Stupidity and Self-Absorption by Thomas J Spiegel

Stupidity and Self-Absorption by Thomas J Spiegel

Stupidity and Self-Absorption offers the first full-length philosophical exploration of human stupidity, reinterpreting it as a pervasive existential condition rooted in self-absorption. It argues that stupidity is not merely a cognitive or moral failing but a habitual resistance to reality, where excessive focus on oneself distorts one’s relationship with the world.

Drawing on social epistemology, phenomenology, existentialism, and psychology, the author develops a systematic account of stupidity as a breakdown of openness to the world under the gravitational pull of one’s own positionality and propositional horizon. He examines the structural features of the self—interiority, positionality, and propositionality—that enable self-absorption, illustrating how these dimensions coalesce into a retreat from reality. Extending the analysis to collective contexts, he reinterprets phenomena such as propaganda, ideological rigidity, and tragedy of the commons as expressions of suprapersonal self-absorption. The book culminates in a critical diagnosis of late-stage capitalism, which systematizes and rewards patterns of self-absorption on both individual and collective levels. Engaging with thinkers like Arendt, Gadamer, Heidegger, and Murdoch, it offers a bold and original diagnosis of the epistemic and moral pathologies underpinning contemporary society, urging readers to confront the inevitability of stupidity with wisdom and responsibility.

Stupidity and Self-Absorption will appeal to researchers and advanced students working in continental philosophy, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, political philosophy, psychology, and cultural theory.

“Stupidity is everywhere—and yet incredibly hard to defineDrawing on deep knowledge of both analytic and continental philosophy, Spiegel offers a rich and subtle analysis of this phenomenon and the challenges it poses to all lives.”

Sacha Golob, King’s College London, UK

Thomas J. Spiegel is full professor of philosophy at Miyazaki International University, Japan. He has published on social epistemology, social ontology, naturalism, applied ethics, and other topics. He has also co-edited the volumes McDowell and the Hermeneutic Tradition (Routledge, 2024) and Social Ontology and Phenomenology (Routledge, 2025) as well as special issues for Topoi (2023) and International Journal for Philosophical Studies (2025). His work has been published in journals such as Synthese, Inquiry, Topoi, Philosophy and Social Criticism, Social Epistemology, and Philosophical Investigations.