philosophy is the search for knowledge…
this is called epistemology: the theory of knowledge,
especially with regards to its methods, validity, and scope.
From Descartes to Kant, the major problem in philosophy was
questions of knowledge… how do we know what we know?
the famous Descartes body/mind problem is a result of
Descartes trying to find certainty in our knowledge…
However, David Hume once said: Reason is and ought to be
the slave of the passions" meaning reason is below the passions…
Philosophers work to understand the world rationally… through
rational methods and techniques…
the methods are rational, the questions are rational, the answers are rational…
but what about the most famous dichotomy in life,
not the body/mind problem of Descartes…
but the dichotomy between emotions/feelings
and rational/logical thought………
we men, we leave to women the question of emotions and feelings…
I know I do…we have philosophy which focuses on the rational thought…
but what discipline focuses on emotions and feelings? why, Psychology…
Psychology as a scientific study of the human mind has only existed for
less then 200 years…and a great deal of psychology deals with
the how does one handle and deal with emotions and feelings and behavior…
given what we know so far, psychology has not done a great job so far…
what we need is a topology of human emotions/feelings/behavior…
in other words, just as we have done for knowledge, we need to do
for emotions/feelings/behavior……… we have epistemology:
the theory of knowledge, especially with regards to its methods, validity,
and scope……
we need to study, perhaps using this word, Pathosology: the theory of emotions
especially with regards to its methods, validity, and scope……
we need to turn a study of emotions into a science………
not in regard to the study of the mind, but in regards to emotions itself…
now why this emphasis on emotions/feelings? because if we only study
reason/rationality, we are only studying half the human equation……
we are much more creatures of emotions and feelings then we are
creatures of reason and rationality………
if we are to understand, truly understand the human being, we must
begin to study and understand emotions and feelings……
we have seen, I have seen anger take over my entire being…
I have been so angry that that there was nothing outside of my anger…
it was the only thing I was……. and I was out of control with anger……
I have seen and I have been, so in love, I lost myself entirely to that emotion
of love… there was nothing outside of my being in love……
we must begin by placing emotions and feelings in context, which is a word
for experience, we must put emotions into context and that means
historical context which is evolutionary pathosology… the evolutionary study
of emotions and feelings……why did we keep emotions and feelings
in a evolutionary context? what does emotions and feelings bring to us
in an evolutionary context that allows us to survive? how does being angry
allow us to survive evolutionary? or hate or love or pity?
we have a second field of study which is behavior… how do the emotions and
feelings impact our behavior? now we know that love is an value and values
give our lives meaning…… but so what is the connection between values and
emotions/feelings? what about justice? is that an emotion?
do the virtues we take as values really exists as emotions/feelings?
I have on occasion listed values… are those really a listing of emotions?
and behavior created by those values/emotions?
we can never be successful as human beings until we come to terms with,
not only our reason and rationality but with our emotions and feelings……
and this is another problem of existence… our emotions and feelings…
Kropotkin