Aristotle was angry.
To be more precise he defined anger to be affected by the slightest of slights. For example, "Forgetfulness ...causes anger, as when our own names are forgotten"(Ch 2 line 35). If Aristotle's version of anger were true today, then everyone would walk around to angry to see straight. To be fair of what Aristotle says about anger is true, but if someone were to be angry at all of the anger inducing situations described then we would think he a psychopath or a megalomaniac. He states that "those who listen to stories about us... this seems like either slighting us or hating us; for those who love us share in all our distresses and it must distress any one to keep looking at his own weaknesses" (Ch 2 line 22). This seems like the prose of a paranoid schizophrenic. If I became angry at a friend for simply listening to a story about me, then I would have no friends left.
I am not trying to say that Aristotle was a paranoid schizophrenic megalomaniac. But, some of what he says are anger inducements would not be kosher in the modern world. Anger seems to have mellowed out over the years. Or maybe because the modern world is so slighting, we have had to mellow or else be angry all of the time. Think of the internet and the biblical sized flood of vitriol that streams out of it everyday. Do the recipients of all of these insults, respond with anger? Some do, but for the most part we either do not notice or just ignore them. Has the internet desensitized us to anger? I think so. Would Aristotle be angry at the internet? Well, I do not think he would enjoy reading a blog post by some student that called him a paranoid schizophrenic megalomaniac.
Roger, good post. I see the extremism in the way Aristotle assesses anger that you have pointed out. I think that perhaps back then, there were higher standards in social situations than today, so anything that threatened the character or privacy of someone was met with anger or frustration. We seem to be more tolerant today of anger, and far more tolerant of people's reactions to things.
ReplyDeleteNice blog Roger. I wouldn't say that the internet has really desensitized us to anger. If anything, it is conductive to it as it gives us a faceless, unknown other that has every opportunity to torment us with no repercussions. If you think people have mellowed out, there are plenty of kids on Xbox live or Youtbue with some impressive arguments to that.
ReplyDelete