“You must philosophise

But why must you bore me to tears”

(Sandy Denny 1969)



Quite a highbrow cartoon this week – Zeno taught Stoic philosophy in the late 4th century BCE and he is generally considered to be the founder of this school of thought.

 

Don’t worry - I’m not about to launch into some philosophical debate! This is just a few words on an aspect ofStoicism, that I have been reading about a little, of late. 

 

The point of mentioning it in the blog, is that I am taking something from this philosophy, which seems to be supportive of my mental health.

 

I guess that I am trying to use a philosophical idea as part of a “healing” process. This is far from a novel idea! Interestingly, an early Stoic called Epictetus saw the role of a philosopher as being akin to a doctor of the soul (by which he will have meant, the mind – so perhaps it would be better think of a philosopher as a psychologist).

 

As I’m sure you can imagine, Stoics have a fair amount to say about emotion.  As someone whose emotional capacity is somewhat compromised, I have developed a very embryonic, interest in their teachings.

 

We will often think of a Stoic as being wholly unfeeling – or to put it another way, emotionless.

 

To me at least, that doesn’t sound ideal...

 

There are some emotions that are positive, and I wouldn’t mind keeping the door ajar for them. There are also some occasions (rare I hope!) when an otherwise negative emotion might be appropriate – I shouldn’t be distressed by much of the trivia that actually upsets me - but I think that it is absolutely understandable (and it is indeed, inevitable) to shed tears when a loved one dies!

 

My understanding now though, is that Stoical philosophy does not deny or condemn all emotional responses - it is more about exercising control over, rather than eliminating all of them. This control will perhaps inevitably lead to a reduction in emotions/their intensity, but some are positive and/or understandable and, if experienced at an appropriate level are ok (and indeed, encouraged)!

 

It goes without saying that a bit more emotional control by me, can’t be a bad thing...

 

A Stoic recognises the concept of emotional triggers and sees a danger in such a trigger leading to the generation of an inappropriate emotion, which can easily, spin out of control and become unhelpfully exaggerated. By “inappropriate” I mean, unduly negative. 

 

Sounds rather familiar to me!

 

What would be rather useful, is the application of some brakes and a resultant pause, between trigger and emotion (which will be influenced by the contents of this gap). This I believe, lies at the heart of Stoic philosophy in this area.

 

Perhaps needless to say that doing this, requires significant discipline and in my experience, it is often the case that the emotional response will naturally arise, contemporaneously with the trigger. There will, therefore, be a delay in dropping the anchor (at least until I recognise the negative emotion and its extent). That said, it is never too late to step back from an outpouring of negative emotion to oneself and (often) in the direction of others.

 

Stoics focus on issues that are within our control and those that are not. In an emotional context, they would view the trigger as something that is ultimately beyond our remit. We can seek to exert influence but can not guarantee elimination of the trigger.  Once this has actually resulted in an emotion, the view of a Stoic is that this is similarly, beyond our control. What we are in absolute control of though, are judgements which we make - and it is these judgements that lead to the eventual emotion. The argument goes, that once we become aware of the trigger (and this is often manifested physically - for example, a prominently beating, heart) we should seek to be still and questioning. In the light of this we can pass a judgement that might minimise the risk of a negative emotion and its replacement by no emotion at all or (ideally) a positive one.

 

For example, I have a tendency towards resentment (negative emotion!) of what I see as undue interference in my life, by others. I can try to influence this - for example by asking them to desist. I cannot though (through taking reasonablesteps!), guarantee that they will do so. 

 

If, however, I stop as soon as I sense this type of behaviour being directed at me. I can then, use my controlled cognitive functions and ask myself why this is happening. A distinct possibility is that it is because the third party loves and cares about me. Making this judgement would lead to very different emotions than anger and distress. It might result in the positive emotions of a sense of appreciation, or even love, on my part!

 

 

 

I suppose that I ought to start to practice what I preach...

 



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