The paper starts with a lexicographical research on the definition of hatred in different cultures and draws from it a semiotic model structured in several levels of enunciation, which are linked to contrasting values. The philosophical tradition that attributes hatred to a perception of damage is then examined. From it derives a political and polemological analysis that sees hatred as a category of conflict and especially of war. Finally, we consider “hate speech” from a semiotic point of view, a very widespread category in contemporary debate and show how it serves above all to prohibit certain types of discourse and to protect certain categories, without true reference to the nature of hatred.
