Bourgeois double morality mirrors the split between self-interested man and responsible citizen
Evidence
Double morality as practiced by the bourgeoisie became the outstanding sign of that esprit de’sérieux, which is always pompous and never sincere. This division between private and public or social life had nothing to do with the justified separation between the personal and public spheres, but was rather the psychological reflection of the nineteenth-century struggle between bourgeois and citoyen, between the man who judged and used all public institutions by the yardstick of his private interests and the responsible citizen who was concerned with public affairs as the affairs of all. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 797
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Defines double morality as the psychological reflection of the bourgeois/citoyen split, distinct from a justified public-private separation.
- XREF: Connects to the liberal ‘invisible hand’ critique that the sum of private interests yields common good — a rationalization.