"When the Vain Couldn't Care Less"

null, Grant J. Rozeboom (Saint Mary's College of California)

Vain people unjustifiably expect to be highly regarded by others. This is annoying, but is it ever a serious moral problem? I think it depends on the kind of vanity in question. There are two important distinctions we should draw: between vain people who do, and those who do not, care about the correctness of their inflated expectations of high regard, and between those who expect high praise and those who expect deference. The most serious moral problems arise from vain people who do not care about the correctness of their inflated regard-expectations and who expect deference. We can label them “smug” and “entitled.” Some familiar examples are “tech bros,” who feel that the world should cater to their entrepreneurial whims, and narcissistic bosses, who regard employees as natural subordinates who deserve to be ordered around and berated. Entitled-smug people present two serious moral problems that I explore: first, they are deeply resistant to relating to others as moral equals, and second, it is unclear whether and how we should hold them responsible for their vice, given its intransigence. I also consider how these problems are magnified when entitled-smug people hold positions of power over others.