Hipokryzja i cynizm polityków — normalność czy patologia?

Abstract

Hypocrisy and cynicism of politicians — morals or pathology?

The article refers to the phenomena of cynicism and hypocrisy existing in the political space, in particular paying attention to the perception of the phenomena by research and, first and foremost, by societies. Cynicism and, above all, hypocrisy are inextricably connected to politics. In the article, a special place is devoted to the conceptualization of normality related to the aforementioned cynicism and hypocrisy, which are also subjects of analysis. An issue was taken up of not only the pathological nature of the phenomena, but also positive sides were pointed out which allow for applying other than a negative evaluation of their mechanisms. These considerations are accompanied by examples related both to historic and modern times, being only an exemplification of the formulated theses, in particular, the thesis of a thin line between what we consider as a negative aspect and what we recognize as having positive aspects. Secondly, it looks at how the phenomena of cynicism and hypocrisy can be relativized depending on the so-called point of view. Thirdly, it is discussed how interesting psychological and social phenomena are attitudes and behaviours of individuals and large social groups, very often unaware of the importance of their activities. However, it needs to be admitted that sometimes we encounter individuals not only in politics who use these means deliberately. Most frequently, hypocrites and authors of cynical behaviours are exposed by their social environment.