An excerpt from
The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson (actually a great sci-fi book loaded with nanotechnological goodies):
"You know, when I was a young man, hypocrisy was deemed the worst of vices," Finkle-McGraw said.
"It was all because of moral relativism. You see, in that sort of a climate, you are not allowed to criticise others-
after all, if there is no absolute right and wrong, then what grounds is there for criticism?"
Finkle-McGraw paused, knowing that he had the full attention of his audience, and began to withdraw
a calabash pipe and various related supplies and implements from his pockets. As he continued, he charged
the calabash with a blend of leather-brown tobacco so redolent that it made Hackworth's mouth water. He was
tempted to spoon some of it into his mouth.
"Now, this led to a good deal of general frustration, for people are naturally censorious and love
nothing better than to criticise others' shortcomings. And so it was that they seized on hypocrisy and elevated it
from a ubiquitous peccadillo into the monarch of all vices. For, you see, even if there is no right and wrong, you
can find grounds to criticise another person by contrasting what he has espoused with what he has actually
done. In this case, you are not making any judgment whatsoever as to the correctness of his views or the
morality of his behavior- you are merely pointing out that he has said one thing and done another. Virtually all
political discourse in the days of my youth was devoted to the ferreting out of hypocrisy.
"You wouldn't believe the things they said about the orgininal Victorians. Calling someone a Victorian
in those days was almost like calling them a fascist or a Nazi."
Both Hackworth and Major Napier were dumbfounded. "Your Grace!" Napier exclaied. "I was naturally
aware that their moral stance was radically different from ours- but I am astonished to be informed that they
actually *condemned* the first Victorians."
"Of course they did," Finkle-McGraw said.
"Because the first Victorians were hypocrites," Hackworth said, getting it.
Finkle-McGraw beamed upon Hackworth like a master upon his favored pupil," As you can see, Major
Napier, my estimate of Mr. Hackworth's mental acuity was not ill-founded."
"While I would never have supposed otherwise, Your Grace," Major Napier said, "it is nonetheless
gratifying to have seen a demonstation," Napier raised his glass in Hackworth's direction.
"Because they were hypocrites," Finkle-McGraw said, after igniting his calabash and shooting a few
tremendous fountains of smoke into the air, "the Victorians were despised in the late twentieth century. Many of
the persons who held such opinions were, of course, guilty of the most nefandous conduct themselves, and yet
saw no paradox in holding such views because they were not hypocrites themselves- they took no moral
stances and lived by none."
"So they were morally superior to the Victorians-" Major Napier said, still a bit snowed under.
"-even though- in fact, *because*- they had no morals at all."
There was a moment of silent, bewildered head-shaking around the copper table.
"We take a somewhat different view of hypocrisy," Finkle-McGraw continued. "In the late-twentieth-
century Weltanshauung, a hypocrite was someone who espoused high moral views as part of a planned
campaign of deception- he never held these beliefs sincerely and routinely violated them in privacy. Of course,
most hypocrites are not like that. Most of the time it's a spirit-is-willing, flesh-is-weak sort of thing."
"That we occasionally violate our own stated moral code," Major Napier said, working it through, "does
not imply that we are insincere in espousing that code."
"Of course not," Finkle-McGraw said. "It's perfectly obvious, really. No one ever said that it was easy to
hew to a strict code of conduct. Really, the difficulties involved- the missteps we make along the way- are what
make it interesting. The internal, and *eternal*, struggle, between our base impulses and the rigorous demands
of our own moral system is quintessentially human. It is how we conduct ourselves in that struggle that
determines how we may in time be judged by a higher power."
All three men were quiet for a few moments, chewing mouthfuls of beer or smoke, pondering the
matter.
Edited by hankconn, 24 August 2006 - 11:29 PM.