The philosophical notion of passion, in contrast, is generally identified with instinctually driven emotional states, in many ancient philosophies and religious doctrines, the passions are the basis for deadly sins and seen as leading to various social and spiritual ills.
[1][2] Some seventeenth-century philosophers worked within an intellectual "milieu" in which the passions were regarded as a potent element of human nature, capable of disrupting any civilized order, including philosophy, unless they were tamed, outwitted, overruled, or seduced.
[4] Reason is advocated in the control of passion, something seen as desirable and necessary for the development of a mature, civilized human being.
The institution of the monastery within various religions is a means by which human beings may temporarily or permanently seclude themselves from circumstances exacerbating the arising of passion and provide a supportive environment for doing spiritual work.
Contemporary philosopher Roberto Mangabeira Unger has developed a view of the passions that disassociates them from human nature, and instead gives them a formless life that serve non-instrumental dealings with each other.
According to European philosopher Michel Meyer, they have aroused harsh judgments as the representation of a force of excess and lawlessness in humanity that produces troubling, confusing paradoxes.