the hypocrite, put on an act to convince people to think better of me but then go out of character when I think they aren’t looking. BC: Could we not say that the hypocrite is superior to a good many other people due to his knowing right from wrong? Even if he doesn’t “walk the walk,” isn’t his knowledge of proper behavior a point in his favor? Jeremy Lott: Hypocrisy is valuable because it doffs its hat to the good, even when our behavior is not so good. It also works to limit that behavior. Good parents, for instance, tend to watch their swearing and otherwise act better around their kids because they understand that they’re being watched like hawks. They want to start the kids off on the right foot, and it changes them. BC: I found your subtitle intriguing, “Picking Sides in the War on Virtue?” Is there a war on virtue at the moment? Wasn’t that battle lost long ago? Jeremy Lott: In a piece for the Dallas Morning News, I clarified this, calling
