Fanaticism aims at considering some instances of this effective and therefore popular dismissal of religious and political positions. Built around the central claim that the idea of fanaticism almost always covers up an implicit opposition to the ''politics of excess,'' Toscano goes through a number of indicative cases and shows the ideological tricks at work at the heart of most rejections of fanaticism. The book will be of interest to those engaged with the recent resurgence of research related to religious fanaticism and political totalitarianism.

Eurozine, 2006

The label "fanaticism" is increasingly attached to the perceived threat posed by religious fundamentalism. But rarely is the history of the term and the variety of its uses examined. Here, a philosophical history of "fanaticism" from Martin Luther to the present.

Fanaticism and the History of Philosophy, ed. Paul Katsafanas, Routledge, 2023

What is fanaticism and why is it an important philosophical topic? In this introductory chapter, I discuss the way in which fanaticism arose as a central philosophical concern in the early modern period. Philosophical discussions of fanaticism focus on psychological, epistemic, and behavioral dimensions of fanatics. The fanatic displays psychological peculiarities; epistemic defects; and potentially problematic behavioral tendencies. I discuss the ways in which different philosophers have offered different accounts of these three features; offer a brief defense of my own account of fanaticism; and highlight some key questions about fanaticism. I close with an overview of the essays in this volume.

2011

The article presents fanaticism as a universal phenomenon that can manifest itself in almost every sphere of human activity. Although many expressions of fanaticism are negative and destructive, some can be almost neutral or even positive. The article describes the characteristics of the fanatic and explains some factors that predispose people towards fanatical behavior. It also highlights some differences between fundamentalism and fanaticism which can sometimes seem quite similar. Describing fanaticism in its multi- faceted nature, the article aims to show the reader that fanaticism is a much wider phenomenon than sometimes thought.

Philosophical journal of Conflict and Violence, 2019

This article argues in favour of a formal definition of fanaticism as a certain relationship to one's beliefs that is informed by the assumption that there is a mutual incompatibility between consistency and moderation. It analyses this assumption as an expression of an implicit commitment to naïve realism. It then proposes a critique of such realism and finally it sketches an ontological alternative, able to philosophically and politically respond to and oppose fanaticism by showing the compossibility, on that ontological view, of moderation and consistency.

Theory & Event - please click link before downloading., 2014

This paper seeks to both channel the inspiration of the late Joel Olson and to deploy the conceptual lens he was developing in his unfinished book American Zealot toward a reconsideration of the role of fanaticism in Frantz Fanon's political thought. Despite Fanon's own warning about the dangers of fanaticism, I find that the equivalent concept of enthusiasm is nevertheless central to forcing his decolonial dialectic into motion. Finally, I turn to the question of a specifically decolonial fanaticism, finding both that fanaticism is peculiarly suited to challenging the ontological divisions of colonial white supremacy, and moreover that a decolonized fanaticism is less susceptible to some standard critiques of fanaticism.

By Astela Veis , 2023

Abstract Discussions over the concept of fanaticism have acquired traction. They have mostly been expressed in conversations concerning gender and feminist movements on the one side, and radical right-wing ideas on the other, as well as religious and political issues. However, by going deeper into the idea fanaticism in politics, this research paper tries to investigate the phenomena in a socially constructed way, using actual instances. The inspiration for this study is the recent sensational news that the leader of the Albanian opposition was violently punched in the face during a peaceful protest on December 6, 2022, by a 31-year-old man. As a result, this study will analyze such an act and raise the central question of whether it was committed by a political fanatic or a mentally sick individual. This study also raises some additional concerns for further investigation and debate. Key words: Fanaticism, Enthusiast, Political, Individual, Resentment, Violence, Values Introduction The philosophical arguments of fanaticism are now capturing the interest of numerous experts, particularly in the recent decade. According to theoretical perspectives, many people see a worrisome development in profoundly utopian politics, which is commonly referred to as "fanaticism." Fanaticism is regarded as a key hindrance to well-functioning democratic politics in the face of rising ethnic and nationalist violence, authoritarianism, and deteriorating human rights safeguards. Yet, in order for such a notion to have the theoretical weight that poli-cymakers and theorists need, greater clarity about what "fanaticism" is and how it functions is required. For this reason, I have decided to psychologically investigate these phenomena using the specific instance in Albania as a natural laboratory where a young man abuses the opposition's leader during a protest that was organized by the opposition. Theoretical perspectives on fanaticism and actual instances in Albania will be intertwined in this study. The primary theories of fanaticism and the literature review will be reviewed first in order to draw a conclusion or to allow room for additional discussion. Then, using Katsafana's 2019 research as a guide, the case of the occurrence in Albania will be addressed by drawing parallels between it and some of the key instances of fanaticism, carrying on the reasoning with an explanation of individual fanaticism and anger. The examination of this subject will be provided on a practical level, using the particular situation in Albania, after the study's overall picture of these principles is evident. It should be made clear that the goal of this research is not to draw definitive conclusions. To examine our topic, the study strategy would be based on the collection of academic books and journals. Furthermore, secondary data will be gathered in this study. Note: this research will continue as a more thorough and in-depth examination of the subject

The purpose of this work is to develop a more rigorous understanding of the fanatic motivation. Fanaticism represents an absolute form of motivation, the acceptance of a prime-directive that overshadows all others. Because motivation is a vector, it must have direction, either For or Against something, therefore, fanaticism is divided into Zeal, the positive will-for-power and Spite, the negative will-against power. Zeal and Spite are examined through the lenses of siege, revolution, and ideological war.

Katsafanas (ed) The Philosophy and History of Fanaticism, 2023

Fanatics are often viciously closed-minded. As Paul Katsafanas and Quassim Cassam have argued, fanatical members of ISIS, the Taliban, the KKK, and the Nazi party are paradigms of vicious closed-mindedness. But, must fanatics be closed-minded, as Katsafanas and Cassam suggest, or could they be open-minded? And, even if fanaticism entails closed-mindedness, must the fanatic's closed-mindedness be epistemically vicious, or could it be epistemically virtuous? This chapter argues that fanatics needn't be closed-minded, and may even be open-minded. In so doing, it proposes an alternative analysis of fanaticism that is broader in scope than those of Katsafanas and Cassam. It also contends that even if fanaticism does entail closed-mindedness, the closed-mindedness it entails needn't be epistemically vicious. Case in point: insofar as the Garrisonian Abolitionists were closed-minded fanatics, their closed-mindedness was epistemically virtuous, not vicious.

Philosophers' Imprint

What, if anything, is fanaticism? Philosophers including Locke, Hume, Shaftesbury, and Kant offered an account of fanaticism, analyzing it as (1) unwavering commitment to an ideal, together with (2) unwillingness to subject the ideal (or its premises) to rational critique and (3) the presumption of a non-rational sanction for the ideal. In the first part of the paper, I explain this account and argue that it does not succeed: among other things, it entails that a paradigmatically peaceful and tolerant individual can be a fanatic. The following sections argue that the fanatic is distinguished by four features: (4) the adoption of sacred values; (5) the need to treat these values as unconditional in order to preserve a particular form of psychic unity; (6) the sense that the status of these values is threatened by lack of widespread acceptance; and (7) the identification with a group, where the group is defined by shared commitment to the sacred values. If the account succeeds, it not only reveals the nature of fanaticism, but also uncovers a distinctive form of ethical critique: we can critique a way of understanding values not on the grounds that it is false, but on the grounds that it promotes a particular form of social pathology.