Hatred Beyond Bigotry
Thomas Brudholm · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2018
This chapter ponders the value of a focused conceptual examination of hatred for the combating of hate. A common argument found in much scholarship on hate crime and hate speech is that the term “hate” is misleading, and that bias or prejudice does a better job. However, this assertion is generally based on scanty consideration as to the concept of hatred itself. In order to qualify the conversation about hatred today, the chapter returns to Plato’s conceptualization of misology in the Phaedo and Aristotle’s account of hatred in the Rhetoric. This exploration among other things shows that there is a long tradition for thinking about certain forms of hatred as prejudice, but also that hatred can be approached as a reasonable and reason responsive feeling, rather than simply irrational and bad. The chapter mobilizes these philosophical readings for the purpose of reconsidering the question whether “hate” is indeed a misnomer.