The Gray Area with Sean Illing takes a philosophy-minded look at culture, technology, politics, and the world of ideas. Each week, we invite a guest to explore a question or topic that matters. From the the state of democracy, to the struggle with depression and anxiety, to the nature of identity in the digital age, each episode looks for nuance and honesty in the most important conversations of our time. New episodes drop every Monday.
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Seeing ourselves through darkness
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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