Hatred: Understanding Our Most Dangerous Emotion

by Berit Brogaard

Overview

Hatred is often considered the opposite of love, but in many ways is much more complicated. It also may be considered one of the dominant emotions of our time, as individuals, groups, and even nations express or enact hatred to varying degrees. What is hatred? Where does it come from and what does it reveal about the hater? And is hatred always a bad thing?

Brogaard makes a deep dive into the moral psychology of one of our most complex, and vivid emotions. She explores how hatred arises between people and among groups. She also shows how hate, like anger, can sometimes be appropriate and fitting. Other other questions she addresses are, how does hate differ from anger, disgust, fear, and other related emotions? Is fear an essential part of hatred? How does hatred affect what happens inside the brain? How did hate evolve in human history? Is hatred ever morally justified? Can you hate and love at the same time? Can one hate oneself? How do implicit biases trigger hatred of groups?

This accessible, timely, and novel look at an underexplored emotion will employ examples from current events as well as art and literature and popular culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190084448
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/06/2020
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Berit Brogaard is Professor of Philosophy, Cooper Fellow, and Director of the Brogaard Lab for Multisensory Research at the University of Miami and Professor II at University of Oslo. Her areas of research include philosophy of perception, philosophy of emotions, and philosophy of language. She is the author of Transient Truths (Oxford University Press, 2012), On Romantic Love (Oxford University Press, 2015), The Superhuman Mind (Penguin, 2015), and Seeing & Saying (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Table of Contents

1. Hit Me with Your Best Shot: An Anatomy of the Antagonistic Emotions
2. It's a Thin Line between Love and Hate: When We Hate the People We Love
3. Angel of Retribution: Vengeance and Hate's Justification
4. Bad to the Bone: Hate as a Trait
5. Killing in the Name Of: Collective Intentionality and Group Hate
6. Baby, It's in Your Nature: Misogyny, Femininity and Female Filth
7. Keep the Change, You Filthy Animal: The American Phantasy
8. A Change is Gonna Come: Hate Speech, Group Libel and Rational Discourse

Editorial Reviews

"The book comes at a particularly opportune political moment, as much of the world is experiencing upsurges in group-directed hatred. The author's analysis of this form of hatred and, particularly, her suggestions for how to address it make this book indispensable." — R. R. Cornelius, CHOICE

"In this important and timely work, Berit Brogaard takes on an profoundly important topic that has been surprisingly neglected by other philosophers: the psychology of hatred. Brogaard's artful exploration of the ways our animosities shape our lives is at once deeply disturbing and profoundly engaging; the reader who follows her to journey's end will be rewarded with a deepened understanding of what is it is be human, and how we all might be human better. Hatred is a remarkably substantial, sophisticated, and spirited contribution to public philosophy, and I wish we had lot more philosophy like it." — John Doris, Cornell University

"Hate turns into a wonderfully fertile source of serious thinking in Berit Brogaard's hands. When it is morally defensible to hate? When is it dehumanizing? If how and what we hate defines us, here is a timely and thoughtful manual on how to hate better and more critically." — Laura Kipnis, Northwestern University

From the Publisher