1st Edition

Fanaticism and the History of Philosophy

Edited By Paul Katsafanas Copyright 2024
352 Pages
by Routledge

352 Pages
by Routledge

352 Pages
by Routledge

Voltaire called fanaticism the "monster that pretends to be the child of religion". Philosophers, politicians, and cultural critics have decried fanaticism and attempted to define the distinctive qualities of the fanatic , whom Winston Churchill described as "someone who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject". Yet despite fanaticism’s role in the long history of social discord,... Read more

1. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Fanaticism Paul Katsafanas

Part 1: Fanaticism in Antiquity

2. Fanaticism and Aristotelian Excessive Fear of the Divine Mor Segev

3. Fanaticism in Ancient Indian Philosophy Nathan McGovern

4. Fanaticism in Classical Chinese Philosophy Eirik Harris

Part 2: Fanaticism in the Early Modern Period

5. Superstition, Enthusiasm, and Radical Enlightenment from Hobbes to Hume Justin Steinberg

6. Locke on Fanaticism Douglas Casson

7. Montesquieu’s Restrained Approach to Fanaticism Vickie B. Sullivan

8. Shaftesbury and Hutcheson: Enthusiasm and Humor Rachel Zuckert

Part 3: Fanaticism in the Late Modern Period

9. Kant on Enthusiasm, Reason, and Misanthropy Krista K. Thomason

10. Germaine de Staël on Passions, Politics, and Fanaticism Kristin Gjesdal

11. Fanatical Abstraction: Hegel on the Hazards of Pure Thinking Dean Moyar

12. The Need for Certainty Bernard Reginster

13. Nietzsche and William James on Scientism as Fanaticism Rachel Cristy

14. "Apretados": Jorge Portilla on Value Fanaticism Carlos Alberto Sánchez

Part 4: Contemporary Explorations of Fanaticism

15. "Grand, Ungodly, God-Like Man" On the Symptomatology of Fanaticism Nicolas de Warren

16. Fanaticism in the Manosphere Mark Alfano and Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky

17. Fanaticism and Terrorism Quassim Cassam

18. Extremist Women and Fanaticism Tracy Llanera

19. Fanaticism and Closed-Mindedness Heather Battaly

20. Political Fanaticism and Epistemic Shamelessness Sophie Grace Chappell

Index

Biography

Paul Katsafanas is Professor of Philosophy at Boston University, USA. He works on moral psychology, ethics, and nineteenth-century philosophy. He is the author of Philosophy of Devotion: The Longing for Invulnerable Ideals (2022), The Nietzschean Self: Moral Psychology, Agency, and the Unconscious (2016), and Agency and the Foundations of Ethics (2013). His recent work focuses on commitment, devotion, fanaticism, and extremism.