Self-righteousness and Sincere Commitment

Abstract

Self-righteousness seems to be becoming an increasing problem. Society today is full of persons quick to laud their own morals and deride the morals of their opponents, especially so in online spaces and forums. This paper is a contribution towards defining this fast increasing phenomena. In this paper I suggest that sincere commitment to one’s cause is a necessary feature of a self-righteous character. In doing so, I differentiate self-righteousness from the veneer of self-righteousness and defend the account against related objections. I also consider some alternative views in the literature in order to demonstrate the importance of sincere commitment.