Hatred or hate is a word that describes intense feelings of dislike. It can be used in a wide variety of contexts, from hatred of inanimate objects to hatred of other people.
Philosophers have offered many influential definitions of hatred. Rene Descartes viewed hate as an awareness that something is bad, combined with an urge to withdraw from it. Baruch Spinoza defined hate as a type of pain that is due to an external cause. Aristotle viewed hate as a desire for the annihilation of an object that is incurable by time. Finally, David Hume believed that hate is an irreducible feeling that is not definable at all.[1]
In psychology, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness[2]. In a more contemporary definition, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a "deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object."[3] Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an attitude or disposition than a (temporary) emotional state.
The Psychology of Good and Evil : Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others by Ervin Staub
Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence by Aaron T. Beck
Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing by James Waller
References
↑ Royzman, E. B., McCauley, C. & Rozin, P. (2005). From Plato to Putnam: Four ways to think about hate. In The Psychology of Hate by Sternberg, R. (Ed.).
↑ Freud, S. (1915). The instincts and their vicissitudes.
↑ Reber, A.S., & Reber, E. (2002). The Penguin dictionary of psychology. New York: Penguin Books.
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