Is emotionalism a good philosophy for someone to base their life on ?
There are those who try to live like robots without Emotions which really doesn't make much sense because weather we like it or not we as humans have profound emotions and should not deny them. But still I would love to hear the criticisms of emotionalism even though I probably already know what they are. I think that acting on Emotions is what emotionalism is.
Comments (32)
I'm not sure I have met someone like that before. Who are you thinking of? How do you know what others are feeling if you are only watching from the outside?
Quoting Massimo
I would have thought that most people make choices based on their emotions. I also would have thought that a focus on emotion is a hallmark of our current era. And even those who privilege reason are likely to do so because reason appeals emotionally.
There was a period called Romanticism (18th and 19th century) which privileged emotion over reason - amongst other things. I often think we are living in a new era of romanticism. Certainly in the West.
How useful this is depends upon what emotions you give in to and what you do about them. Personally I avoid people who find it hard to regulate their emotion, they are often histrionic and narcissistic, as if their experience is the only one which matters.
Really? Think about how much of our technology is used to show off fairy-tale lifestyles, dream vacations, musical reveries and the cult of the body beautiful. The aesthetics of Marvel movies are pure romanticism and soft-core Fascism. The popular culture of the present era is drenched in emotionality - from ubiquitous reality TV to histrionic pop music and self-absorbed Instagram and TikTok. Politics is descending into Fascism all around the world, appelas to a romsold to voters on the strength of extravagant emotional appeals, with reason nowhere to be found. What is the great preoccupation our current age - apart from hysterical visions of doom and paranoia? It's probably the cute cat video. :wink:
Romantic escapism. Everything is furiously overstated and stylised.
Quoting Massimo
The overwhelming preoccupation culture has had with gym bodies, weight loss, supermodels, plastic surgery, botox, food fetishes - we are obsessed with romantic and idealised views of how people are meant to look. Then there's the ridiculous pouting and choreographed bombast of Instagram where people romanticise their lives, possessions and choices by posing, etc, all designed to create heightened feelings of emotionality in others - envy, admiration, acclaim, desire, jealousy, etc.
Not at all. I'm not American. Think of politics and the increasing hysterical Right in England, Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Germany... And Australia just failed to grant constitutional recognition for its First Nations people based on a right wing emotional appeal to white bigotry and fear.
But to reject rationality in favour of emotion would be as impossible and dangerous as the worst excesses of rationalism. Emotion in the broadest sense is caring about something some degree. To reject emotion is to pretend not to care about anything, and that is a recipe for failure to say no to absolute horror. But to deny reason is equally to deprive oneself of any ability to act effectively on one's emotions. Reason it is that demand, when emotion says no to horror, that one acts to end horror.
How many stiff rigid robots have you communicated with?
What examples of advanced AI systems have you interacted with?
I absolutely agree with @Tom Storm here. Have you ever tried to act as if you were emotionless?
Have you any idea how difficult that would be for a human to achieve?
How would you demonstrate your own ability to be emotionless?
That is a meaningless image to me. A human can't hug a wall unless they can wrap their arms around both ends of the wall, and even then, it is still not appropriate as 'hugging' anything is an emotional act.
Quoting Vaskane
Which example are you complaining about in this thread of 'taking metaphorical language as literal?'
You are not making much sense! I think I will leave it there.
Exactly. :up:
In his "History of Theology," lectures for the Great Courses, the philosopher Phil Cary points out that today, in the shadow of the Holocaust, we tend to worry about "becoming machines." Whereas in ancient philosophy, the top concern was more than we would "degenerate into beasts."
Looking at myself, the people I know, and the world around us, I think we flatter ourselves in worrying about becoming "too rational." I think the ancients had it (more) right that the biggest threat to our personal sovereignty is generally that we become slaves to our own disordered drives, desires, and instincts.
That said, I've always tended towards the romantic side. I don't think it has to be an either or. Rationality and self-discipline/self-government need not mean a sterile and robotic life. Rather, when we are most in control of ourselves, we are most able to love and help others. Our love is more ours in this case, less an effect of external causes.
Plato, Augustine, and Hegel are both very much "be ruled by reason," types, but then they also write more about love and the family than other major philosophers I can think of.
You have just responded like an emotionally hurt child.
Try to answer my question:
Quoting universeness
rather than seek ridiculous distractions, as described by the thread author:
Quoting Massimo
Humans whose emotions and reason are disconnected in varying degrees) aren't robots, they're psychopaths or sociopaths. Guilt, a powerful emotion, does not operate in their brains to curb decisions which are anti-social.
The best bet for people is to accept that they have emotions (some of which are very strong and may be easily provoked) and learn how to manage them. Most of us learn how to live with the emotional machinery we have--sometime; maybe not till 50 or 60, but eventually.
"emotionalism" isn't a philosophical approach to life. Some people make it a practice to display a lot of their emotions openly. Others of us, like us white protestant males, keep our emotions to ourselves -- not a particularly healthy practice, either.
Don't confuse not showing emotions externally with not possessing or using emotions (internally). In competitive environments, generally speaking showing emotions can distract oneself and definitely is seen as a weakness by one's competition, making one a target for their attacks.
In general, having an icy exterior signals to others mental strength, resolve and grit, thus those looking for easy prey look elsewhere. However, intelligently using naturally occurring emotional energy and channeling it in useful ways is a competitive advantage, just don't let them catch you doing it.
Many people 'privilege' rational thought and denigrate emotion, overlooking the fact that fast emotional responses are a critical part of human survival. Fear get's you moving fast on short notice. Lust keeps the world populated and most of us find it quite fun. Etc.
Thinking is critical too, of course, and one of the things that encourages thinking is the pleasure we experience when we solve a problem.
It SEEMS like our hearts and heads (so to speak) are opposed to each other. But generally our hearts and heads are on the same page.
It's folk wisdom (more like folk bullshit) that mind and emotion are separate.
:lol: Sounds to me that you are both quite emotional creatures. Perhaps, with little ability to be otherwise.
I have very little interest or concern regarding what you find to be a mocking insult.
I have even less interest in your lack of ability to assess who won or didn't win a debate.
I consider our boring exchange over.
I suggest we ignore each others posts in the future. I prefer to debate with grown ups.
He always insults and disrespects other users who don't think like him. Trust me when I say that he will destroy your energy and waste your time as well. My advice is to ignore him. Something difficult because he is always around posting hate and vacuous messages. What I don't understand is why moderators keep him here...
Massimo, you have posted very interesting comments here, and I wish you a good experience here. Welcome. :smile:
Well root my toot! who knew it was as simple as that! :cool:
I stipulated "in competitive environments". That's the arena I'm speaking about. If you don't compete against others, then my commentary doesn't apply.
I think that a general approach to ones life that is accepting and tolerant of human nature is a good start, at the very least.
We can never really get rid of basic aspects of our existence, like emotions and feelings, we can only repress the feelings in the effort to eliminate them.
It is a truism that repressed feelings are more harmful to ones peace of mind (sanity) than those that are not repressed.
But of course, we dont want to be servants to the whims of our capricious emotions.
Stoicism and Eastern systems encourage an awareness of everything, with calmness and equanimity as a goal.
It represents the golden mean of being aware of feelings, while having the ability to decide the best way to express or communicate them or to keep it to ourselves.
I have the idea (or personal conspiracy theory lol) that most of the desires we have to change our very natures, or to rise above our animal origins or such, have been implanted in us by cultural forces that are acting in their best interests, not ours. (If one could personify such things).