There’s a lot of hypocrisy in the world, especially in politics, but is it really so bad? Is it one of the worst kinds of vice or just a necessary evil? John suggests that we should first get clear on what a hypocrite is, so the two philosophers attempt to work out a definition through some examples. John eventually suggests that a hypocrite is someone who knows he ought to be one thing, but pretends to be another. Ken, not satisfied with that definition, offers some counterexamples to put pressure on it. They arrive at some difficult questions: what exactly is hypocrisy? How is different from lying, insincerity, or weakness of the will? And how bad is it, really?

Political scientist Lawrence Quill joins the conversation. He proposes that hypocritical behavior bothers us so much in large part because we want to take people’s words and actions as representative of their character. Hypocrisy reveals startling inconsistencies between behavior and character. But, Ken asks, can these inconsistencies ever be good? Lawrence claims that they absolutely can—indeed, acting hypocritically can even be virtuous. John helps him defend this bold claim by providing an example in which revealing one’s own beliefs might seem wrong. Ken points out that representing oneself falsely can undermine the foundations of our relationships with other people. Lawrence dismisses this anti-hypocrite stance, arguing that being authentic can lead to devastating consequences. Certainly, he thinks, it’s important to be transparent in our private lives, but a different set of standards should apply in the public sphere.

劳伦斯承认，至少在某些情况下，虚伪是不好的。那么，我们如何知道何时以及多少伪善是允许的呢?他建议，为了达到恰当的平衡，政客们需要适度这一罕见的美德。然而，他说，我们不应该期望某些公式或一套规则来保证我们按照它行事时的正确行为。肯指出，这非常符合道德哲学“德性伦理学”学派的精神。然后我们的主人会给我们一些最后的想法。约翰指出，我们对“虚伪”的定义可能无法捕捉到我们对它的情绪反应。肯重申了他的立场:虚伪有时可能是权宜之计，但它确实是一种恶习。

• Roving Philosophical Reporter(寻求第5章22节):凯特琳·埃施调查了著名的政治伪善案例。Ernesto Dal Bó是加州大学伯克利分校研究政治影响和腐败的教授，他帮助分析了这些案例。
• 60 Second Philosopher(Seek to 49:18): Ian Shoales brings to attention the wide range of behaviors that are similar to hypocrisy, in particular “false fronts.”