Don’t laugh at it, don’t lament it, or blame it. When you clearly understand the cause of your emotions, you are finally liberated from being a slave to your hurt to becoming the master of your life.
Five complete deep essays
Spinoza is one of the figures who lived the most noble and impoverished life in the history of philosophy. Raised in a Jewish community, he received the harshest excommunication (cherem) at the age of 24 for questioning the dogmatism of the church. He was completely abandoned by his family, friends, and compatriots, and even suffered the threat of assassination by being stabbed by a fanatic.
However, he refused a university professorship or wealthy sponsorship throughout his life, and made a living by cutting glasses and microscope lenses in the attic of a boarding house. Until his death at the age of 44 from lung disease while inhaling glass dust, he never once wrote a letter of hatred or anger towards the world that excommunicated him.
He left behind the immortal work 『Ethica』, which identifies the human mind and emotions with transparent mathematical laws, as if observing the refraction of light through a cold lens.
The core engine of Spinoza's philosophy is the Latin word 'Conatus'. Conatus is ‘the fundamental life force through which all existing things constantly strive to preserve and expand their own existence.’
Just as a stone continues to fly in the direction in which it was thrown, and weeds grow through the asphalt toward the sunlight, humans also try to preserve their capacity for life and demonstrate greater power.
� Spinoza's definition of joy and sadness is extremely scientific.
• Joy (Laetitia): It is the feeling I feel when my capacity for activity (conatus) ‘leaps forward’ from a smaller state to a greater state.
• Tristitia: It is the pain felt when one's capacity for action is suppressed or hindered and one is 'shrinked to a smaller state.'
In the end, the real reason we are sad is because the life energy within us is suffocated by the other person's harsh words or failures.
The title of Part 4 of 『Ethica』 is ‘On the Slavery of Man, or the Power of Passion’. Slavery literally means slavery.
Why can't we be free? This is because the cause of the emotions I feel is not within me, but is tied to ‘someone outside’. When my boss praises me, I feel happy and feel like I'm flying to heaven, but when my boss frowns, I wander through hell all day. This is ‘Passio’. I am being dragged around with the cockpit of my emotions in someone else's hands.
In particular, 'jealousy (Invidia)' and 'hatred (Odium)' are the most destructive passive passions that eat away at conatus. The feeling of stomachache when I see others doing well comes from the illusion that my own ability to exist has become shabby. The more I hate the other person, the more my conatus is bound and suffocated by the other person's shadow.
So how can we escape emotional slavery? Spinoza's proposal shines brightly in Part 5, Theorem 3 of 『Ethica』.
'An emotion that is a passion ceases to be a passion the moment we form a clear idea about it.'
The reason I go on a rampage when someone hurts me is because I don't see the entire cause-and-effect relationship of the incident and see it through a distorted lens of 'that horrible guy intentionally harassed me.' But take a step back and clear the lens of your thoughts.
'That person also spit out such aggressive words because of his sense of entitlement. 'His family environment and the stress he received today caused him to act like that.'
The moment you clearly understand that everything in nature is intertwined in an inevitable chain of cause and effect, the burning flames of hatred are replaced by calm compassion and intelligent peace. Those who understand will not be hurt.
Spinoza left an eternal aphorism to mankind in the preface to 『Politics』.
'I did not ridicule (non ridere), deplore (non lugere), or detest (neque detestari) human behavior, but tried only to understand (sed intelligere).'
Today, when you feel heartbroken because of someone's rudeness or your own shabby appearance, remember Spinoza's words. Don't lament and blame yourself. Don't waste your energy cursing your opponent and seeking revenge.
Just observe the cause of your emotions clearly and transparently. Understand why your conatus has shrunk, and give yourself real joy (reading, taking a walk, creating something warm, exercising) that will increase your ability to exist. When you love your own capabilities, nothing in the world can shake your peace.