The Virtues of Our Vices: A Modest Defense of Gossip, Rudeness, and Other Bad Habits

by Emrys Westacott

Overview

The hidden value of some of our everyday vices

Are there times when it's right to be rude? Can we distinguish between good and bad gossip? Am I a snob if I think that NPR listeners are likely to be better informed than devotees of Fox News? Does sick humor do anyone any good? Can I think your beliefs are absurd but still respect you?

In The Virtues of Our Vices, philosopher Emrys Westacott takes a fresh look at important everyday ethical questions—and comes up with surprising answers. He makes a compelling argument that some of our most common vices—rudeness, gossip, snobbery, tasteless humor, and disrespect for others' beliefs—often have hidden virtues or serve unappreciated but valuable purposes. For instance, there are times when rudeness may be necessary to help someone with a problem or to convey an important message. Gossip can foster intimacy between friends and curb abuses of power. And dubious humor can alleviate existential anxieties.

Engaging, funny, and philosophically sophisticated, The Virtues of Our Vices challenges us to rethink conventional wisdom when it comes to everyday moral behavior.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691162218
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	11/24/2013
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Emrys Westacott is professor of philosophy at Alfred University in Alfred, New York. His work has been featured in the New York Times and has appeared in the Philosopher's Magazine, Philosophy Now, the Humanist, the Philosophical Forum, and many other publications. He is also the coauthor of Thinking through Philosophy: An Introduction.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: The Rights and Wrongs of Rudeness 13

Chapter 2: The Ethics of Gossiping 53

Chapter 3: O n Snobbery: Is It Sinful to Feel Superior? 100

Chapter 4: "That’s not funny--that’s sick!" 162

Chapter 5: Why Should I Respect Your Stupid Opinion? 215

Acknowledgments 261

Notes 265

Index 289

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Works on ethics often float above the flux and confusion of everyday life. Not this engaging book! Brimming with lively examples, Westacott's meditation reveals the bright side of some of our darker practices, such as gossip, sick humor, and rude behavior. While the writing is breezy, the analysis is both rigorous and lucid. By the turn of the last page, the delighted reader is sure to have developed a more nuanced and perhaps forgiving grasp of some of our most common transgressions."—Gordon Marino, editor of Ethics: The Essential Writings

"Philosophy should encompass not only the summits of life-and-death issues but the lowlands and occasional quicksand of everyday manners. Emrys Westacott is an ideal guide to this terrain, especially to the ethics of guilty verbal pleasures. The Virtues of Our Vices is a provocative exploration of the big issues underlying small talk."—Edward Tenner, author of Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences

"With insight and rigor, Emrys Westacott shows that what is small is not necessarily trivial, that analytic precision is compatible with fully accepting the messiness of real life, and that what matters is often lost in the cracks of the obvious, big moral debates of the day. This is a refreshingly original work which promises to bring quotidian ethics the wider attention it deserves."—Julian Baggini, cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Philosopher's Magazine

"If you have ever been accused of being rude when you were merely stating the truth, or called a gossip because you like to dwell on other people's actions, Westacott is for you. His linked studies of everyday vices offer elegant analysis of the goods that lurk in behavior that is usually condemned. This wise book is practical philosophy in the best sense."—Mark Kingwell, —Mark Kingwell, author of In Pursuit of Happiness: Better Living from Plato to Prozac

"Emrys Westacott writes in an accessible way, and often with humor, about topics that are of wide interest. He is right that the ethical questions that confront ordinary people in everyday life are important, even if philosophy has tended to ignore them."—David Benatar, editor of Ethics for Everyday

"In this enjoyable book, Westacott shows that the question of whether rudeness, snobbery, and other vices are wrong is more nuanced and delicate than it might appear."—Caspar Hare, author of On Myself, and Other, Less Important Subjects

Editorial Reviews

"General readers interested in how philosophy can be applied to daily life will gain much from this well-written book."--Library Journal

"Westacott asks tough questions about the nature and meaning of these 'bad habits.' Arguing that conventional wisdom masks the benefits of practices often viewed as moral failings, he challenges us to engage 'with a world in which categories, terminologies, expectations, and norms are in constant flux.' His book is accessible, rigorous, and droll."--Glenn Altschuler, Boston Globe

"In Westacott's microethical analyses, as with Socratic badinage, it's the process of inquiry, as much as the result, that engages the reader's interest. His tree-chart algorithms probably won't be that useful to anyone having to make a decision. But they reveal some of implicit choices that we often make very quickly when dealing with other people. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but it is, after all, where we spend most of our time. The Virtues of Our Vices shines a little light in that direction."--Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed

"'The problem is not that people today are trampling underfoot the time-honoured rules of polite behaviour; the problem is that these rules are in flux,' Westacott writes. Rudeness is the price we pay for 'living in a dynamic culture'. That may not make it good, exactly, but it makes it an inevitable by-product of something many of us think of as good. Maybe that explains why critics of PC also bemoan the rise of rudeness: both complaints are reactions against change. A world with no rudeness, and no material for stories about 'PC gone mad', would be one that had come to a standstill."--Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian

"After reading this volume, one might quibble with some of the author's observations, although next week one might feel differently. This is what Westacott recognizes as a 'fluid' situation, an essential aspect of the topic at hand. In sum, The Virtues of Our Vices presents a highly stimulating argument for our individual and collective self-evaluations."--James Naiden, Rain Taxi

From the Publisher

"Engaging, funny, and philosophically sophisticated, The Virtues of Our Vices challenges us to rethink conventional wisdom when it comes to everyday moral behavior."

World Book Industry

After reading this volume, one might quibble with some of the author's observations, although next week one might feel differently. This is what Westacott recognizes as a 'fluid' situation, an essential aspect of the topic at hand. In sum, The Virtues of Our Vices presents a highly stimulating argument for our individual and collective self-evaluations.

Rain Taxi - James Naiden

'The problem is not that people today are trampling underfoot the time-honoured rules of polite behaviour; the problem is that these rules are in flux,' Westacott writes. Rudeness is the price we pay for 'living in a dynamic culture'. That may not make it good, exactly, but it makes it an inevitable by-product of something many of us think of as good. Maybe that explains why critics of PC also bemoan the rise of rudeness: both complaints are reactions against change. A world with no rudeness, and no material for stories about 'PC gone mad', would be one that had come to a standstill.

The Guardian - Oliver Burkeman

In Westacott's microethical analyses, as with Socratic badinage, it's the process of inquiry, as much as the result, that engages the reader's interest. His tree-chart algorithms probably won't be that useful to anyone having to make a decision. But they reveal some of implicit choices that we often make very quickly when dealing with other people. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but it is, after all, where we spend most of our time. The Virtues of Our Vices shines a little light in that direction.

Inside Higher Ed - Scott McLemee

Westacott asks tough questions about the nature and meaning of these 'bad habits.' Arguing that conventional wisdom masks the benefits of practices often viewed as moral failings, he challenges us to engage 'with a world in which categories, terminologies, expectations, and norms are in constant flux.' His book is accessible, rigorous, and droll.

Boston Globe - Glenn Altschuler

After reading this volume, one might quibble with some of the author's observations, although next week one might feel differently. This is what Westacott recognizes as a 'fluid' situation, an essential aspect of the topic at hand. In sum, The Virtues of Our Vices presents a highly stimulating argument for our individual and collective self-evaluations.
— James Naiden

Rain Taxi

'The problem is not that people today are trampling underfoot the time-honoured rules of polite behaviour; the problem is that these rules are in flux,' Westacott writes. Rudeness is the price we pay for 'living in a dynamic culture'. That may not make it good, exactly, but it makes it an inevitable by-product of something many of us think of as good. Maybe that explains why critics of PC also bemoan the rise of rudeness: both complaints are reactions against change. A world with no rudeness, and no material for stories about 'PC gone mad', would be one that had come to a standstill.
— Oliver Burkeman

The Guardian

In Westacott's microethical analyses, as with Socratic badinage, it's the process of inquiry, as much as the result, that engages the reader's interest. His tree-chart algorithms probably won't be that useful to anyone having to make a decision. But they reveal some of implicit choices that we often make very quickly when dealing with other people. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but it is, after all, where we spend most of our time. The Virtues of Our Vices shines a little light in that direction.
— Scott McLemee

Inside Higher Ed...

Westacott asks tough questions about the nature and meaning of these 'bad habits.' Arguing that conventional wisdom masks the benefits of practices often viewed as moral failings, he challenges us to engage 'with a world in which categories, terminologies, expectations, and norms are in constant flux.' His book is accessible, rigorous, and droll.
— Glenn Altschuler

Boston Globe

In Westacott's microethical analyses, as with Socratic badinage, it's the process of inquiry, as much as the result, that engages the reader's interest. His tree-chart algorithms probably won't be that useful to anyone having to make a decision. But they reveal some of implicit choices that we often make very quickly when dealing with other people. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but it is, after all, where we spend most of our time. The Virtues of Our Vices shines a little light in that direction.
— Scott McLemee

Inside Higher Ed.

In Westacott's microethical analyses, as with Socratic badinage, it's the process of inquiry, as much as the result, that engages the reader's interest. His tree-chart algorithms probably won't be that useful to anyone having to make a decision. But they reveal some of implicit choices that we often make very quickly when dealing with other people. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but it is, after all, where we spend most of our time. The Virtues of Our Vices shines a little light in that direction.
— Scott McLemee

Inside Higher Ed

Westacott (philosophy, Alfred Univ.; coauthor, Thinking Through Philosophy: An Introduction) analyzes four practices usually taken to be bad: rudeness, gossip, snobbery, and telling sick jokes. In addition to these, he discusses one practice usually regarded as good: respecting the opinions of others. For each of his practices, Westacott claims that we are too apt to invoke fixed rules that either forbid outright the practices we take to be bad or require the behavior we deem good. Writing from a broadly utilitarian standpoint rather than for specialists, Westacott thinks that consideration of particular examples will result in a more nuanced approach. Sometimes, e.g., rudeness is morally acceptable, as when it is an appropriate way to make a moral statement about a deplored convention. Gossip may often serve useful functions such as satisfying curiosity and counteracting secrecy. Respect is not always required, either: some opinions deserve our contempt. Westacott by no means wishes to claim that there are no good reasons for the standard verdicts on the practices he considers. Rather, he aims to show that particular situations often resist fixed rules. VERDICT General readers interested in how philosophy can be applied to daily life will gain much from this well-written book.—David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., OH

Library Journal