Within Western thought, cognition and emotion have traditionally been conceived as adversaries. Thomas Dixon debunks this reason/feeling dichotomy and its historical connection with patriarchal ideas.
“Your emotions are valid”. So runs a popular slogan, often seen in mental-health memes and social media posts. I am never entirely sure what “valid” means in this context, but the word usually implies that something is reasonable, cogent, based in reality, or ethically valuable. Does that really apply to my emotions? All of them? And yours too? And the hateful emotions of racists, and misogynists? And the irrational terrors of painfully deluded conspiracy theorists? Surely not.
Of course, most people’s views about human emotions are more nuanced than just saying they are all “valid”. And the intention behind the slogan – helping people to accept their feelings rather than demonising or pathologising them – is a wholesome one. Nonetheless, in…
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