Sara Protasi, a professor of philosophy and author of The Philosophy of Envy, dives into the often-ignored emotion of envy. She explains how envy differs from jealousy and discusses its four types, from the destructive to the potentially beneficial. Protasi elaborates on how envy can arise in competitive environments and its complex role in personal relationships. Interestingly, she highlights how embracing emulative envy can drive self-improvement, encouraging listeners to rethink their perspectives on this powerful emotion.
Envy focuses on perceived lack and inferiority, while jealousy is a protective emotion towards what one already has.
Envy can be categorized into four types: aggressive envy, inert envy, malicious envy, and emulative envy.
To cope with envy, individuals can adopt strategies like focusing on personal growth, finding similar goals, addressing negative feelings, and using envy as motivation for personal development.
Spiteful envy, focused on wanting what someone else has, leads to negative outcomes and gains nothing positive.
Understanding the complexity of envy helps individuals navigate their emotions and strive for personal growth and improvement.
Deep dives
Differentiating envy from jealousy
Envy is different from jealousy as it focuses on perceived lack and inferiority, while jealousy is a protective emotion towards what one already has. Envy is painful and arises when someone perceives another person to be superior in a domain of self-importance. Jealousy, on the other hand, is about protecting what one possesses. Both envy and jealousy can be felt simultaneously, but they are distinct emotions with different orientations.
The four types of envy
Envy can be categorized into four types based on the individual's leveling orientation: aggressive envy, inert envy, malicious envy, and emulative envy. Aggressive envy occurs when someone wants to level another person down due to resentment or dislike. Inert envy is characterized by a feeling of helplessness and a focus on the envied object. Malicious envy seeks to harm or spoil the envied person's advantages. Emulative envy is the positive type of envy, where the individual sees the envied person as a model to learn from and strives to level up in the same domain.
Dealing with different types of envy
To cope with envy, individuals can adopt various strategies based on the type of envy they experience. In the case of aggressive envy, it is important to recognize any hostile feelings and focus on one's own growth rather than bringing others down. Inert envy can be managed by finding similar goals or reshaping preferences in light of real-life constraints. Malicious envy requires introspection and addressing any negative feelings towards the envied person. Emulative envy can be harnessed by learning from the envied person's achievements and using them as motivation for personal development.
Types of Envy: Spiteful Envy
Spiteful envy is the worst kind of envy, where the focus is on someone else having something and the individual feels upset about not having it themselves. They may try to spoil or ruin the other person's enjoyment of the good, but in the end, they gain nothing positive from this emotion.
Types of Envy: Aggressive Envy
Aggressive envy occurs when someone wants what another person has and takes aggressive or deceitful actions to obtain it. This can involve stealing or sabotaging the other person in order to gain an advantage or acquire the desired good.
Types of Envy: Inert Envy
Inert envy is when someone feels envious but believes they have no control over the situation or the desired good. In this case, the individual may feel stuck and unable to change their circumstances, leading to feelings of frustration or disappointment.
Types of Envy: Emulative Envy
Emulative envy is a positive form of envy where someone is inspired by what another person has achieved or attained. Rather than feeling resentment or bitterness, they use this envy as motivation to improve themselves and strive towards similar goals.
Harnessing Emulative Envy
To harness emulative envy, it is important to acknowledge and accept the feeling rather than suppressing it. By honestly recognizing the areas in which one feels envious, individuals can use other people's achievements as models to follow and strive to better themselves. This change in perspective can help turn envy into a positive force for personal growth and improvement.
The Complexity of Envy
While some individuals may claim to never feel envy, it is unlikely that they truly never experience this emotion. Envy is a common human emotion that arises from social comparisons and the pursuit of excellence. It can be a natural response to compare oneself to others and evaluate one's own personal progress. However, individuals can strive to focus on emulative envy as a more productive and positive way to use this emotion.
Conclusion
Envy comes in different forms, ranging from spiteful and aggressive envy, which have negative consequences, to inert and emulative envy, which can be more constructive. Acknowledging envy and harnessing it in a positive way can lead to personal growth and improvement. Understanding the complexity of envy can help individuals navigate their emotions and strive for a flourishing life.
Of all the emotions, there's one that people are arguably the most reluctant to talk about and admit to feeling.
Envy.
Not only is there very little social discussion of envy, but there's also been very little academic scholarship on the topic. As a result, few people really understand this emotion — what it is, why they feel it, and what it means in their life.
Today we'll reveal the fascinating dimensions of the green-eyed monster with one of the few people who has given a lot of thought and study to this oft-neglected but important subject: Sara Protasi, a professor of philosophy and the author of The Philosophy of Envy. Today on the show, Sara defines envy and explains how it's different from jealousy and why people are more comfortable admitting to feeling jealous than envious. Sara then unpacks what she thinks are the four types of envy, and we work our way from the worst type to a kind that is actually redeemable and potentially beneficial. We end our conversation with how envy, something that's often considered the worst kind of vice, can, in fact, be used to achieve more excellence in your life.
