Everything about Misanthropic totally explained
Misanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, or hatred of the
human species, or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people. The term is also applicable to those who self-exile themselves or become loners because of the aforementioned feelings. The word comes from the
Greek words μίσος ("hatred") and άνθρωπος ("man, human being"). A misanthrope or misanthropist is a person who dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule.
Forms of misanthropy
While misanthropes express a general dislike for humanity on the whole, they generally have normal relationships with specific individuals. Misanthropy may be motivated by feelings of isolation or
social alienation, or simply contempt for the prevailing characteristics of humanity.
Overt expressions of misanthropy are common in satire and comedy, although intense misanthropy is generally rare. Subtler expressions are far more common, especially for those pointing out the shortcomings of humanity.
Some religions, or schools of religious thought, maintain that humanity as a whole is
evil, or an unnatural cancer on the earth, leading to their practitioners turning themselves into religious misanthropes.
Misanthropy in literature
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 humankind may be easily mistaken for genuine misanthropes.
The character of Heathcliffe in
Wuthering Heights is an intense misanthrope due to the societal constraints which hinder the fulfillment of his love for Cathy.
In 1992, Southern American essayist and
National Review columnist
Florence King, a self-described misanthrope, wrote a humorous book on the history of misanthropy called
With Charity Toward None: A Fond Look at Misanthropy.
Perhaps the most famous example of a misanthrope in literature is the
protagonist in
Molière's 1666 play, Alceste. (Fr.
Le Misanthrope).
Iago, the villain in
William Shakespeare's play
Othello manipulates those around him with utter contempt and reaps a genuine pleasure from doing so. One critic has said, for Iago, "Honour, loyalty, reverence, and fidelity - the highest and the holiest virtues of humanity - are but base commodities to be bought and sold.". Shakespeare's most thoroughgoing misanthropist, however, is probably the invective-spewing Timon of acts four and five of the play,
Timon of Athens.
The American
satirical author
Kurt Vonnegut often expressed misanthropic views in his books. In one of his most popular works,
Slaughterhouse Five, the
protagonist Billy Pilgrim "becomes unstuck in time." He is taken hostage by the
Tralfamadorians, a race able to see in
4D, who can travel through time and experience all the events in their lives, not necessarily in chronological order. Through the novel they teach him a
fatalistic philosophy, summed up in the book's signature phrase, "so it goes."
In another Vonnegut novel,
Breakfast of Champions, the protagonist
Kilgore Trout, a science fiction author, writes many books about man destroying the world and the pointlessness of human existence. The book has passages throughout showing the destruction of earth due to man and man's pointless existence.
Some works by
Franz Kafka such as
The Metamorphosis and "
A Hunger Artist" also display misanthropic views.
In
No Exit,
Jean-Paul Sartre wrote, "So that's what hell is. I'd never have believed it. You remember: the fire and brimstone, the torture. Ah! the farce. There is no need for torture:
hell is other people."
Eighteenth century Irish satirist
Johnathan Swift, in a letter to the poet Alexander Pope concerning Gulliver's Travels, a novel written by the former, wrote: "[but] principally I hate and detest that animal called man." Swift conveyed misanthropic views via narrative. Lemuel Gulliver, considered by many to be Swift's alter ego, expresses an overwhelming disgust with human beings, particularly in "A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms."
Misanthropy in philosophy
In
Plato's
Phaedo,
Socrates states, "
Misology and misanthropy arise from similar causes." He equates misanthropy with misology, the hatred of speech, drawing an important distinction between philosophical
pessimism and misanthropy.
Immanuel Kant said, "Of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can ever be made," and yet this wasn't an expression of the uselessness of humanity itself. Similarly,
Samuel Beckett once remarked, "Hell must be like... reminiscing about the good old days when we wished we were dead." This statement that may, perhaps, be seen as rather bleak and hopeless, but not as anti-human or expressive of any hatred of humankind.
Seneca the Younger, in his treatise
On Anger, suggests that one's misanthropy can be mitigated or cured by laughing at the foibles of humanity rather than resenting them. Seneca's Stoic philosophy regarded all forms of anger as corruptions of reason and therefore detrimental to good judgement; he thus argues that hatred and misanthropy must be eliminated for the individual to attain sanity.
The German philosopher
Arthur Schopenhauer, on the other hand, was almost certainly as famously misanthropic as his reputation. He wrote, "Human existence must be a kind of error." Schopenhauer concluded, in fact, that ethical treatment of others was the best attitude, for we're 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. However, his metaphysics ultimately led him to conclude that suicide was no escape from the suffering of the world. He claimed that the world was one side
representation--how we perceived it, and one side
will--the underlying indivisible metaphysical matter that was the basis of existence. Because suicide doesn't allow one to escape from the will (from which all suffering proceeds), it's pointless to kill oneself. Schopenhauer instead suggests aesthetic enjoyment as the only escape from the suffering of the world. This would be along the lines of the cathartic release points of
Mozart's
Requiem, or the charmingly mysterious smile of the
Mona Lisa. He also offers an escape from suffering through
compassion; however, he believed that very few are capable of reaching this state, and those who do reach it have rejected their humanity (further demonstrating his misanthropy).
The Finnish eco-philosopher
Pentti Linkola is considered the most influential misanthrope currently living. He has openly advocated
genocide as means of population control,
Social Darwinism to promote
euthanasia campaigns for extermination of
life unworthy of living, execution of doctors keeping stillborns alive and
Plato-style
aristocracy as form of governance to keep living standards low enough for sustainable ecology.
The
Cynic philosopher
Diogenes of Sinope was a well known misanthrope. Known for his contempt for all human beings and his enormous respect for animals such as mice and dogs, Diogenes dedicated his life to showing that the norms and conventions which most people live by are in fact worthless and utterly counterproductive to true happiness.
Misanthropy in popular culture
Comic books/graphic novels
Cerebus the Aardvark is often described as being a misanthropic character.
Dave Sim's aardvark protagonist lives among humans and has always disliked them despite living with them.
The character of
Poison Ivy, a villain in the
Batman franchise, exhibited strong misanthropic characteristics, as portrayed in comic books, television series and film. She very openly expressed an aggressive and violent disdain for human beings, as she displayed a neurotic preference for the botanical world. She is depicted as being an inmate of an asylum for the criminally insane.
Television
The character of
Bernard Black from the series
Black Books, can be defined as a misanthrope. Most of the humour derives from such a man dealing with the public in a retail shop.
The character of
Gregory House, MD on the
TV show of the same name is misanthropic and often opines that all people lie and generally behave poorly to each other, especially when their own self-interest is at stake. When confronted with someone whose behavior or philosophy flies in the face of his opinions, he'll often go to great lengths to prove that his underlying philosophies are, in fact, correct.
Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street exhibits misanthropic behavior.
Daria Morgendorffer from MTV's
Daria is a misanthrope. In the season finale, she wins the Dian Fossey Award "for dazzling academic achievements in face of near total misanthropy."
Cinema
The character of
Daniel Plainview, played by
Daniel Day-Lewis in the
2007 film
There Will Be Blood, is presented as a ruthless misanthrope interested only in his self-centered quest for power as an
oil baron.
Popular music
The topic is used frequently in most extreme music lyrics, from
hardcore punk to
black metal.
Famous example is the song "Misanthrope" written by
Chuck Schuldiner, the deceased singer/leadguitarist of the group
Death. The songs lyrics in a way describes how misanthropic thoughts grow on the humans who later become misanthropes, and how there's hope for them that eventually turns out to be misanthropes.
Other
Lee Chung, the main antagonist to Callum Archer in Thomas Steadman's "Flames of the West" shows very Misanthropic traits.
Wicked's
Elphaba Thropp (Miss Thropp) has a great disdain for humanity and has been referred to as a misanthrope.
Stand-up comedian
Bill Hicks would sometimes perform material that could be classed as misanthropic and would sometimes subject unreceptive audiences to misanthropic rants.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Misanthropic'.
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