Sweet Melancholia: The Melancholic “I”— Between Inspiration Source and Ailment

• Authors: Kuczyńska Alicja
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper examines the phenomenon of melancholia, taking into account views on it by Emil Cioran, Joseph Campbell, Jerzy Kosiński, Georg Simmel and Maurice Merleau- Ponty. Regardless of its commonly known clinical variant—which is not the subject of the presented reflections—melancholia has no clear philosophical definition, because its status usually resembles a clinging plant affixed to and “fed” by more concise thought constructs. It is demonstrated that the self-disclosure imperative is an essential aspect of melancholia and that a typical and frequent symptom of melancholia is rejection of others and immersion in indifference, desperation, silent apathy and loneliness.

Keywords

EN

melancholia; desperation; apathy; loneliness; Emil Cioran; Joseph Campbell; Jerzy Kosiński; Georg Simmel; Maurice Merleau-Ponty

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk; Fundacja Filozofia Na Rzecz Dialogu
• Journal: Dialogue and Universalism
• Year: 2018
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 9-22

Contributors

author

Kuczyńska Alicja

• professor emeritus, University of Warsaw, Poland