Page 217 - Contribution To Phenomenology

210 DON MARIETTA

another excess. As a feminist I say my curse upon both houses, and I am
not taking a maverick position in doing this. For me one reason for
seeking to understand the role of emotion instead of rejecting it out of
hand or considering it an incubus to be overcome is the phenomenologi-
cal insight that thinking, feeUng, and intention to act are intertwined in
most activities. The idea of learning through the emotions is not absurd,
even though we have not mastered the doing of it very completely.
Probably we can all recall experiences in which we did not realize the
full value of something until we realized the emotions which it aroused
in us. In anger or in tears we learned something about what we valued
which we had not realized in calm intellectualizing.
To reject critical thinking or to reject feeling would be to reject part
of what we are. Historically, we philosophers have favored intellect. In
reaction to that some of us might say things about emotion which sound
extreme when interpretted literally. It will be a good practice, I think, for
us to avoid recoiling in horror at what appear to be extreme statements
until we find out whether the person means them to be taken in the
extreme sense. If we do not practice this precaution, we may fail to hear
something very useful and valuable.
I believe that a cooperative endeavor, taking advantage of the intuitive
and adventuresome work of feminists and the technical skill and
exactitude of phenomenologists, will reward the overcoming of any initial
trepidation of either side in relating to scholars whose styles are different.
Both sides will benefit from overcoming any annoyance or frustration
with the style of the other. These two approaches to philosophy are too
important and have too much to give the other for us to avoid an
encounter which might go a long way toward improving the way we
practice philosophy. This cooperation might also contribute heavily to
our efforts to save human life, all life, on the planet.