Rage and Outrage

[Edwardo Piet]

Something is either outrageous or it is not, I don't think there are levels of outrageousness.

??

So it's impossible to reduce or increase outrage?

That's like saying there aren't levels of rage, either you're enraged or you're not. But surely it's clear there are levels of rage, why would you think there aren't levels of outrage?

Of course, you could say that there aren't levels of outrage because NOTHING is outrageous objectively. But like I said, since nothing is intrinsically outrageous that is why I am equating the EXPERIENCE of outrage (what people consider outrageous) with the experience of rage. And surely, that experience can be more or less intense. Like all experiences.

To be outraged is to find something outrageous

A-ha! So now we're not talking about intrinsic outrage of course. We're merely talking about the experience of outrage. And can that experience not be more or less intense?

To find something outrageous is to find something beyond the scope of what is acceptable.

And can not the experience of "finding something outrageous" be more or less intense? Remember: It's the experience I'm talking about.

Just because you only get "outraged" when you consider something beyond acceptable, doesn't mean that EXPERIENCING that outrage is any different to experiencing rage. The cause of outrage is different to the experience of it.

To find something beyond the scope of what is acceptable does not imply rage.

If rage is reduced to the near minimum it is still the same thing in experience besides that reduction: It's just rage reduced to a minimal level. The concept would be labelled as something different, we would't still call it "rage". But in experience, the thing is the same thing just reduced to a very minimal level.

So, when we experience outrage, it could just be the experience rage on a reduced level. Unless we're intensely outraged, and then it becomes pretty much indistinguishable from rage.

For example, if "bliss" is merely "intense happiness" that doesn't mean that happiness isn't the same thing as bliss (in actual experience) on a more minimal level. The only difference may be the intensity.

BP's neglegence was somethig I found outrageous but not something that caused me rage, for example.

If rage is extreme outrage in actual experience then it may be that you just didn't find it outrageous enough to be enraged. Maybe besides the difference in intensity - in actual experience - there is no difference.

Likewise, if you are enraged by something, that could just be intense outrage in actual experience. Just because we label it as "rage" doesn't mean in actual experience it's any difference to intense outrage.