Name: A brief history of melancholy
Uploaded: 2019-04-01T18:35:27Z
Duration: 5 min 14 s
Description: If you are a living, breathing human being, chances are you have felt sad at least a few times in your life. But what exactly is melancholy, and what (if anything) should we do about it? Courtney Stephens details our still-evolving understanding of sadness -- and even makes a case for its usefulness. [Directed by Sharon Colman Graham, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Peter Gosling].

If you are a living, breathing human being, chances are you have felt sad at least a few times in your life. But what exactly is melancholy, and what (if anything) should we do about it? Courtney Stephens details our still-evolving understanding of sadness -- and even makes a case for its usefulness. [Directed by Sharon Colman Graham, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Peter Gosling].

Courtney Stephens: A brief history of melancholy

A brief history of melancholy

Ancient Greeks considered melancholy as an imbalance of bodily humors, a concept resonating with today's views on depression.

Sadness, seen through centuries as both a curse and a muse, is argued to be essential for wisdom and understanding profound emotions.

The concept of 'paradise engineering' proposes a world devoid of suffering, challenging the intrinsic value of sadness in human experience.