On the Origin and Nature of the Emotions
Propositions 37, 38, 43 &44
37
Desire arising through
pain or
pleasure,
hatred or
love, is greater in proportion as the
emotion is greater.
Pain diminishes or constrains man's
power of activity, in other words, diminishes or constrains the effort, wherewith he endeavours to persist in his own being; therefore it is contrary to the said endeavour: thus all the endeavours of a man affected by
pain are directed to removing that
pain. But (by the definition of
pain), in proportion as the
pain is greater, so also is it necessarily opposed to a greater part of man's
power of activity; therefore the greater the
pain, the greater the
power of activity employed to remove it; that is, the greater will be the
desire or appetite in endeavouring to remove it.
Again, since
pleasure increases or aids a man's
power of activity, it may easily be shown in like manner, that a man affected by
pleasure has no
desire further than to preserve it, and his
desire will be in proportion to the magnitude of the
pleasure.
Lastly, since
hatred and
love are themselves
emotions of
pain and
pleasure, it follows in like manner that the endeavour, appetite, or
desire, which arises through
hatred or
love, will be greater in proportion to the
hatred or
love. Q.E.D.
38
If a man has begun to
hate an object of his
love, so that love is thoroughly destroyed, he will, causes being equal, regard it with more
hatred than if he had never
loved it, and his hatred will be in proportion to the strength of his former
love.
If a man begins to
hate that which he had
loved, more of his appetites are put under restraint than if he had never loved it. For
love is a
pleasure which a man endeavours as far as he can to render permanent; he does so by regarding the object of his love as present, and by affecting it as far as he can pleasurably; this endeavour is greater in proportion as the
love is greater, and so also is the endeavour to bring about that the beloved should return his affection. Now these endeavours are constrained by
hatred towards the object of
love; wherefore the lover will for this cause also be affected with
pain, the more so in proportion as his
love has been greater; that is, in addition to the
pain caused by
hatred, there is a
pain caused by the fact that he has
loved the object; wherefore the lover will regard the beloved with greater
pain, or in other words, will
hate it more than if he had never
loved it, and with the more intensity in proportion as his former
love was greater. Q.E.D.

43
Hatred is increased by being reciprocated, and can on the other hand be destroyed by
love.
He who conceives, that an object of his
hate hates him in return, will thereupon feel a new
hatred, while the former hatred (by hypothesis) still remains (
E3P40). But if, on the other hand, he conceives that the object of
hate loves him, he will to this extent (
E3P30) regard himself with
pleasure, and (
E3P29) will endeavour to please the cause of his
emotion. In other words, he will endeavour not to
hate him (
E3P41), and not to affect him
painfully; this endeavour (
E3P37) will be greater or less in proportion to the
emotion from which it arises. Therefore, if it be greater than that which arises from
hatred, and through which the man endeavours to affect
painfully the thing which he
hates [by
E3P26], it will get the better of it and banish the
hatred from his mind. Q.E.D.
44
Hatred which is completely vanquished by
love passes into love: and
love is thereupon greater than if hatred had not preceded it.
The proof proceeds in the same way as
E3P38: for he who begins to
love a thing, which he was wont to
hate or regard with
pain, from the very fact of loving feels
pleasure. To this
pleasure involved in
love [see its definition in
E3P13CN] is added the
pleasure arising from aid given to the endeavour to remove the
pain involved in
hatred (
E3P37), accompanied by the idea of the former object of hatred as cause.
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