hate

Hate is an intense feeling of dislike and hostility. Hate is seen as the opposite of love .

Hatred towards people or groups can be described as xenophobia , misogyny , misandry , hostility towards Jews , homophobia or racism .

The motives of the hater are varied and difficult to determine, deduce and explain. They can be based on a rejection of something or someone acquired through ideologies or social groups, or on a concrete experience, such as a concrete violation of values and needs. Hatred can arise immediately, for example as a result of a negative experience.

Philosophical definition

Hercules overthrows discord , envy and hatred , Louis de Silvestre ( ceiling painting in the throne room of King August II in the Dresden royal palace )

According to the Dictionary of Philosophical Basic Concepts by Kirchner and Michaëlis, hatred is “the passionate aversion to what has caused us displeasure. Hate, the opposite of love, not only detests a person, but also wants to harm him. It often arises from selfishness , envy , offended ambition , jealousy or spurned love. In so far as he attaches importance to the hated, it differs from the scorn . Basically, one cannot hate things, but only avers them, disgusts them; because one can destroy them, but not harm them. Even hatred of evil is only loathing of it. "

Differentiation according to Fromm

The depth psychologist Erich Fromm differentiates between two types of hatred:

Reactive hatred

It is always the result of a deep injury or a painful situation that you have passed out in the face because you cannot change it on your own.

“By reactive hate I mean a hate reaction that results from an attack on my life , my safety , my ideals or another person I love or with whom I am identified. Reactive hatred always presupposes that someone has a positive attitude towards life, other people and ideals. Those who are strongly life-affirming will react accordingly when their life is threatened. "

Character-related hatred

Although it is triggered in the same way as reactive hate, it presupposes a fundamentally different personality structure of the hater - in this case hate is a character trait , a hate reaction is only an expression of the inherent hatred. The main difference to “reactive hatred” is the general willingness to hate, a recognizable hostility that ends in outbursts of hatred. “But hatred then became a trait of the person concerned, so that he is now hostile. ... In the case of reactive hate, it is the situation that creates the hatred; in the case of character-related hatred, however, a non-activated hostility is updated by the situation. ... Such a person shows a special kind of satisfaction and fun when he hates, which is lacking in reactive hatred. ” Fromm describes the activation of character-related hatred in the population as one of the most important means of preparing for a war of aggression .

See also: smear campaign

Shiftable hatred

On the occasion of National Socialism, Else Frenkel-Brunswik discussed the phenomenon of “floating hatred” early on. Alice Miller and Arno Gruen describe the latent, shiftable hatred as difficult to dissolve and dangerous because it is not aimed at the person who caused it, but at substitutes who are used as scapegoats .

brain research

Neural research into hatred is comparatively new. Brain research shows that two areas of the cerebrum are activated in the brain : the putamen and the insular cortex . The putamen prepares movements; it is assumed that this activation initiates preparation for a possible attack or escape. The island's bark, in turn, reacts to disturbing stimuli. In addition to putamen and insular bark, feelings of hatred also activated regions of the brain that are associated with aggression.