The Emotions: A Philosophical Exploration - Softcover

Peter Goldie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199253048 ISBN 13: 9780199253043

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 2002

Synopsis

Peter Goldie opens the path to a deeper understanding of our emotional lives through a lucid philosophical exploration of this surprisingly neglected topic. Drawing on philosophy, literature and science, Goldie considers the roles of culture and evolution in the development of our emotional capabilities. He examines the links between emotion, mood, and character, and places the emotions in the context of consciousness, thought, feeling, and imagination. He explains how it is that we are able to make sense of our own and other people's emotions, and how we can explain the very human things which emotions lead us to do. He argues that it is only from the personal point of view that thoughts, reasons, feelings, and actions come into view. This fascinating book gives an accessible but penetrating exploration of an important but mysterious subject. Any reader interested in emotion and its role in understanding our lives will find much to think about here.

About this title

Review:

one of the best books on the emotions written so far in this hot and sexy new field (Robert C. Solomon, International Philosophical Quarterly 2001)

This extraordinarily insightful book, lucidly written, provides new understandings and challenges that every student of emotion will need to consider. (Paul Ekman, Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Francisco)

I found the book a most impressive performance and I recommend it with enthusiasm to anyone interested in the latest word in the philosophy of emotions and anyone interested in teaching a course in the field (Robert C. Solomon, International Philosophical Quarterly 2001)

what he [Goldie] offers us is a carefully nuanced "exploration" of the various facets of emotional experience and emotion (Robert C. Solomon, International Philosophical Quarterly 2001)

commendable new book. (Nicholas Fern, Spectator)

Synopsis:

Peter Goldie opens the path to a deeper understanding of our emotional lives through a lucid philosophical exploration of this surprisingly neglected topic. He illuminates the phenomena of emotion by drawing not only on philosophy but also on literature and science. He considers the roles of culture and evolution in the development of our emotional capabilities. He examines the links between emotion, mood, and character, and places the emotions in the context of such related phenomena as consciousness, thought, feeling, and imagination. He explains how it is that we are able to make sense of our own and other people's emotions, and how we can explain the very human things which emotions lead us to do. A key theme of The Emotions is the idea of a personal perspective or point of view, contrasted with the impersonal stance of the empirical sciences. Goldie argues that it is only from the personal point of view that thoughts, reasons, feelings, and actions come into view. He suggests that there is a tendency for philosophers to over-intellectualize the emotions, and investigates how far it is possible to explain emotions in terms of rationality.Over-intellectualizing can also involve neglecting the centrality of feelings, and Goldie shows how to put them where they belong, as part of the intentionality of emotional experience, directed towards the world from a point of view.

Goldie argues that the various elements of emotional experience--including thought, feeling, bodily change, and expression--are tied together in a narrative structure. To make sense of one's emotional life one has to see it as part of a larger unfolding narrative. The narrative is not simply an interpretative framework of a life: it is what that life is. Goldie concludes by applying these ideas in a close study of one particular emotion: jealousy. This fascinating book gives an accessible but penetrating exploration of a subject that is important but mysterious to all of us. Any reader interested in emotion, and its role in our understanding of our lives, will find much to think about here.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0199253048
• ISBN 13: 9780199253043
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272