One of the more powerful Stoic arguments against the passions (anger) in public life is that anger is not as easily controlled or moderated as is commonly made out. Anger involves the rejection of limit and restraint; it becomes wild and out of control. It is harmful to oneself and to others and it often leads to hate and to cruelty, violence and murder.
That argument has to be conceded, given the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. There anger leads to brutality and vengeance for its own sake.
But that does not mean that we should extirpate anger, does it?
Yet the connection between anger and hate is a close one. It is not easy to disentangle it.
But we should get angry when bad things take place as when our loved ones are killed by a terrorist bomb as in Bali. Anger is part of what it is to be human.
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at November 9, 2003 11:00 PM | TrackBack