by Peter Shulman

There is a muse at work in the fanaticized object. Something which draws us to it for reasons divorced from practical concerns. The fanatic nature of the relationship empowers us to give ourselves wholly over to the object without the fetters of conscience, discretion, analysis or self control. We all long for an object such as this; something through which the full measure of our expression can plunge to its limit and approach the boarders where we are united with or severed from the universe. Has any one ever been in love who doesn’t relate to this condition? To really be in love with another person is and should be the most fanatic condition of all.

This state is due to the romantic nature of fanaticism, but the attachment alone isn’t romantic. It is aesthetic. It is aesthetic because we don't form a fanatic attachment based on the utility of the object, so it holds no efferent value as such. The attachment is to the object as an end in itself.

Consider a man who always bets on the Praha Sparta football team. He may do so because he knows that they are the most likely to win. He may go to the games and cheer for the team and even wear their colors but he is not Fanatic. His interest it efferent, his end is his investment not the team itself. On the other hand someone who has the regalia, insists that the team is the best and will do so even if they loose every game, and cheers or even pummels his neighbor on their behalf is not being irrational. Its just that for him the Team is a value in itself just by being what it is in his view (and it can chair a deeply symbolic place within his psyche). This is aesthetic.

It is the devotion which renders the relationship romantic. This is because that devotion is holistic in nature. The object takes on a greater value than the sum of its parts when taken as a whole. That renders it a romantic phenomenon as opposed to a classic one. As a classic value a thing is seen in its underlying form. A person could enjoy Sparta Praha for their colors, their attitude, the class of Czech society they are seen to represent etc. in an aesthetic way but usually wont be Fanatical. For the fanatic the team is the single impression all these aspects compose. And he is unconditionally devoted to this romantic whole.

It is due to this Romantic devotion that fanaticism can be so dangerous. If one or more aspects of the object are shown to be faulty the Fanatic isn’t disillusioned because he is still able to assimilate or ignore that information in favor of maintaining his view of and allegiance to the whole. It is also important to consider that this type of erotic value is one of identification rather than object-choice which means that the fanatics own identity rests on the maintenance of the object’s integrity.

The terms Romantic, Classic, Aesthetic, Efferent, identification and object-choice are used herein as it is understood through the works of Robert Pirsig and Louise Rosemblatt and Sigmund Fraud respectively. 

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