Emotions vs. Stoicism: Difference between revisions

The [[Trope Maker]] is the Hellenistic Greeks' philosophy of [[wikipedia:Stoicism|Stoicism]], although they did not encourage self-denial so much as but abolishing the source of desire entirely, something that is also the goal of Buddhism - the quintessential Stoic did not at all lack emotions, much to the opposite, but rather endeavored not to be driven by their emotions (feel sadness but not grief, feel pleasure but not become addicted to it, etc). It also loosely correlates with the Bible's teachings of controlling the "flesh", which usually involves controlling ones' emotions and urges.

 

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** Sith on the other hand, had this ([[Dark Is Not Evil|not at first glance evil]]) counterpart mantra that exalted emotions.

{{quote|"Peace is a lie,"

"The Force [[The Unfettered|shall set me free.]]" }}

** It is also somewhat ironic that the Jedi practise self-restraint in service to the ideal of a free republic that practically embodies disorganisation, whereas the Sith practise passion in pursuit of a highly ordered galaxy which they control.

** Wait, which side were the good guys again? The Empire is powered by faceless figures and cold machinery (appealing to logic), whereas the Rebel Alliance is made up of expressive, pretty humans and cute teddy bears (appealing to emotions).

"Passion, yet serenity;"

"Death, yet the Force." }}

*** [[Word of God|Word of Lucas]] says that the Jedi aren't against "love", or even sex. (They actively encourage the former, in fact.) They're merely against institutionalized marriage and courtship, which they see as a form of materialism and possession.

*** Sounds like Lucas trying to do a cover-up, given how much that statement conflicts with what the Jedi Council actually decide in the movies.

** This troper thinks that it's Harry has the one emotion that Voldemort does not: love. He has the capacity to care for others and ''this'' is what prevents him from going to the Dark Side. Love verus evil is a major theme. In fact, Harry's {{spoiler|sacrifice in the final book}} is the climax. However, Harry is not irrational in the least. He's emotional, he's rational, he's ''human'', even if he's a bit angsty at some points, but that's not a stretch considering how many people die due to Voldemort. Harry vs. Voldemort is not emotions vs. stoicism, but love vs. evil. Besides, Voldemort is prone to fits of rage and only appears calm. He's more like a volcano about to erupt. With ''hate''.

** Also worth noting: aside from Voldemort, the main driver of the plot is Albus Dumbledore, who rarely exhibits anything but logic (and who blames his few mistakes on getting too emotional). The other plot driver, of course, is Snape, whose one long-buried emotional attachment is solely responsible for his [[Heel Face Turn]]. So ... the general theme seems to be that love is good, but only if it's not Dumbledore's?

* This is the theme of ''[[Sense and Sensibility (novel)|Sense and Sensibility]]'', starting with the title. Elinor represents "sense," which then meant what it does now - having a good head on your shoulders and not letting your feelings carry you away. Marianne represents "sensibility," which meant more of a strength of feeling or something akin to [[Romanticism]]. Austen's sympathies are clearly more with the former; Marianne's strong sensibility is tested throughout the novel, and she is eventually forced to learn to be more like her sister.

* The Dunyain from R. Scott Bakker's [[Second Apocalypse]] books are major stoics, literally. They were heavily based on the ideas of Greek Stoicism and the concept of the Sage. This contrasts with the Cishaurim whose powers are derived from passion.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[Justified Trope|Vulcans have such strong emotions that they'd end up being brutal savages if they didn't control their emotions.]] Romulans, their ancestral cousins, don't suppress their emotions and are indeed [[Proud Warrior Race|very passionate and warlike]]. That said, they are highly sophisticated and clever, and quite a few of them are decent chaps. Perhaps ''not'' bottling up helps them control their emotions to some degree?

** The Vulcans were sophisticated and clever too - they clearly got as far as interstellar travel before destroying themselves. Some suspect that the proto-Romulans probably agreed with the followers of Surak that ''something'' had to be done about Vulcan emotion, but strongly disagreed over exactly ''what''. Regardless, they have clearly found some way to manage their emotions, since they are not nearly as warlike as the ancient Vulcans appeared to be. This does somewhat belie the oft-repeated Vulcan [[False Dichotomy|assertion that logic and emotion cannot be reconciled]], but then again, the Romulans are no longer entirely the same species - perhaps they engineered the more volatile emotions out of their population?

** In the ''Starfleet Battles'' spin-off universe, Romulan Culture is stated as having a principle of "Unifying Duty" to serve as an outlet for aggression and passion, where individuals set aside petty jealousies and personal ambition in service to the greater good of the species. While this has allowed the Romulans to avoid descending into barbaric self-destruction, it has also meant they use other species as an outlet for their aggression.

*** Vulcans have been demonstrated in an earlier episode to be culturally vegetarian. The fact that these Vulcans eat meat helps to demonstrates that they are unusual and do not subscribe to the same set of social tabboos as mainstream Vulcans.

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' has several examples, most of them inverting the usual trope:

** {{spoiler|Sam spends half of the 6th season soulless}}, which basically means that he's cold, logical, rational and highly efficient as a hunter without any nasty emotions to hamper him on the job. Oh, and he's also basically a [[Complete Monster]], {{spoiler|shooting innocent hostages, attempting to kill Bobby and letting his brother be turned into a vampire}}.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** The greatest irony is that if there is any hope for humanity at all, said Messiah will ultimately end up ''[[A God Am I|literally becoming God]]'' ([[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|Belief is literally power]]. And there are countless trillions worshipping the Emperor.) {{spoiler|More accurately, he will most certainly become the fifth Chaos god if allowed to die and will end up being warped to fit his peoples' perceptions of him rather than what he was when he was alive. Stressing secularism while demonstrating the vastest [[Psychic Powers]] in human history was rather contradictory anyway.}}

** The craftworld Eldar are extreme stoics. Their passion once created the chaos god Slaanesh and in the process nearly wiped out their race. Now, they follow the "path," the practice of complete self-denial and total dedication to the perfection of a single skill.

*** And if they dare to be too happy, the Chaos God Slaanesh (who destroyed [[The Federation|the original Eldar civilisation]]) rips their soul out instantly. Anyone else feel like practicing self-denial?

*** Slaanesh doesn't just rip out their souls, he [[Up to Eleven|''eats them''.]] If they feel too much emotion, their afterlife will be spent [[A Fate Worse Than Death|as part of a being which can turn people insane just by looking at it, and will be forced to witness all that being's numerous, numerous atrocities, while unable to inform their own people about the being's plans.]] ''[[Complete Monster|Forever.]]''

* In [[Magic: The Gathering]], this is part of the conflict between Blue, who gets cards like [http://magiccards.info/som/en/46.html Stoic Rebuttal] and [http://magiccards.info/cfx/en/23.html Conrolled Instincts], Red, who gets cards like [http://magiccards.info/6e/en/178.html Fit of Rage] and [http://magiccards.info/pr/en/82.html Avatar of Fury].

** Red's conflict with it's other enemy, [[Light'Em Up|White]], also plays with this, but with an interesting side effect. White [[The Fettered|is all about duty and order]]; at it's best, it's [[The Cape (trope)]], but at worst is [[Knight Templar]]. Red's nature as the colour of passion means that it considers duty and order to be opressive, while White sees Red as chaotic and destructive. This generates a conflict of '''Duty versus Empathy''', as White feels it has obligations to the greater good while Red cares about people that emotionally stimulate it (be a friend, a lover or that homeless orphan down the street).

* The main characters of ''[[Killzone]]'' stand on both sides of this, with Templar and Rico be emotional and Luger and Hakha be stoic.

* Inverted in ''[[Pokémon]] Platinum'', where the antagonist is a [[The Stoic|deadpan]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]].

** A personal pet peeve with ''Space Siege'' is that the 'best' ending can only be seen if you stay 100% human; if you get so much as a cybernetic eye (which costs 3% of your humanity), you cannot use some of the more powerful abilities on the skill tree and have to settle for the 'second-best' ending.

* ''[[Lusternia]]'' has this in the [[Forever War|conflict]] between Hallifax (a [[Crystal Spires and Togas]] [[Floating Continent]], populated by a whole ''race'' of [[The Stoic|stoics]] and with a strong communist motif) and Gaudiguch (a city of [[The Hedonist|hedonistic]] mystics, with [[Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge|forbidden lore]] of magic stretching back thousands of years). They also serve as an example of [[Magic Versus Science]].

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Emotion Tropes]]