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Emotions as Passions

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Question: In what sense, if any, is an emotion a passion? We have a natural tendency to view emotions as being in opposition to rationality. If we describe someone as behaving emotionally, we usually mean that they are acting irrationally. We use terms such as being 'overcome by emotion', where a belief or event leaves us feeling so passionately about it that we can feel as though we are not in control of our feelings or actions. An emotion viewed in this way, can be described as a passion, suggesting that it is an uncontrollable and involuntary occurrence. Aristotle believed that emotions can be controlled to a certain extent. To him, passion meant passive. The commonsensical view of emotions is to view them as involuntary occurrences and as such they are passive, they are something which happen to us, not something we do. Reason, or thinking on the other hand is...

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