The Nature of Hate

Book excerpt: What is hate and why is there so much of it? How does it originate, and what can we do about it? This book opens with a discussion of how hate makes its presence felt in the real world, discussing various definitions and theories of hate. Next it describes a duplex - two-part - theory of hate. According to the first part of the theory, hate has three components: negation of intimacy, passion, and commitment. According to the second part of the theory, this structure of hate originates from stories people create about the target - that, say, a group comprises enemies of God, or monsters, or vermin, or power-crazy tyrants, or any of a number of other stories. The authors discuss hate in the context of interpersonal relationships, survey the role of propaganda in inciting hate and analyze the role of hate in instigating terrorism, massacres, and genocides.