Hypocrisy Arguments are Bad

Hypocrisy arguments are bad and you should stop making them. I want to distinguish here between an hypocrisy argument–one where hypocrisy is pointed out to delegitimate a  person or position without more–and a hypocrisy claim. By a hypocrisy claim, I mean an accusation of hypocrisy embedded within a larger argument. My argument here applies to the former, not the latter.

Hypocrisy arguments are overrated. In life, in general, and in politics in particular, consistency is the exception not the rule. I am in favor of striving for consistency, but skeptical of anyone who claims their own group is uniformly consistent while their opponents are not. If hypocrisy were rare, it might pack more of a punch. But it is not and it doesn’t. I’m unconvinced they have ever convinced anyone of anything.