engleski

Philosophy of Love in a Time of Hatred: Spinoza on the Conversion of the Emotions

Despite advances in advocacy for human rights and despite our and despite initiatives to promote solidarity, community, friendship, compassion, we continue to be confronted with manifold and expressions of hatred, resulting in ongoing conflict and division: bullying in school and on social media ; harassment at the workplace, violence and xenophobia toward refugees and migrants ; discrimination and violence towards on the basis of race, ethnicity, material status, sexual orientation, religious, ideological or political conviction. War, persecution, slavery, exploitation, human trafficking, kidnapping, rape, torture, murder continue to exist on a widespread scale. While hatred, disrespect, and violence by humans against humans and other living beings are not new in our world, and conflict among individuals, communities, peoples, nations has always existed, population growth and increased competition for material and natural resources have made divisiveness and conflict more acute than ever, and the need for paths to ongoing peaceful conflict resolution and an ongoing conversion of the human mind ever more pressing. Recognizing the causes of hatred and division is a condition for overcoming them. Baruch Spinoza stands out in the history of philosophy for his distinct commitment to a philosophy of love and human freedom, as well as for his philosophical analysis of the causes and origins of hatred and other destructive emotions and behaviour. Spinoza’s insights into the path to inner conversion of the human mind from egoism, hatred and division to love, mutual understanding, and universal community can help us to find a path to universal human freedom and happiness today. For Spinoza, ethical principles must be grounded in an understanding of human nature. Understanding of the preconscious motivation of our intellectual and moral aims, and reflection on the natural causes of our intentional behaviour, are the key to a more effective grounding of universal moral principles, to the overcoming of self-destructive egoism, and to a practical and pragmatic approach to attainment of true freedom and happiness, both as individuals and in society as a whole. In the thought of Spinoza, knowledge and love are inextricably conjoined. Knowledge is never separate from desire and emotion ; rather, the ascent of knowledge to insight into the true causes of things is tied to an ‘ascent of love’ whereby desire is transformed, leading us beyond our merely natural striving for survival and satisfaction of our immediate needs to a “greater love” which entails a desire that others may enjoy the same good and happiness as we desire for ourselves. In this manner, the search for the causes of emotions like hatred, and for adequate understanding of our present condition, makes possible the formation of a mind attuned to our proper human destiny.

Spinoza, emotions, passion, action, love, hate, cause, effect, knowledge, adequate, necessity, freedom, reason, conversion, transformation

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