Podcast brief
Molière's Comedies and the Philosophy of Hypocrisy
Peter Adamson explores how Molière's comedies, especially Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, dramatize the French moralists' concerns with hypocrisy and sincerity.
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The brief
Molière's comedies are not just entertainment. They stage the same questions about hypocrisy, sincerity, and character that the French moralists were writing into maxims and portraits at the same time. Peter Adamson argues that reading Molière alongside La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère reveals a shared diagnosis of social life, and that Molière's own plays, taken together, point toward an answer about how much pretense a functioning society actually needs.
Adamson starts with a smaller point: the "dormitive power" joke from The Imaginary Invalid, where a mock doctor explains why opium causes sleep by saying it has a dormitive power. It is a standard reference for empty, circular explanation. From there he turns to the main argument. Tartuffe shows a religious hypocrite who fakes Stoic-seeming virtue to manipulate his patron Orgon, a play so controversial it was banned, with Molière countering that only real hypocrites could feel targeted by it. The School for Wives Criticized extends the point to Molière's critics themselves, suggesting that outrage at his comedies exposes the very faults the critics claim to condemn, since art works as a public mirror.
The Misanthrope complicates the picture. Its protagonist Alceste rejects all social hypocrisy in favor of brutal honesty, but Adamson reads this not as clear-eyed virtue but as self-delusion that isolates him from society entirely. Set against Tartuffe, the two plays suggest a mean: neither total hypocrisy nor total frankness works, and a moderate willingness to smooth over social friction, embodied in Philinte, functions like oil keeping the social machine running. Adamson compares this to Aristotle's doctrine of the mean, applied here to honesty rather than courage or generosity.
The strongest complication is Molière's own inconsistency: he sometimes claims comedy exists to correct vice, invoking philosophical authority, and elsewhere says a play's only real test is whether it makes an audience laugh. Adamson leaves this tension unresolved rather than forcing a verdict. He also notes the plays' anti-Cartesian undertone, where character is shaped by bodily humors rather than a will that simply governs the passions, a skepticism about Descartes that Elizabeth of Bohemia shared. The takeaway is not a rule but a question worth sitting with: how much everyday hypocrisy do you tolerate in yourself, and does it grease your relationships or corrode them.
Strongest arguments
The dormitive power joke exposes empty explanations
0:45Molière's scene in The Imaginary Invalid mocks a medical candidate who explains opium's sleep-inducing effect by citing a dormitive power. This has become a standard philosophical reference for circular or uninformative explanations, still invoked today to criticize such reasoning.
Molière parallels the French moralists on hypocrisy
1:48Although not usually classed as a moralist, Molière dramatizes the same human frailties that La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère analyzed in maxims. Both Molière and the moralists were accused of libertinism and scandalized their contemporaries by exposing hypocrisy beneath social facades.
Tartuffe unmasks religious hypocrisy but sparked controversy
4:32Tartuffe portrays a hypocrite who convinces his patron Orgon that he is a paragon of Stoic-like piety while secretly pursuing greed and lust. The play was banned after religious critics objected, and Molière argued their offense proved they resembled Tartuffe themselves.
Molière is inconsistent about comedy's purpose
6:19Molière sometimes claims comedy's mission is to correct vice, invoking ancient philosophical authority, but elsewhere says a comedy's worth is simply whether it makes people laugh. This tension surfaces explicitly in The School for Wives Criticized, where characters debate the value of his earlier play.
Censorship critics reveal their own hypocrisy
8:43In The School for Wives Criticized, prudish critics who claim to prefer dull, rule-following plays are shown to be hypocrites themselves, since their outrage at suggestive humor exposes the very faults they claim to condemn. Adamson notes the play's suggestion that art functions as a public mirror, so banning it amounts to admitting one's own faults.
The Misanthrope shows radical sincerity is also destructive
10:29Alceste, the protagonist of The Misanthrope, refuses all hypocrisy and insists on brutal honesty, but this makes him self-deluded and ultimately drives him to withdraw from society entirely. His character is tied to melancholic humor, echoing La Rochefoucauld's view that character depends on bodily humors rather than pure reason.
A mean between hypocrisy and total sincerity is best
13:33Reading Tartuffe and The Misanthrope together suggests that while outright hypocrisy is wrong, total frankness is also socially destructive, since hypocrisy functions like oil that keeps the gears of society working. This resembles the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean applied to sincerity, embodied by the moderate 'reasoner' characters like Philinte.
Disagreements
Whether comedy's purpose is moral correction or mere pleasure
6:19Molière at times claims comedy exists to correct vice, invoking the authority of ancient philosophers, but elsewhere argues that a comedy's value lies simply in whether it makes audiences laugh. Adamson presents this as an inconsistency in Molière's own stated views, appearing across different plays and prefaces.
Cartesian versus moralist views on mind and body
11:43Adamson notes that the moralists, including via Molière's characters, reject the optimistic Cartesian idea that the mind can dominate the body and subdue the passions through will, siding instead with a humor-based view of character, a position he notes Elizabeth of Bohemia also found unpersuasive regarding Descartes.
Philosophers and works discussed
- Molière
- La Rochefoucauld
- Tartuffe By Molière.
- The Misanthrope By Molière.
Questions this episode answers
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What is the philosophical significance of the 'dormitive power' joke in Molière's The Imaginary Invalid?
0:45The joke mocks a medical candidate who explains opium's sleep-inducing effect by simply citing its dormitive power, an empty circular explanation. It has become a standard philosophical reference point for criticizing uninformative or trivial explanations.
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How does Molière's Tartuffe dramatize religious hypocrisy?
4:00Tartuffe portrays a title character who convinces his patron Orgon that he is a paragon of piety and Stoic detachment while secretly being greedy and lustful. The play caused controversy and was banned, with Molière arguing that offended religious critics were implicitly admitting they resembled the hypocrite depicted.
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What does The Misanthrope suggest about the dangers of total sincerity?
10:29Alceste, the play's central character, refuses to engage in any social hypocrisy and insists on brutal honesty, but this makes him self-deluded rather than truly rational, and it ultimately drives him to withdraw from society. Molière uses him to show that radical frankness can be as socially destructive as outright hypocrisy.
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How does Molière's work relate to French moralists like La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère?
1:48Molière dramatizes on stage the same human frailties, especially hypocrisy, that moralists like La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère analyzed in maxims and character sketches. Both were accused of scandalizing their contemporaries, with La Rochefoucauld charged with cynicism and Molière with obscenity.
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Is some degree of hypocrisy necessary for society to function, according to Molière's plays?
13:33Reading Tartuffe and The Misanthrope together suggests that while outright hypocrisy is wrong, refusing all social pretense is also destructive. Molière's plays imply a mean between the two extremes, where mild hypocrisy functions like oil that keeps social interactions running smoothly.
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Why did religious critics object to Molière's play Tartuffe?
5:08A group called the Company of the Holy Sacrament had Tartuffe banned after finding it offensive, believing it mocked piety itself. Molière countered that the hypocrisy of the title character was so blatant that only actual hypocrites could feel targeted by it, implying the critics' offense revealed their own hypocrisy.