On Hate by Baruch Spinoza (1660)
Hatred is defined as an inclination to ward off what has caused harm. Human actions may be performed with passion or without it; the example of masters punishing servants contrasts with Socrates, who would not chastise his slave while angry. Since necessary obstacles can be removed without perturbation, reason should enable people to endure what opposes them without losing their temper. Acting without passion produces no evil, while acting in passion is bad. Hatred based on opinion should be rejected, because the same thing may be good at one time and bad at another, as with medicinal herbs. Hatred must therefore be distinguished from aversion. Hatred is a disturbance of the soul against someone who has knowingly and willingly done harm. Aversion is disturbance toward a thing believed to possess some natural infirmity or harmful quality. A person hurt by a stone or knife does not necessarily feel aversion toward it, since it may still be useful. Hatred produces sorrow; when intense, it produces anger, which seeks not merely to avoid but, where possible, to annihilate what is hated. Great hatred also produces envy. Aversion produces sorrow because one considers oneself deprived of something real, possessing its own essence and perfection. Rightly used reason permits neither hatred nor aversion, since both deprive people of the perfection present in all things. No one should hate another, for whatever exists in Nature should be improved, whether for one’s own benefit or for the benefit of the thing itself. Since a perfect man is the best thing known, people should seek to educate one another toward that state, so that all may gain the greatest benefit. Good Conscience directs this effort, always leading toward happiness and well-being. Hatred and aversion contain imperfection, whereas love produces improvement, invigoration, and enlargement, which are forms of perfection. Hatred instead brings desolation, enervation, and annihilation.
By Baruch Spinoza · First published 1660 · Genre: Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Philosophy · 897 words
First lines
Hatred is an inclination to ward off from us that which has caused us some harm. Now it is to be remarked that we perform our actions in two ways, namely, either with or without passion. With passion, as is commonly seen in the [conduct of] masters towards their servants who have done something amiss. Without passion, as is related of Socrates, who, when he was compelled to chastise his slave for [the latter's own] good, never did so when he felt that he was enraged against his slave.
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On Hate is listed on Textopian as an essay by Baruch Spinoza, dated 1660 CE.
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- Work type: Essay
- Author: Baruch Spinoza
- Date: 1660 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Philosophy, Ethics, Moral Philosophy, Psychology, Philosophical Psychology
- Length: 897 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
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Genres
- Philosophy — A concise philosophical treatise examining the nature, causes, consequences, and ethical status of hatred and aversion.
- Ethics — The work argues that reasoned, passionless action is morally preferable to hatred, anger, and destructive emotional responses.
- Moral Philosophy — It evaluates virtue, imperfection, human conduct, conscience, self-improvement, and the proper treatment of other people.
- Psychology — It analyzes emotional states including hatred, aversion, sorrow, anger, envy, love, and passion in relation to human behavior.
Tags
philosophy · ethics · emotions · human nature · reason · passions · psychology · moral philosophy · rationalism · affect theory · anger · resentment