The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies published the book Emotional Orientations and Political Culture, written by Dr. Raja Bahloul, Professor of Philosophy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
The book seeks to fill a gap and correct an error. The void is represented by the scarcity of Arab philosophical writings that discuss the relationship between emotions, emotional orientations, and emotional states on the one hand, and thought and political practice on the other hand.The mistake, or at least what the researcher considers a mistake, is represented by the common belief that politics is the domain of cold rationality and practical means leading to achieving goals, and that there is no place for emotional considerations in political thought or political practice if this practice is to be crowned with success.The researcher defends the thesis that the position of suspicion and caution regarding emotions involves a great deal of superficiality and short-sightedness, for several reasons: Among them is that emotions form part of our rationality as human beings, even if this is not obvious at first glance, and that a person who is unable to experience emotions is not considered a human being in the usual sense of the word.Moral and political values cannot be understood in isolation from emotions; Because values by nature have an emotional dimension as much as they are cognitive/rational. Emotions, in conjunction with beliefs, play a fundamental role in forming motivations for political and other action. Therefore, the absence of emotional life makes a person incapable of action, and this is no different from inanimate objects that are not moved by an internal motive.The researcher explains that emotions contribute to justifying and rationalizing actions, not only from the perspective of the actor, but also from the perspective of external observers.
