Polityka, rozum i emocje .......... 65

POLITICS, REASON AND EMOTIONS

The subject of the article is the role of rational and emotional factors influencing decisions made in politics. Explaining political phenomena in terms of rationality is a tradition that originated in the Age of Enlightenment and is continued in contemporary political philosophy. These studies, however, do not take into account the values held by individuals and do not allow to predict the results of collective decisions. Currently, the subject of research in many fields of science has become both individual and collective emotions and their effects on the lives of individuals and social groups. This approach is expressed in the works of M. Nussbaum, who focuses on the manifestations of negative collective emotions, such as anger or fear. She postulates transforming them into constructive activities that generate a kind of brotherhood and a sense of common purpose, which is supported by humanistic education. Nussbaum’s analyses found their confirmation in Poland of the 1980s, when the emotions of collective fear appeared on a mass scale and were the result of repressions against the opposition by the current authorities. An effective way to control these emotions was to transform them into an attitude of dissent, into constructive actions leading to overthrowing communism and the introduction of democracy. Negative collective emotions lead to unfavourable effects for individuals and societies. Only when they are subjected to a specific education, they can translate into collective choices which result in common good.