Literary notes about Defamatory (AI summary)
The term "defamatory" in literature often carries strong negative connotations, used to signal words or writings that unjustly tarnish someone's reputation. In Alexandre Dumas’s work, for instance, a "defamatory article" is an object of suspicion and caution, suggesting the potential impact of published words on personal honor and social standing [1]. Friedrich Nietzsche further employs the term to critique philosophies that deny the will, labeling them as both defamatory and slanderous—thereby equating such ideologies with attacks on personal integrity through harmful misrepresentation [2]. Together, these examples illustrate how "defamatory" is employed in literary texts to underscore the profound and often dangerous consequences of damaging speech.
- He did not take in the paper containing the defamatory article, and had passed the morning in writing letters and in trying a horse.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - I consider that a philosophy which teaches the denial of will is both defamatory and slanderous....
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche
