Running as deep as the soul, emotions form the colours of experience and touch every facet of our lives.
But emotions are neither reliable as a sole guide in life nor are they dispensable, neither stable in our experience of them nor are they unwanted.
What is the specific role of the emotions? How exactly do they fit into the overall structure of existence? Why do we have them? And are emotions related to the pursuit of happiness?
Emotions are dynamic and easily influence the other powers such as memory, reason and perception. But emotions also play an interactive role with other emotions: fear can displace trust and trust can displace fear; hope may lift sadness and despondency; love might reinforce joy and hope.
But it is not clear nowadays whether to honour the emotions and give them pride of place or whether to subjugate the emotions and keep them under control (neither option is satisfactory!). Perhaps emotions have lost their rightful and proper place in the life of the soul, just as humans have often suffered some degree of cultural displacement in our modern day societies.
It therefore seems that an enquiry into the nature and role of the emotions in the overall scheme of life is both opportune and urgent. This is not intended to be an abstract or difficult work but rather a practical, down-to-earth analysis of the life of the emotions in the context of being human.
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Leba Sleiman
I think that the clarity of the treatment of emotions these days has been clouded so much for the simple reason that people are no longer putting any value in their reactions to their own emotions or their control of them. Daily it is emphasised in the media and in dealing with people (especially in Australia) that it is not necessary to control one's reaction to one's own emotions, be they anger, sadness or joy. This control does not make people more in touch with their emotions, but hinders their understanding of them and their capacity to explore them by themselves or with others.
ReplyDeleteIt is not the feeling of emotions, but the way in which we react to them that is making problems today.