Editing Misanthropy (section)

=== Misanthropic forms of life ===
[[File:Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 035.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting "The Misanthrope" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Misanthropy is often associated with the tendency to avoid social contacts, as portrayed in the painting [[The Misanthrope (Bruegel)|''The Misanthrope'']] by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]].]]

Misanthropy is usually not restricted to a theoretical opinion but involves an evaluative attitude that calls for a practical response. It can express itself in different forms of life. They come with different dominant emotions and practical consequences for how to lead one's life.{{sfn|Kidd|2020b}}{{sfn|Cooper|2018|pp=110–1}} These responses to misanthropy are sometimes presented through simplified archetypes that may be too crude to accurately capture the mental life of any single person. Instead, they aim to portray common attitudes among groups of misanthropes. The two responses most commonly linked to misanthropy involve either destruction or fleeing from society. The destructive misanthrope is said to be driven by a hatred of humankind and aims at tearing it down, with violence if necessary.{{sfn|Kidd|2020b}}{{sfn|Cooper|2018|pp=115–6}} For the fugitive misanthrope, fear is the dominant emotion and leads the misanthrope to seek a [[seclusion|secluded]] place in order to avoid the corrupting contact with civilization and humanity as much as possible.{{sfn|Kidd|2020b}}{{sfn|Edyvane|2013|pp=[https://philpapers.org/rec/EDYRSM 53–65]}}

The contemporary misanthropic literature has also identified further less-known types of misanthropic lifestyles.{{sfn|Kidd|2020b}} The activist misanthrope is driven by hope despite their negative appraisal of humanity. This hope is a form of [[meliorism]] based on the idea that it is possible and feasible for humanity to transform itself and the activist tries to realize this ideal.{{sfn|Kidd|2020b}}{{sfn|Svoboda|2022|pp=14, 115}} A weaker version of this approach is to try to improve the world incrementally to avoid some of the worst outcomes without the hope of fully solving the basic problem.{{sfn|Svoboda|2022|p=14}} Activist misanthropes differ from [[Quietism (philosophy)|quietist]] misanthropes, who take a pessimistic approach toward what the person can do for bringing about a transformation or significant improvements. In contrast to the more drastic reactions of the other responses mentioned, they resign themselves to quiet acceptance and small-scale avoidance.{{sfn|Cooper|2018|pp=118–9}}{{sfn|Kidd|2020b}} A further approach is focused on [[humor]] based on mockery and ridicule at the [[absurdity]] of the human condition. An example is that humans hurt each other and risk future self-destruction for trivial concerns like a marginal increase in profit. This way, humor can act both as a mirror to portray the terrible truth of the situation and as its palliative at the same time.{{sfn|Svoboda|2022|pp=117–8}}