Fanaticism

All you want to know about Fanaticism

"Fanatic" redirects here. For the television series, see FANatic. For the film, see Fanatic (1965 film).

"Fanatical" redirects here. For the TV documentary series, see FANatical.

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Fanaticism is an emotion of being filled with excessive, uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby.

According to philosopher George Santayana, "Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim"^[1]; according to Winston Churchill, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject". By either description the fanatic displays very strict standards and little tolerance.

The difference between a fan and a fanatic is that while both have an overwhelming liking or interest in a given subject, behaviour of a fanatic will be viewed as violating prevailing social norms, while that of a fan will not violate those norms (although is usually considered unusual).^[2]

A fanatic differs from a crank in that the latter term is typically associated with a position or opinion which is so far from the norm as to appear ludicrous and/or provably wrong, while the subject of the fanatic's obsession may well be "normal", with only the scale of involvement being abnormally disproportionate.

Categories of fanaticism

consumer fanaticism - the level of involvement or interest one has in the liking of a particular person, group, trend, artwork or idea.
religious fanaticism - considered by some to be the most extreme form of religious fundamentalism.
political, ideological fanaticism.
ethnic, national, racial fanaticism.
leisure fanaticism - high levels of intensity, enthusiasm, commitment and zeal shown for one's leisure activities.^[3]

References

^ Santayana, George (1905). Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons) 13.
^ Thorne, Scott; Bruner, Gordon C. (2006). "An exploratory investigation of the characteristics of consumer fanaticism". Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal 9 (1): 51–72. doi:10.1108/13522750610640558. ISSN 1352-2752.
^ Mackellar, J. (2006). "Fans, fanatics or just good fun - travel behaviours of the leisure fanatic". Journal of Vacation Marketing 12 (3): 195–217. doi:10.1177/1356766706064622.

Haynal, A., Molnar, M. and de Puymege, G. 1987."Fanaticism. A Historical and Psychoanalytical Study".Schoken Books. New York.
Rudin, J. 1969.Fanaticism. A psychological Analysis. University of Notre Dame Press. London.