Thomas Cleary

Thomas Cleary (born 1949) is a author and translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian and Muslim classics, and of the Chinese Art of War tradition of strategy and statecraft. He lives in Oakland, California in the United States.

Life and work

Cleary "got into Buddhism... in [his] teens", and was driven to research Buddhist texts because he "wanted to learn". He usually translates texts that are not yet available in English; however, he has made some exceptions for books he felt had English translations that were "too limited," such as Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Cleary received a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University as well as a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, but has had minimal involvement with the academic world, claiming that "there is too much oppression in a university setting," and that he wants "to stay independent and reach those who want to learn directly through [his] books." He reserves some praise for his alma mater, though; "a good thing about Harvard was language training was done by native teachers. You did not find that everywhere."

Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is the contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations, esp. with respect to religious and moral beliefs; hence in general sense, dissimulation, pretense, sham. It is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another. In moral psychology, it is the failure to follow one’s own expressed moral rules and principles.

It occurs when modules and mechanisms in the human brain - which evolved independently, in response to selection pressures, that varied over vast ranges of time and of place - contradict each other. These contradictions are normal, constant, and persistent. It is a cause, as well as a result, of cognitive biases and distortions which predispose humans to effortlessly perceive and condemn faults in others, while failing to perceive and condemn faults of their own.

Hypocrisy has been a subject of folk wisdom and wisdom literature from the beginnings of human history. Increasingly, since the 1980s, it has also become central to studies in behavioral economics, cognitive science, cultural psychology, decision making, discrimination, ethics, evolutionary psychology, moral psychology, political sociology, positive psychology, social psychology, and social psychology (sociology).