| Title: | Contempt |
| Original Title: | Mépris |
| Volume and Page: | Vol. 10 (1765), pp. 357–358 |
| Author: | Denis Diderot (possibly) (biography) |
| Translator: | Lucia Florido [University of Tennessee at Martin] |
| Subject terms: |
Ethics
|
| Original Version (ARTFL): | Link |
| Rights/Permissions: |
This text is protected by copyright and may be linked to without seeking permission. Please see http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/terms.html for information on reproduction. |
| URL: | http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0002.620 |
| Citation (MLA): | Diderot, Denis (possibly). "Contempt." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Lucia Florido. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2015. Web. [fill in today's date in the form 18 Apr. 2009 and remove square brackets]. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0002.620>. Trans. of "Mépris," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 10. Paris, 1765. |
| Citation (Chicago): | Diderot, Denis (possibly). "Contempt." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Lucia Florido. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0002.620 (accessed [fill in today's date in the form April 18, 2009 and remove square brackets]). Originally published as "Mépris," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 10:357–358 (Paris, 1765). |
Contempt, the excessive fondness of being admired by others makes us feel contempt towards our fellow beings; also named insolence , condescendence or pride if directed towards our superiors, our inferiors or our equals. We strive to demean those who are below us, believing that we can elevate ourselves by bringing them down; or to harm our equals, to remove them from competition; or even to lower our superiors, because they cast a shadow on us with their importance. Our pride clearly betrays itself because, if men are object of contempt , why do we covet their esteem? Or, if their esteem is worthy of our strongest desire, how can we despise them? Wouldn’t it mean that the contempt for others is feigned rather than genuine? We perceive their excellence because their appreciation of us seem to be such a great honor, but we make all efforts to hide it, in order to do us justice.
From it rises slander, lies, cynical compliments, satire, spite and envy. It is true that envy remains carefully hidden, because it is a forced confession of others’ merit and good fortune, and a forced tribute that we pay them.
From all the feelings of pride, contempt of others is the most dangerous, because it is the one that clashes the most directly against the good of society, the purpose to which the love of esteem relates.