Thread on jerks and UK politics. @eschwitz has a theory: ‘The jerk culpably fails to appreciate the perspectives of others around him, treating them as tools to be manipulated or fools to be dealt with rather than as moral and epistemic peers.’1/12

‘He can’t appreciate how he might be wrong and others right about some matter of fact, and what other people want or value doesn’t register as of interest to him…’2/12

‘No one is as right about everything as the jerk thinks he is … the jerk faces special obstacles… to self-knowledge…By definition, he fails to respect the perspectives of others around him. He’s much more likely to dismiss critics as fools or as jerks themselves...’3/12

‘Jerks normally distribute their jerkitude mostly down the social hierarchy…the classic jerk kisses up and kicks down…Because the jerk tends to disregard the perspectives of those below him…he often has little idea how he appears to them. This can lead to…hypocrisy.’4/12

‘Embarrassment…becomes practically impossible for the jerk… As the circle of people the jerk is willing to regard as true peers and superiors shrinks, so does his capacity for shame—and with it a crucial entry point for moral self-knowledge.’5/12

‘As one climbs the social hierarchy it is...easier to become a jerk. Here’s a characteristically jerkish thought: “I’m important and I’m surrounded by idiots!” Thinking yourself important is a pleasantly self-gratifying excuse for disregarding others’ interests and desires.’6/12

‘Thinking that the people around you are idiots seems like a good reason to dismiss their intellectual perspectives. As you ascend the social hierarchy, you will find it easier to discover evidence of your relative importance.’7/12

‘The moralistic jerk’s rationalizations justify his disregard of others, and his disregard of others prevents him from accepting an outside corrective to his rationalizations, in a self-insulating cycle. Here’s why it’s fine for him…to neglect his obligations.’8/12

‘The moralizing jerk is apt to go badly wrong in his moral opinions. Partly this is because his morality tends to be self-serving... partly it’s because his disrespect for others’ perspectives puts him at a general epistemic disadvantage…9/12

‘sometimes an abstract and general concern for…political principles serves as a substitute for concern about the people in his immediate field of view, possibly leading to substantial self-sacrifice. He might loathe and mistreat everyone around him, yet die for the cause.’ 10/12

Ok, I’ve not actually said anything about current UK politics. But I think this figure of the jerk is quite recognisable. 11/12

Quotes all taken from @eschwitz’s brilliant essay ‘a theory of jerks’, which can be found here: https://bit.ly/2BaYWp8 . And his wonderful book here: https://amzn.to/2Yvv92E  12/12