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Joy has always rather embarrassed philosophers: for their taste, there is too much noise and physicality in it. The exceptions are Spinoza, Nietzsche and Bergson. Let’s talk about three different approaches to this feeling, which is vital for our existence.
Looking up the word “joy” in the philosophical dictionary, you will not find much. And if you type it into a computer, the world wide web will most likely redirect you to the word “happiness.” Does this mean that there is no place for joy in philosophy? Most thinkers treat it with distrust: there is too much anxiety from it. For Plato, it means a loss of control over oneself and borders on madness. Stoic philosophers, who aspired to ataraxia – a state of peace and absence of passions, considered joy too noisy, too physiological. Their fellow Epicureans were looking for happiness, which for them consisted only in the absence of suffering: there is nothing special to rejoice about. In joy, the ancient Greek philosopher Leucippus seems to see the goal of life. But he speaks first of all about the special feeling of aesthetic exultation that we experience at the sight of everything good and beautiful. None other than the ancient philosophers were too indulgent in contemplation. Their gaze, fixed on lofty ideals, could not do justice to the dynamism of such a feeling as joy. But “joy” is the most important concept for Benedict Spinoza and Friedrich Nietzsche, who see it as a synonym for existence. And for Henri Bergson, who likens it to “a creative impulse.” All thinkers who are seriously interested in this feeling assert: a person becomes truly a person only in joy!
Joy makes us stronger
Benedict (Baruch) Spinoza (1632–1677, Netherlands)
Starting the Treatise on the Improvement of Reason, Spinoza is in search of ethics – a way to live and think that would correspond to human nature, which consists in the unity of soul and body, subject to emotions and desires. The Dutch philosopher does not accept feelings that enslave us (make us passive): fettering sadness, despair, anger, fear and superstition. The highest joy cannot lie in the realization of an obsessive desire, in the satisfaction of our illusory fantasies, but only in enlightened action, which is based on knowledge. The more we know and understand, the fuller our joy, and the better and stronger we become at the same time. For this thinker, who struggled with prejudices and delusions, whose writings were banned by censorship, the joy of knowledge is closely connected with the gradual overcoming of the habits and norms imposed by the generally accepted ideology. Spinoza’s joy is the joy of a man who yearns for freedom. This is a “positive passion” that makes us become stronger and more perfect through the satisfaction of our desires. It gives us the assurance that, even when chained, we will be free and powerful if we do not stop thinking.
About it
- Martin Buber, Hasidic Stories. The first teachers “Bridges of Culture / Gesharim, 2006.
- Vladimir Yankelevich “Irony. Forgiveness” Republic, 2004.
Read more:
- Fishing as training
She helps us endure the cruelty of fate
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900, Germany)
Much of Nietzsche’s writings can be seen as an ardent call for inspiration and joy. The great melancholic in poor health believed that these feelings did not come by themselves. Therefore, Nietzsche does not address the superman, but to any of us, to those who are familiar with despondency, apathy, frustration. He seeks to convince us not to succumb to pessimism, but at the same time he warns against easy ways: “Life is a source of joy, but wherever the crowd drinks, the springs are poisoned.” According to the German philosopher, joy is a struggle (like existence itself is an eternal tragic conflict between opposing forces), it always tends to excess and borders on intoxication. Then our “I” comes to its senses and again becomes a force asserting itself in the face of what must happen: “This is an event, this situation that I cannot change, I agree with them, I accept them.” Will—and desire—gaily confirms this determination. Come on, Nietzsche calls us, life is here and now!
She claims the victory of life
Henri Bergson (1859–1941, France)
The French thinker Henri Bergson is a true “philosopher of joy”: for him it is the best proof that life wins. How to distinguish it from pleasure? It is deeper, longer lasting, more “real”. It is always accompanied by a feeling of falling into time, a feeling of complete agreement with oneself: “We know a person not by what he knows, but by what he rejoices in.” Pleasure is pleasant for us, it makes us feel good, it is necessary because it encourages us to multiply (sexual pleasure) and stay here on earth, but it does not have that universal spiritual dimension that is revealed to us in joy. She is with us when we strive to raise the level of consciousness of humanity, when we work on ourselves, trying to become better internally, when we share with others the fruits of these efforts and pass them on to the next generations. She is with us when the spirit prevails over obstacles, slips away from the hardships and inertia of the material world. Bergson repeatedly sings of the excellence of the great mystics and moralists. But any person who puts forward a wonderful innovative idea, transforming people and the order of things, gets access to genuine joy, and through it, to the opportunity to “create” himself.
What joy does faith bring?
Philosophical ideas about joy are based not only on the spiritual, but also on the religious experience of different cultures. Think philosopher Grigory Tulchinsky and existential psychotherapist Svetlana Krivtsova.
“In the Eastern tradition, for all its general orientation towards asceticism, there is Chan (Zen) Buddhism, which finds in joy the path to enlightenment (satori), – says the philosopher and culturologist Grigory Tulchinsky. – The joys of life, festivity are characteristic and Jewish faith: This can be seen in the example of the celebration of Hanukkah, Purim, the weekly Sabbath. Everyone knows the joyful melodies rooted in this tradition.”
For all Christians faith is one of the most powerful and pure sources of joy. “Protestantism, for example, with all its moral rigor, makes it possible to show joy during church services, including in the form of collective chants, from which came the spiritual style that gave rise to the musical culture of jazz,” notes Grigory Tulchinsky. This strong and bright feeling is not alien and Orthodoxy. As Father Alexander Schmemann wrote in The Diaries (Russian Way, 2005), “joy is so absolutely important because it is the undoubted fruit of a sense of God’s presence. It is impossible to know that God exists and not rejoice… For some reason, joy is always under suspicion among “religious” people. First, foremost, the source of everything: “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord…”
“Joy is the readiness to touch the soul and come into resonance with something that I like, which is a value,” comments psychotherapist Svetlana Krivtsova. – There are so many reasons for joy around: a ray of sunshine and a pretty flower garden, a funny dog and a charming conversationalist. All this was created by God, and through this the believer experiences something more than the flow of internal heat in the body, he feels gifted. After all, everything good is a gift from God, he feels care for himself, he feels: “God loves me”, and this experience of unconditional love makes a person full of joy, happy.”