Political apathy

Abstract

The word "apathy" is derived from the French "apathie", which is, in turn, derived from the Latin "apathia". The Greek word, " ", is etymologically, the same. The Oxford Dictionary detects two distinct usages; the earlier (1603) being "freedom from, or insensibility to, passion or feeling; (a) passionless existence". The second meaning, first recorded in English in 1733, is described as "indolence of mind, indifference to what normally excites emotion or interest". Now these meanings, superficially similar, in fact have little in common. The Greeks meant by "apathy" "insensibility to suffering (and) feeling". This was, to them, a factual word - it described an actual state just as surely as, say, "sensitivity", or "brutality". The words may be used loosely, even inaccurately, to ascribe values or describe emotions, but they do refer to hard facts. It is in the interpretation of these situations that a careless use of words might, but not necessarily, arise. To many of the Greek philosophers "apathy" was something that could be seen, discussed and analysed. If it be argued that it is, ipso facto, a derogatory word, they might argue that it was no more so than "measles" or "typhoid".