“They play the Beautiful Soul, which feels superior to the corrupted world while secretly participating in it: they need this corrupted world as the only terrain where they can exert their moral superiority.”
Slavoj Žižek, Refugees, Terror and Other Troubles with the Neighbors: Against the Double Blackmail (2016)
Bonus links: Phenomenology of Spirit and Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and “Margaret Atwood’s Work Illustrates Our Need to Enjoy Other People’s Pain” and The Twilight Zone Episode 63: “The Mind and The Matter” (essentially endorses the “beautiful soul” position)