Misanthropy

"Misanthrope" redirects here. For the Molière comedy, see Le Misanthrope. For the French metal band, see Misanthrope (band).

Misanthropy is a generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt and hatred of the human species, human nature, or society. A misanthrope is someone who holds those views and feelings. The word's origin is from Greek words μῖσος (misos, "hatred") and ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, "man, human being").

History and meaning

Misanthropy has been ascribed to a number of writers of satire, such as William S. Gilbert ("I hate my fellow-man"), but such identifications must be closely scrutinized because a critical or darkly humorous outlook toward mankind may be mistaken for genuine misanthropy. Jonathan Swift is widely accused of misanthropy (see A Tale of a Tub and, most especially, Book IV of Gulliver's Travels).

Another example of mistaken misanthropy is Jean-Paul Sartre's quote "Hell is other people." On the face of it, this looks deeply misanthropic, but actually Sartre was making an observation about the tendency of human beings to lack self-knowledge. We tend to project our worst fears, and our most deeply disliked personal characteristics, onto other people, rather than look inside and face them within ourselves. Thus, when we look at other people we often see the worst of what is in our own personality.

It is important to distinguish between philosophical pessimism and misanthropy. Immanuel Kant said that "Of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can ever be made," and yet this was not an expression of the uselessness of mankind itself. Similarly, Samuel Beckett once remarked that "Hell must be like... reminiscing about the good old days when we wished we were dead." — a statement that may, perhaps, be seen as utterly bleak and hopeless, but not as anti-human or expressive of any hatred of mankind.

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, on the other hand, was almost certainly as famously misanthropic as his reputation. He wrote that "human existence must be a kind of error." It should be added, however, that misanthropy does not necessarily equate with an inhumane attitude towards humanity. Schopenhauer concluded, in fact, that ethical treatment of others was the best attitude, for we are all fellow sufferers and all part of the same will-to-live; he also discussed suicide with a sympathetic understanding which was rare in his own time, when it was largely a taboo subject.

More specifically, Schopenhauer has also been accused of misogyny. Martin Heidegger also showed misanthropy in his concern of the "they" — the tendency of people to conform to one view, which no-one has really thought through, but is just followed because, "they say so". Unlike Schopenhauer, Heidegger was opposed to any ethics or reason to treat others with respect. Though rare, misanthropy has appeared in forms of popular entertainment. The American standup comedian Bill Hicks expressed misanthropy in his work, calling the human race "a virus with shoes" and referred to himself as a "misanthropic humanist". Similarly, themes of misanthropy appeared on The Holy Bible, the third album by Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers. It included lines such as "All I preach is extinction" and a speech sample of author J. G. Ballard expressing what appear to be deeply misanthropic sentiments.

In extreme cases, misanthropy has led to serial killings. Murderer of at least 21 people, Carl Panzram said "I hate all the fucking human race. I get a kick out of murdering people" while in a Washington DC jail in 1922.

In psychology

The misanthropes express a general antipathy with mankind and society, but they can have normal relationships with specific individuals (family, friends, companions, for example). Misanthropy can be motivated by feelings of isolation and social alienation, or simply by the hatred of mankind's/society's prevalent characteristics.

Regardless of the validity of a misanthropic worldview, those with strongly-held misanthropy often suffer from low self-esteem, depression, and even suicidal tendencies.

Subtle expressions of misanthropy are common, especially to show flaws in humankind and society (i.e. satire).

In Western thought

In Western philosophy, misanthropy is connected to isolation from human society. In Plato's Phaedo, Socrates defines the misanthrope in relation to his fellow man: "Misanthropy develops when without art one puts complete trust in somebody thinking the man absolutely true and sound and reliable and then a little later discovers him to be bad and unreliable...and when it happens to someone often...he ends up...hating everyone." Misanthropy, then, is presented as the result of thwarted expectations or even excess optimism, since Plato argues that "art" would have allowed the potential misanthrope to recognize that the majority of men are to be found in between good and evil. Aristotle follows a more ontological route: the misanthrope, as an essentially solitary man, is not a man at all: he must be a beast or a god, a view reflected in the Renaissance of misanthropy as a "beast-like state."

In Islamic thought

In early and pre-Islamic philosophy, certain thinkers such as Ibn al-Rawandi, a skeptic of Islam, and Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi often expressed misanthropic views.

In the Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800–1400), the Jewish philosopher Saadia Gaon, uses the Platonic idea that the self-isolated man is dehumanized by friendlessness to argue against the misanthropy of anchorite asceticism and reclusiveness.

See also

• Philanthropy
• Humanism
• Misotheism
• Philosophical pessimism