Seeing ourselves through darkness
A philosopher's new book on dark moods aims to help us escape the damage of our culture's most pervasive metaphor
The Gray Area with Sean Illing · Vox
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Show Notes
When we find ourselves in a dark place, what if we didn't "lighten things up"? Sean Illing talks with philosopher Mariana Alessandri, whose new book Night Vision offers a new way of understanding our dark moods and experiences like depression, pain, and grief. Alessandri describes the deep influence of what she calls the "light metaphor" — the belief that light is good and darkness is bad — and the destructive emotional cycles it has produced. They discuss the influence of Stoic philosophy, Aristotelian ethics, and contemporary self-help — and explore what new paradigms for emotional intelligence might entail.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Mariana Alessandri (@mariana.alessandri), professor of philosophy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; author
References:
- Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moods by Mariana Alessandri (Princeton; 2023)
- Plato's "allegory of the cave" from the Republic, VI (514a–520a)
- The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (1952)
- The Encheiridion (or "Handbook") of Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 125 AD)
- The Dialogues and letters of Seneca (c. 4 BC – 65 AD)
- The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD)
- The Tusculan Disputations of Cicero (106 – 43 BC)
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
- It's OK That You're Not OK by Megan Devine (Sounds True; 2017)
- Our Lord Don Quixote by Miguel de Unamuno (1914; tr. 1968)
- Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa (Aunt Lute; 1987)
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This episode was made by:
- Producer: Erikk Geannikis
- Engineer: Patrick Boyd
- Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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