Assholeology

 

That would not be an exotic charge: assholes abound in history and public life.

We might think of the self - important developer entertainer Donald Trump. Assholes are found daily on cable news, where hosts repeatedly interrupt their guests, and also on talk radio, where airtime is given to commentators who thrive on falsehood and invective. Even as this demonstrably degadres the public debate so vital for a healthy democratic society, overheated commentators get rich and famous, while clearly having a really great time.

All this poses a larger philosophical question. What is it for someone to be an asshole?

What is it for someone to be an asshole?

We would see that what assholes reveal about the human social condition and why assholes are everywhere, in every society.

The assholes refuse to listen to our legitimate complaints, and so he poses e challenge to the idea that we are each to be recognized as moral equal.

Why are assholes mainly men? Can assholes be properly blamed? Why do some societies produce more assholes than others? Are assholes be properly blamed? Why do some societies produce more assholes than others? Are certain styles of capitalism especially prone to asshole production and thus social decline? And, finally, can we ultimately make peace not only with the given asshole but also with a human social condition in wich assholes flourisch?

Our theory is simply this: a person counts as an asshole when, and only when, he systematically allows himself to enjoy special advantagens in interpersonal relations out of an entrenched sense of entitlement that immunizes him against the complaints of other people.

Act in an abusive and arrogand way.

The mere asshole is a clearer target of inquiry and, in any case, often not among the lowest of the low.

Assholes are still repugnant people. Morally repugnant.

If one is special on one's birthday. The asshole's birthday comes every day.

Assholes therefore como in quiet different styles. In order to account for this, we stipulate that there are many way of coming to be an asshole, by coming into the approprite "sense entitlement".

Our theory picks out as stable trait of character because the assholes sense of entitlement is "entrenched" in his motivational make up.

The asshole not only lacks such motivational correctives, his sense of entitlement is "entrenched", in the sense that he is persistently assumed even upon refrection, that he is quite unlike every one else.

That the asshole is downright upsetting, even outrageous.

This is the heart and soul of our account of why the asshole is so bothersome, so we should more fully delue into the moral question - before moving on to less weighty concerns.

Asshole usually wins: his sense of entitlment is entrenched, so there is usually no getting through.

The asshole, by contrast, is equally accustomed to walling othersout. He does it all the time. This is comfortable for him. And he is exceptionally good at it: when others complain, he easily dismisses the objection, or quickly finds convincing arguments that razionalize the objection away, and moves on. He compliments himself on how good he is at this.