Baruch de Spinoza on emotions

Most of us would say that we have our emotions under control. But is that true? If you now compare yourself mentally with choleric people who throw a tantrum at every little thing and overwhelm those around them with aggression and verbal, but possibly also physical injuries, you will easily come to the conclusion: It's true. After all, you're not like that yourself. You don't take your frustration out on others. You have yourself under control.

However, Spinoza's following quote paints a different picture:

"The powerlessness of man to control or restrain the passions is what I call bondage, for a man who is under their control is not his own master, but is ruled by fate, in whose power he stands, so that he is often forced to follow the bad, although he sees the better before him."

Baruch de Spinoza

Although it may be our own belief that we are in control of our emotions, unfortunately that doesn't mean it's true. Yes, it is true that most of us have enough self-control to be abusive to others and this is undeniably an important achievement that is almost ubiquitous in society. Nevertheless, we usually allow our emotions to reach those around us. If we are sad, anxious or angry, we often let this flow into our behavior, which influences the people around us. You've probably experienced this yourself: A colleague at work is having a bad day and although they don't talk about their problem or take it out on others, their mood brings everyone around them down, including you. And our joy also likes to seep through and ensure that the people around us are influenced by it. Admittedly, this is not really a problem here, but it is further proof.

Even if we do not allow emotions to leak out unintentionally, this does not mean that we are able to control them. This can be a deceptive security, because just because we may appear calm and collected on the outside does not mean that this state is also reflected on the inside. On the contrary. We are often so upset inside that this manifests itself in high blood pressure or similar potentially harmful reactions from the body. 

Unfortunately, it is therefore actually a misjudgement to say that we have our emotions under control. In fact, in most cases they have us under control.

At this point, it is important for us to point out the following: It is not about suppressing your emotions. We usually intuitively realize that this is not good and can even be dangerous under certain circumstances. Instead, it is about exploring and understanding our emotions. Spinoza also emphasized this:

"The mind has more power over emotions and is less subject to them because it sees everything as necessary."

Baruch de Spinoza

If you already know the first two volumes of this series, this kind of statement may sound familiar to you.

Both Buddhism and Stoicism (and, frankly, many other schools of thought) emphasize the importance of being master of oneself. And for this, the need to understand one's own feelings, and therefore one's emotions, is emphasized again and again. 

If you haven't yet explored this approach, it may seem a little strange, almost unnecessary. After all, you know why you feel the way you do, don't you? Unfortunately, this is usually not quite right either. 

What we are typically well aware of is what the external triggers for our emotions are. But that's where it ends in almost all cases. Very few of us are aware of why we react to certain situations with the emotion in question or how strongly and for how long they affect us.

But one thing at a time. Let's take a look at the different emotions first. The different emotions exist for a reason and with a raison d'être. In psychology, between a handful and several dozen emotions are defined, depending on the model. However, the following are typically found in all of them: 

• Fear
• Anger
• Disgust
• Surprise
• Joy

Fear lets us avoid danger. Anger allows us to overcome obstacles. Disgust protects us from eating harmful substances, such as spoiled food, and from contact with people who are contagious. Surprise helps us to achieve a state of heightened awareness and thus better absorb information from new situations, and joy acts as a counter to negative emotions. For example, when we have used fear to overcome a threat or anger to overcome an obstacle.

Consequently, emotions are the consequence of cognitive assessments and evaluations of situations or events and all serve the instinct for self-preservation in their own way, as Charles Robert Darwin already stated in his theory of emotions. 

But that brings us to the next topic: while emotions make perfect sense in situations where survival is at stake, they often don't quite fit into the modern world. The reason is that we have often created circumstances in which we cannot react in the way that emotion would actually dictate. Whereas our ancestors fled when a situation triggered fear and the sympathetic nervous system (the part of the nervous system responsible for the fight-or-flight response) was stimulated. Instead, we are usually stuck. In unpleasant meetings, we can't run away but have to persevere. The result is that the tension is not released.

The good news is that we don't necessarily have to, but can also relieve tension in other ways. Although we both believe that regular physical exercise should definitely be part of our routine, there is another option, which we mentioned above: We just need to understand what our emotions are about, where they come from and how we can let them go.

As soon as we achieve this, we will succeed in what the ancient Stoics taught: self-betterment. And not just on the outside, but also deep within ourselves.

But the principles to which Spinoza referred are not only found in Stoicism. They are also reflected in Buddhism. In the teachings of the Buddha, the topic of suffering, called Dukkhaand overcoming them plays a central role. Here, too, it is imperative that we understand our inner attitude, and therefore also our emotions, and have a precise understanding of them.

"Emotions that are suffering cease to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of them."

Baruch de Spinoza

Our emotions are important and we should acknowledge them rather than banish them. If we manage to do this, we will reach a point where we can appreciate them but also let them go again quickly and not be plagued by a bad mood for days after a speeding ticket or a bad grade at school or still carry anger around with us years later because someone has done us wrong.

"The more clearly you understand yourself and your feelings, the more you become a lover of what is."

Baruch de Spinoza

This enables us to accept another part of ourselves. If we draw on Carl Gustav Jung's teachings at this point, which form the basis of analytical psychology, we can point to the need to get to know more and more sides of ourselves.