Kei Yamamoto 'Theory of Jealousy: Dissecting the Passions Swirling in a Democratic Society' / Kiyoshi Miki 'Notebook on Life'

☆mediopos3384 2024.2.22

As the subtitle of Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' suggests,
'Dissecting the Passions Swirling in a Democratic Society',
it is not just about the personal aspects
that are usually discussed, but also examines the social aspects as well.

To varying degrees,
it is difficult to be completely free from jealousy.
This is because jealousy is born from comparison with others.

When a person is born, they form their personality
by going through a process of recognizing others called the mirror stage.

As can be understood from this,
comparison with others is unavoidable
in the concept of 'me being me'.

'It is only by comparing ourselves with others that we can
form our own identity and
confirm our own standing in society.'

Jealousy is born when
you compare yourself to others
and a sense of your own inferiority is involved;
you do not feel jealous of others
with whom you cannot compare or for whom comparison is meaningless.

'For comparison to be established,
a certain degree of similarity and proximity is essential.'
It is rare to feel jealous of those who are not at all similar
or who are positioned far away.

There is 'upward comparison' and 'downward comparison' in jealousy,
but as in cases like 'when someone else easily obtains what you worked hard to get,'
you can also feel jealous of those who are inferior to you (downward),
making it a difficult emotion to handle.

Moreover, it is often a 'dissatisfaction or sense of lack arising from comparing oneself with others,'
rather than the absolute amount of satisfaction one feels.
The emotion of jealousy known as 'relative deprivation' also tends to arise.

Emotions similar to jealousy include
jealousy (in the sense of possessiveness), resentment,
and schadenfreude, but even if they overlap,
they are slightly different, so I would like to clarify them.

In the case of jealousy (possessiveness), 'one thinks a rival is trying to take what is theirs,'
whereas in the case of a jealous person, they think
the rival has what they themselves want.
While possessiveness is defensive,
jealousy is rather aggressive.

Resentment is not so much jealousy itself, but rather
the emotion of jealousy acts as fuel that causes resentment.

Also, in schadenfreude (harm + joy),
'when you witness the object of your envy at the depths of misfortune,'
'envy is reborn as schadenfreude.'
You end up rejoicing in the misfortune of the person who is the object of your jealousy.

Such an emotion of jealousy
is born, as mentioned at the beginning, from comparison with others,
and when there is some kind of inferiority complex involved,

'Being thought of by others as being jealous'
is morally embarrassing, so you don't want it to be known,
and 'admitting to yourself that you are jealous'
hurts your self-esteem, so you try to shift your inferiority complex onto external responsibilities;
it is a troublesome emotion in one way or another.

However, regarding such jealousy,
if one were to ask if that jealousy is entirely negative and meaningless,
it cannot be said that it is.

First, in terms of personal aspects,
the 'emotion' of 'jealousy'
'tells us "who I am"'.

'Who am I jealous of and for what?'
'Who am I comparing myself to?' By asking these questions,
'what kind of person I am'
'can sometimes reveal another self that even I was not aware of'.

Also, regarding social aspects,
especially in relation to democracy,

If 'comparison' were to be forbidden in order to achieve 'equality,' which is a pillar of values in democracy,
that 'equality' would become a path toward 'uniformity,'
so to avoid that (even if it is a necessary evil),
'jealousy' must function to some extent.

If 'the point where equality and difference,' which are important values for democracy, 'intersect is the home of jealousy, then democratic society must accept the existence of this emotion.'

In that sense, jealousy is
'like a twin born from the same soil as democracy'
and is 'an inevitable passion for democracy.'

Even so,
'coming to terms with jealousy' is essential.

The best thing to do is to stop 'comparing,' but
Mr. Yamamoto proposes at the end of this book that 'if you cannot stop comparing,
you should pursue comparison to the very end.'
However, for those who use 'jealousy' as fuel for living,
this would likely be difficult as it might just add fuel to the fire.

Personally, since I was small,
partly because it is a hassle,
I have had a weak sense of competing with others,
and because I have lived without thinking much in terms of comparison,
I am relatively free from emotions like jealousy,
but because of that, there are often times when I cannot well understand the emotions of jealousy that I can only perceive as excessive in others.

When you have worked in the world for a long time in your own way,
there are times when you are forced to be swayed by such 'competition' and 'jealousy' around you,
and you might even get fed up with it...

Now, in Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy',
there is a mention of 'jealousy' contained in Kiyoshi Miki's 'Notes on Life',
and when I reread it for the first time in a while, it indeed offers wonderful insights.

I am quoting a little bit from it.

'Jealousy is always busy.'
'The more individualistic a person is, the less jealous they are,'
are points that I can agree with particularly deeply.

If you have time to 'compare,' 'compete,' or 'be jealous,'
it is better to devote your time to what you want to do.
I can only think of the time spent on those things as a waste.

Doing what you want to do,
in other words,
means not worrying about other people,
and it also means being 'individualistic' (there is no need to call it that,
it probably just means not trying to be anything other than yourself).
Never mind feelings of inferiority,
whether everyone is the same or different, I do not care.

■ Kei Yamamoto 'Theory of Jealousy: Dissecting the Passions Swirling in Democratic Society'
(Kobunsha Shinsho 1297, Kobunsha, February 2024)
■ Kiyoshi Miki 'Notes on Life' (Shincho Bunko)
(December 1974, 50th printing (Revised edition of 35th printing, 1967))

* (From Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' - 'Prologue')

'There is no shortage of topics regarding jealousy in literature and film; in fact, feelings of jealousy have often been a major catalyst for driving stories. All of these numerous records are interesting. If there is such a thing as 'humanity' that is different from both gods and animals, it must lie in this irrationality. In that sense, what this book aims for is also a form of 'anthropology.'

At the same time, this book also has a more academic motive. The emotion of jealousy is usually handled in fields like social psychology. In such research, it is clarified through various experiments what kind of objects people are likely to feel jealous of under what conditions, and when jealousy intensifies (or weakens).'

'I do not want this book to be a common sermon that simply admonishes jealousy, as seen in many self-help books. Instead, I want to emphasize that the emotion of jealousy is not merely personal, but deeply involved in our politics and social life. This is not about the conspiracies in Nagatacho or the jealousy of old politicians who use political maneuvering. Rather, political concepts themselves, such as justice, equality, and even democracy, are deeply related to the emotion of jealousy. If so, is it not impossible to understand political concepts and problems without considering jealousy? I hope to show that, assuming jealousy is tenacious, it is an inevitable byproduct of our democratic society.'

* (From Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' - 'Chapter 1: What is Jealousy')

・Jealousy and Longing
'Both (jealousy and longing) are no different in that what others possess becomes the cause of desire. However, in the case of longing, we feel a sense of admiration for someone who has talents or looks that we do not have, and we strive to obtain them ourselves. In contrast, what is characteristic of jealousy is that we suffer from the situation where we do not have what others have, and we desperately wish for others to lose it. Rather than raising ourselves to a higher level, we find satisfaction by pulling others down; this is surely the reason why jealousy is considered evil.'

'When does jealousy arise? This is relatively clear. Yes, feelings of jealousy rear their head when we compare ourselves to others. In other words, the emotion of jealousy arises between those who can be compared. Conversely, it also means that we do not feel jealous of those who cannot be compared.'

It is human nature to compare oneself with the circumstances of one's neighbors, even while knowing one shouldn't. It is only by comparing ourselves with others that we can form our own identities and confirm our standing in society. In that sense, there is nothing inherently good or bad about the act of comparison itself.

・Upward Jealousy and Downward Jealousy
In general, social comparison can be divided into 'upward comparison,' where we compare ourselves with others who are superior in terms of physical ability, intelligence, wealth, or the richness of their private lives, and 'downward comparison,' which refers to comparing ourselves with those who are inferior to us. We are sad creatures who constantly measure our own standing while looking up and down.
Upward jealousy is, in a sense, easy to understand. Seeing people in positions superior to our own deeply disturbs our hearts.
More interesting is the existence of 'downward jealousy.' (...) We can feel jealous of people who are below us or in inferior positions.
(...)
We can also feel jealous when someone else easily obtains something that we worked hard to acquire. When we see someone effortlessly achieve something we believe we accomplished only after blood-sweating effort, or when someone luckily gets the same thing for a low price after we paid a high one, jealousy arises toward that person's talent or good fortune.

・Relative Deprivation
In the fields of sociology and social psychology, the dissatisfaction or sense of lack that arises from comparing oneself with others, rather than the absolute amount of satisfaction one feels, is called 'relative deprivation'.

・Envy and Jealousy
It is difficult to clearly distinguish between envy and jealousy, and the two are quite intermingled.
Actually, no matter how similar envy and jealousy may seem, there is a decisive difference between them. That is, while jealousy relates to 'loss,' envy relates primarily to 'lack.' (...) In other words, while a person feeling jealousy thinks a rival is trying to take what is theirs, in the case of the envious person, they think the rival possesses what they themselves desire. (...) To put it another way, if jealousy is defensive, envy is rather aggressive.

・Ressentiment
Jealousy is one fuel that triggers ressentiment, and to that extent, it can be distinguished for the time being from ressentiment itself, which denies noble values.

・Schadenfreude
This word (Schadenfreude) is a German term combining 'Schaden,' meaning 'harm,' and 'Freude,' meaning 'joy.' (...) It is akin to 'the misfortune of others is the taste of honey' or 'the neighbor's poverty is delicious.'
Schadenfreude is a highly shameful emotion in that it derives pleasure from the misfortune of others. As can be easily imagined, this is also closely intertwined with feelings of jealousy. In other words, when the object of one's envy is seen in the depths of misfortune, the envy is reincarnated as Schadenfreude.

・The Fear of Being Thought Jealous by Others
In general, we extremely dislike showing our feelings of jealousy. We know that jealousy is morally indefensible and shameful. (...) Being suspected of jealousy toward someone would mean putting us in a very difficult position.

・The Fear of Admitting to Oneself That One Is Jealous
Realizing one's own jealousy carries a different kind of cruelty. That is, admitting to jealousy toward someone is simultaneously admitting to an inferiority complex toward that person. This greatly wounds one's self-esteem and is quite difficult to accept.
Therefore, for us to accept our own jealousy, cultural devices that attribute that inferiority not to our own responsibility, but to some other reason—for example, luck or fate that we cannot control—become very important. For instance, if we can think of failure or misfortune as the will of God, we might be able to give up without wounding our self-esteem by telling ourselves it was not due to our own lack of ability.

* (From Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' — 'Chapter 3: On Ostentation, or Boasting')

In general, there is nothing more unpleasant than someone else's boasting. There are probably one or two people around you who never stop bragging about their own successes and achievements. If you look at social media, a kind of competition of ostentation is constantly unfolding there. (...)
In the first place, why do people want to boast? Various explanations have likely been given, such as it being a manifestation of a desire for approval or a lack of self-confidence. What seems interesting is that such an insatiable desire for approval does not seem to be resolved at all by ostentation or boasting. Like drinking seawater to quench one's thirst, the boaster seems only to become more starved for approval.

In the modern age, more or less everyone is spilling what should have been private into the public space. This is also true for an individual's inner self, so to speak, the mind. Tatsuki (Kosuke Tatsuki, 'Expose Yourself, Says Modern Civilization,' Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2013) views a society where people expose the darkness of their hearts as a society where the unconscious has declined, and this too can be seen as one consequence of the democratization of ostentation.

* (From Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' — 'Chapter 4: Jealousy, Justice, and Communism')

In Rawls's just society, it was emphasized that economic disparities among people would not become excessive. Thanks to that, he thought that people's jealousy would not become excessive.
But wouldn't a reduction in disparity actually stir up jealousy even more intensely? As Aristotle pointed out, if jealousy arises among those who are comparable, wouldn't the narrower the gap, and the closer the other's existence becomes within reach, the more unbearable the unfillable difference with him/her appear?
Regarding this point, didn't David Hume once say the following?

It is not the distance between ourselves and others [in terms of superiority/inferiority] that disturbs envy, but rather the opposite, the proximity [of superiority/inferiority] (Hume, 'A Treatise of Human Nature, Book 2')

For comparison to be established, a certain degree of similarity and proximity is indispensable.

Even in the kibbutz, which aimed for an egalitarian utopia, overcoming jealousy does not seem to be an easy matter. Or rather, the egalitarian utopia of communism might even invite a dystopia of jealousy. Certainly, if economic equality and communal ownership are realized, we might be able to stop worrying about our neighbors' lifestyles or the treatment of colleagues who are better off than ourselves. But that does not mean that feelings of jealousy will cleanly disappear.
(...)
Even if communism succeeds in leveling people's economic conditions and lifestyles, jealousy will simply possess another difference. And it might become far more insidious and dangerous than before.
Isn't it precisely this problem of jealousy that modern discussions surrounding communism are overlooking? When we decouple the technologies and resources directly linked to people's lives from capitalism and democratically manage them as commons, differences we previously didn't even notice suddenly become apparent. And this dark emotion might once again incite people and trip up the socialist project. The vision of post-capitalism, which is becoming a consensus among the modern left, needs to face these negative emotions in some way.

* (From Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' — 'Chapter 5: Jealousy and Democracy')

One of the pillar values in liberal democracy is, of course, equality. However, equality achieved by prohibiting jealousy is ultimately nothing more than standardization and is not very democratic. Or at best, it is what Masao Maruyama called 'leveling-down democracy.'

A society where jealousy is completely prohibited is highly likely to become a suffocating society that allows no differences. If the point where equality and difference (both of which are important values for democracy) intersect is the birthplace of jealousy, then democratic society needs to accept the existence of this emotion. If so, rather than saying jealousy destroys democratic society, it should be said that it is like a twin born from the same soil as democracy, and is an unavoidable passion for democracy.

* (From Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy' — 'Epilogue')

If jealousy has any meaning, it is because this emotion teaches us 'who I am.' In most cases, my jealousy is not empathized with by others. My jealousy belongs only to me. Who am I jealous of, and what am I jealous of? Why do I end up feeling jealous of him or her? This, in turn, tells me what kind of person I am, who I am comparing myself to, and what kind of reference group I find myself in. It may certainly not be an objective self-image, but it can sometimes reveal another side of myself that I was not even aware of.

The energy of jealousy does not necessarily work only in a direction that corrupts society. In principle, it can also be activated as an energy for social reform, such as by exposing injustice or correcting inequality. This is precisely what those who talk about a society without jealousy overlook.

What kind of society is one that is immune to jealousy? For example, creating a society that is tolerant of pluralistic values is also a way to avoid being dominated by jealousy. When values become unified, the differences and superiority or inferiority among people become visible at a glance. If that happens, the hierarchy of who is better than whom becomes clear, and society will be filled with jealousy.

What about jealousy at the individual level? First, as a way to come to terms with jealousy, one can overcome it by cultivating an ethical mental attitude.

As many self-help books suggest, there is one sure way to escape jealousy. That is to stop comparing. If you do not compare yourself with others, feelings of jealousy will not sprout. If you want to stop comparing, stepping down from competition is one way. But as everyone knows, stopping comparison is unexpectedly difficult.
(...)
Then why not think about it the other way around? If you cannot stop comparing, then pursue comparison to the very end. What if it is the half-baked comparison, specialized only in certain parts, that is inflating your jealousy? If you observe a superior neighbor you resent closely, you will see a side of them you never expected. It goes without saying that there are few perfect people. If such surprising facts enter your field of vision, your jealousy should be considerably eased. If you cannot stop comparing, dare to be thorough; paradoxical as it may be, this seems to be the only sure way to appease the monster called jealousy.

* (From Kiyoshi Miki's 'Notebook on Life' - 'Jealousy')

If there is anything that makes me doubt the goodness of human nature, it is the existence of jealousy in the human heart. Jealousy is, as Bacon said, the attribute most fitting for the devil. This is because jealousy generally works cunningly, in the dark, toward harming good things.

Any passion, when it appears naively, always has a certain beauty. However, there is no such thing as naivety in jealousy. Love and jealousy are similar in various respects, but they are completely different in this one point. That is, while love can be pure, jealousy is always insidious. This is true even in the jealousy of children.

The intensity of love and jealousy is based on the fact that they intensely stimulate the imagination. Imagination is magical. People are jealous of what they have created with their own imagination. The fact that love and jealousy are tactical also stems from the fact that they drive the imagination and are driven by it. Moreover, the imagination works in jealousy because of some love mixed into it. Who knows if there is no love at the bottom of jealousy, and no devil within love?

Jealousy arises toward those who are in a higher position than oneself or in a happier state. But it is necessary that the difference is not absolute and that one thinks they could become like him. It must not be completely heterogeneous; there must be something in common. Moreover, jealousy usually does not try to raise oneself to the position of the person being envied, but rather tries to lower him to one's own position. It is only on the surface that jealousy appears to be aiming for something higher. Essentially, it is directed toward something average. In this respect, it differs from love, which in its essence always longs for something higher.

Jealousy is the tendency to seek equalization in the human world by those who do not know that all humans are equal before God.

It is a general truth that one passion can be controlled better by another passion than by the intellect. If the saying that heroes are not jealous is true, it is because other passions such as ambition or a competitive spirit are stronger in them, and more importantly, they are more persistent forces than jealousy.

Jealousy is always busy. I know of no other passion as busy and yet as unproductive as jealousy.

If one were to define an innocent heart, a heart that is not jealous would be the most appropriate definition.

To eliminate jealousy, people are told to have self-confidence. But how does self-confidence arise? By creating things yourself; nothing is created from jealousy. Humans create themselves by creating things, and thus become individual. The more individual a person is, the less jealous they are. That happiness does not exist apart from individuality can be understood from this fact as well.

◎ Table of Contents for Kei Yamamoto's 'Theory of Jealousy'

Prologue
Chapter 1: What is Jealousy?
Chapter 2: The Intellectual History of Jealousy
Chapter 3: On Ostentation, or Boasting
Chapter 4: Jealousy, Justice, and Communism
Chapter 5: Jealousy and Democracy
Epilogue
Afterword

◎ Kei Yamamoto Profile
Born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1981. Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Ritsumeikan University. Completed coursework at the Graduate School of International Language and Culture, Nagoya University; holds a Ph.D. (Academic). Previously served as a full-time lecturer at the Graduate School of Education, Okayama University, before assuming his current position. Specializes in contemporary political theory and democratic theory.
Author of 'Democracy of Suspicious Persons' (Iwanami Shoten), 'Antagonismus' (Kyowakoku), 'Contemporary Democracy' (Chuko Shinsho); co-editor of 'Contemporary Thought on <Connection>' (Akashi Shoten), 'What Does It Mean to Be Right in Politics' (Keiso Shobo); translator of 'For a Left Populism' (by Chantal Mouffe, Akashi Shoten, co-translated), among others.