Night Vision - by Mariana Alessandri

About the Book

"The state of the world makes it difficult to look on the bright side. If there is a bright side perhaps it is that we have come to see the virtues of previously taboo emotions such as anger, sadness, anguish, anxiety, and grief. According to philosopher Mariana Alessandri, we're beginning to see that they are not evils to be avoided but valuable and sometimes even productive states. Many of us are coming to see that our darker feelings have something to teach us about ourselves, others, and what it is to be human. However, many of us don't know how to feel about what we're beginning to let ourselves feel. She asks: Is it (still) wrong for women to be angry? Is anxiety something we talk about openly now? Can we cry without apologizing yet? Our emotional landscape has been shifting, but no one's guiding us. As Alessandri says, "we need someone to help us grope around in the dark until our eyes adjust." In this book, Alessandri aims to explore these emotions and use philosophy to remove the stigma that still attaches to dark feelings. When we embrace our difficult feelings, she argues, we realize that hidden within them can be found wit and humor, closeness and warmth, connection and purpose, mission and motivation, empathy and self-knowledge, accuracy and communion. Drawing on philosophers and thinkers from Aristotle to Kierkegaard and Miguel de Unamuno to C.S. Lewis as well as contemporary philosophers such as Gloria Anzaldâua, Maria Lugones and bell hooks (as well as Fred "Mister" Rogers; more below!), Alessandri aims show how these thinkers helped to restore dignity to these feelings. Like them her aim is not to correct us but to help us feel, understand, and honor our sometimes painful emotions"--

Book Synopsis

A philosopher's personal meditation on how painful emotions can reveal truths about what it means to be truly human

Under the light of ancient Western philosophies, our darker moods like grief, anguish, and depression can seem irrational. When viewed through the lens of modern psychology, they can even look like mental disorders. The self-help industry, determined to sell us the promise of a brighter future, can sometimes leave us feeling ashamed that we are not more grateful, happy, or optimistic. Night Vision invites us to consider a different approach to life, one in which we stop feeling bad about feeling bad.

In this powerful and disarmingly intimate book, Existentialist philosopher Mariana Alessandri draws on the stories of a diverse group of nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophers and writers to help us see that our suffering is a sign not that we are broken but that we are tender, perceptive, and intelligent. Thinkers such as Audre Lorde, María Lugones, Miguel de Unamuno, C. S. Lewis, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Søren Kierkegaard sat in their anger, sadness, and anxiety until their eyes adjusted to the dark. Alessandri explains how readers can cultivate "night vision" and discover new sides to their painful moods, such as wit and humor, closeness and warmth, and connection and clarity.

Night Vision shows how, when we learn to embrace the dark, we begin to see these moods--and ourselves--as honorable, dignified, and unmistakably human.

Review Quotes

"Mariana Alessandri explores our culture's obsession with 'toxic positivity' and our fear of darker emotions like grief, anxiety and depression. . . . Instead of encouraging our loved ones to 'stay positive, ' maybe it's worth sitting with someone in their darkness."---Kira Condee-Padunova, NPR

"Alessandri offers a very different understanding of clinical mood disorders, one that at first seems like bad news but ultimately proves comforting, even uplifting. . . . Alessandri makes her argument through a series of biographical sketches. . . . [she] relates these stories with insight and sensitivity. In doing so she makes a persuasive case against the superficiality of 'don't worry, be happy' peppiness. . . . Alessandri certainly does us a service in calling attention to the value of dark moods. We do need better night vision."---Andrew Stark, Wall Street Journal

"In Night Vision, Alessandri moves the needle from normalizing mental health issues to revering them. If her points resonate, you may find yourself feeling less shame and blame when 'stay positive' just isn't working."-- "TheSkimm"

"This is the book to read this season."-- "Choice"

"A compelling, philosophically sound case for finding 'dignity' and strength in the discomforting emotions that are a natural part of the human condition. . . . Through insightful observations of temperaments at the dark end of the emotional spectrum, Night Vision reminds readers that our humanity is only truly visible in the dark and that the darkness is where we emotionally grow."---Shahina Piyarali, Shelf Awareness

"Vigorous, deeply personal, and provocative."---Glenn C. Altschuler, Psychology Today

About the Author

Mariana Alessandri is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the nation's first bilingual university. In addition, she and her partner are the founders of RGV PUEDE, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote dual language education in South Texas public schools. They live on the border with their two tesoros.