Talk:misanthrope

Why doesn't the word "Philanthrope" exist in english? Surely it should, looking at the different forms of philanthropy and misanthropy. 92.29.41.81 22:03, 1 February 2010 (UTC)


 * It does, we just don't have it listed...yet. - 22:05, 1 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I take that back, we do have it listed although I doubt we could attest it at the moment. - 22:10, 1 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, you might have it listed because I just added it... here and the plural form. What do you mean by "attest"? I should probably look it up... 92.29.41.81 22:13, 1 February 2010 (UTC)


 * We have a process by which we certify that a word or term is actually "worthy" of being added and defined. The page which details most of the policy is WT:CFI.  That is a lot to read through, if you are interested in adding many words I would suggest that it is worth the read.  If you are just stopping by then it boils down to this: the word or term must have been used over the course of more than a year in three distinct published* works.  The fact that the OED lists it means they were able to find some usage somewhere but my brief search didn't turn up much of use.  There is a fair chance that the term will make its way to the Requests for Verification page where a more detailed inquiry will take place to see if it meets the CFI.  Thanks for your interest and if you enjoy adding words to the dictionary (you aren't alone) I would recommend signing up for an account.  It is free and quick and makes communication between users much easier.  -  22:19, 1 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, thank you. I just merged my account from 'pedia. I'll get down to reading those sometime soon. I'm not sure where philanthrope would be used, but I personally think the word is marvellous. (Oh the irony, my in-built browser dictionary doesn't recognize the word philanthrope...)  Rahrahbahb  T 22:31, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

This is a completely false definition.
To not reinvent the wheel, I'll just copy-paste from bits of the Wikipedia article on Misanthropy, which describes it well enough (emphasis mine): "Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust, or contempt of the human species, human behavior, or human nature." "Misanthropy (a word of 17th century origin, from the Greek misanthrōpos) is traditionally defined as hatred or dislike of humankind. In contemporary philosophy, the term is usually understood in a wider sense as a negative evaluation of humanity as a whole based on humanity's vices and flaws. This negative evaluation can express itself in various forms, hatred being only one of them. In this sense, misanthropy has a cognitive component based on a negative assessment of humanity and is not just a blind rejection. Misanthropy is usually contrasted with philanthropy, which refers to the love of humankind and is associated with efforts to increase human well-being, for example, through charitable aid or donations. However, the two terms do not contradict each other and the same person may be a misanthrope in one sense and a philanthrope in another sense ."

There is nothing that says that a misanthrope must hate humans. Distrust≠hate. You can have a deep desire for human/social connection, and believe that humans have great potential, and all humans can be truly excellent ...all the while thinking that essentially no one, fails to be dishonest, immoral, two-faced, wilfully ignorant/stupid/incurious, abhorrent scum. Indeed, the belief in the great potential of all humans, can serve to further deepen ones disgust for humanity, as one sees that everyone chooses to be scum, despite being fully capable of greatness. You don't condemn a small animal as stupid, because it isn't as clever as a human ...because it doesn't know better and isn't capable of knowing better. Adult humans, however, don't have that excuse. 155.4.221.27 04:38, 6 May 2023 (UTC)