The Interplay of Stoicism and Positive Thinking in American Identity

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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