The Nature of Anger

By Marco Ferraro
Honors 2101: Intellectual Traditions I:
Antiquity and the Beginning of the Common Era
Spring 2008
Professor Eric Hutton

Over the course of the past fifteen weeks, we have been reading several texts starting with ancient Greek mythology up to modern day treatise of anger. Two of the more prominent authors we have covered are Aristotle and Seneca, each drastically different from the other in their notion toward anger on the surface. Aristotle also describes anger as a virtuous emotion, whereas Seneca would like to see anger eradicated. However, when analyzed further, the differences between the two are rooted in the nature of anger. Aristotle is convinced that anger is a natural element of the soul, while Seneca disagrees and dismisses anger as unnatural.
The definition for anger given by Aristotle is as follows: “A desire accompanied by pain, for a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight at the hands of men who have no call to slight oneself or one’s friends” (Rhetoric 1378a30). To this he adds that anger should always be directed toward an individual and not toward ‘man’ in general. To Aristotle, anger is a tool of revenge that is triggered by painful desire. The definition he gives in chapter two of the second book of Rhetoric also includes a “conspicuous slight” or in other words, an obvious insult that has been brought upon somebody without obvious reason. Aristotle continues to give more detailed information on the different slighting methods. He distinguishes between contempt, spite and insolence. Each of the three having its own effect on the victim. Ultimately, anger originates from a disregard of somebody’s feelings or emotional state.

A sick man is angered by disregard of his illness, a poor man by disregard of his poverty, a man waging war by disregard of the war he is waging, a lover by disregard of his love, and so in other cases too. (Rhetoric 1379a19)

Thus, to Aristotle, every man has a predisposition to become angry, because every person may be disregarded in his most personal emotion. It can therefore be said that all men expect sympathy for his situation, but when an unexpected event occurs, anger is stirred.

Rachel Stinks

What’s your favorite superpower?

If you could choose to have a superpower what would it be? I asked myself this exact question various times and after giving it some thought I have to say that it would come down to two choices:

1. Stopping Time. Being able to halt time in any situation is absolutely powerful. Imagine somebody fires a shoot at you. -Stop-. Step aside. -Go- And the bullet flies past you without any danger. This power would also be helpful to gain some extra hours to finish a school paper in time, or to rethink urgent matters that need a quick decision.
2. Teleport. How cool would that be? Imagine you’re in danger, but this time your enemy shows up with an atomic bomb strapped around his waist and is about to push the trigger that will turn your near surrounding into ashes and radioactive waste. -Zap-. Teleport to a beautiful island (like Hawaii) or a nearby planet. -Zip-. Somewhere out there somebody just wasted an atomic bomb. You could also use this power as means of transportation. Undoubtedly the most environmental means of travel.

I am still debating which one to choose… -Stop-

Spanish to take over?

I had a discussion with some of my fellow team mates about what is going to happen to the English language in the future. Some of my friends argued, that Spanish or Chinese is going to take over as the most important language in the world. I had to disagree, just because English seemed like a really easy language to learn. But maybe that’s just me. I thought learning French and Italian was way harder.

Mountain West Conference Championship 2008

I know, I haven’t updated my blog in a while - I was busy, ok?! Stop whining! I just came back from this years Mountain West Conference Championship Meet in Oklahoma City (By the way. Why is North Texas so windy? ‘Cause Oklahoma sucks!). The Utes traveled all the way down there to compete against other schools of the MWC. Even though we finished last on the men’s side, we can be happy with what we achieved this year. We broke a couple of school records and kicked some “old fools” off the Top 10 lists.

I did my part. I got third with the 800y free relay (6:36.42), my split was a phenomenal 1:37.24. My 500y free was not as stellar, i finished sixth with a 4:29.44. - It was still a best time. The 200y free (1:38.52) went a little better, I finished fifth. On the last day I swam the mile, which took me 15:43.61 to finish (sixth), and the 400y free relay, where I split (44.98).

Ich weiss, ich habe schon seit längerem nichts mehr aktualisiert - ich war schwer beschäftigt, ok?! Hör auf rum zu wimmern! Gestern bin ich vom diesjährigen Mountain West Conference Championship Meeting in Oklahoma City zurückgekehrt. Wir haben uns relativ gut geschlagen obwohl wir am Ende nicht über den letzten Platz hinaus kamen. Dieses Wochenende wurden mehrere Teamrekorde gebrochen.

Ich habe meine Pflicht getan. Ich war Teil der 4×200y Crawl Staffel (meine Zeit in der Staffel war 1:37.24), welche mit 6:36.42 den dritten Platz einnahm. Zusätzlich schwamm ich über 500y Crawl auf den sechsten Platz, mit 4:29.44. Über 200y Crawl landete ich auf dem fünften Platz mit einer respektablen Zeit von 1:38.52. Am letzten Tag hatte ich das vergnügen mich über 1650y Crawl zu bewerben. Ich schlug mit 15:43.61 als sechster an. Mein letztes Rennen allerdings war die 4×100y Crawl Staffel, welche den vierten Platz einnahm und mir eine neue Staffelbestzeit bescherte (44.98).

Converted Times / Umgerechnete Zeiten (into LCM)

200y free (1:38.52) in 200m free (1:53.90)

500y free (4:29.44) in 400m free (4:03.84)

1650y free (15:43.61) in 1500m free (16:17.83)

iTunes error message

Weirdest iTunes error message I’ve ever seen.

Angry Marco

I remember one instance when I got “really angry.” I was in Berlin on a trip that I spent 3 months working to pay for. Berlin appealed to me from the first time I stepped out on its burdened streets, laden with rich history and stories of centuries. Berlin is like no other city I have been to. On my first sight seeing day through the city, I was stopped by a crowd of people cheering for a group of men playing a simple gambling game. The game consisted of a man hiding one white ball under one of three cups. He then quickly moved the cups in different positions. It seemed very easy to me to follow the ball and I got it right 5 out of 5 times.

Christmas in Switzerland

I had the most wonderful time at home for Christmas. My family, my girlfriend and I spend some awesome days together. Here are some pictures to document the fantastic experience.

More pictures here: www.flickr.com/photos/makkeboome

Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas 2007

Originally uploaded by makkeboome.

Perfect Christmas Present

Do you ever catch yourself thinking: “Hm, what’s the perfect Christmas present?” or “I really wonder, what I could give Marco for Christmas?” If you answered both questions with yes, then you have come to the right place. Because, I put together a list of perfect Christmas presents for Marco! And the best thing about that is, you can get them from the comfort of your own home. All you need is a computer that is connected to the internet and a creditcard. Enough talking, let’s take look at the perfect presents.

Price Range $1.00 - $15.00

1. Travel Charger for iPod - $1.89
   (Cause I’m tired of charging my iPod on one of my only two USB plugs)
2. Magic 8 Ball - $4.49
   (Sometimes decision making is harder than it seems)
3. Maneki Neko / Lucky Cat - $9.95
   (Brings good luck to the owner and looks pretty)