David Andrew Stoler

Anyone with any familiarity with those suffering bipolar disorder can’t help but both cringe at the word “madness” and accept the mania of anger. What’s interesting about Pigliucci’s ideas (via Seneca) for dealing with it are their connection not simply to the Stoic philosophy but to Bhuddism: add breath and empathy, and you’re basically there. C.f. Thich Nhat Hanh, whose book “Anger” couldn’t be make more sense in this context.

Of course post-script it occurs to me that one of the most effective (and famous) descriptions of food of all time does indeed use the word delicious. But the reason it is so effective I think essentially underscores the point: The plums that are no longer in the icebox (an incredibly good word, icebox, by all accounts) were described using semi-objective terms in detail after it – as, you’ll remember, so sweet & so cold. The imagists of course believed you could use good, detailed description to actually transfer feeling – to cause empathy, to t...