Gut Reactions: A Perceptual Theory of EmotionGut Reactions is an interdisciplinary defense of the claim that emotions are perceptions of changes in the body. This thesis, pioneered by William James and resuscitated by Antonio Damasio, has been widely criticized for failing to acknowledge that emotions are meaningful insofar as they represent concerns, not respiratory function and blood pressure. Fear represents danger, sadness represents loss. To explain this fact, many researchers conclude that emotions must involve judgments regarding one's relationship to the environment. Prinz offers a new unified account of the emotions that reconciles these two theories. He argues that emotions are embodied appraisals--they are perceptions of the body, but, through the body, they also allow us to literally perceive danger, loss, and other matters of concern.The basic idea behind embodied appraisal theory is captured in the familiar notion of a "gut reaction," which has been overlooked by much emotion research. Using recent work in semantics, Prinz show how emotions can be meaningful without incorporating judgments or other cognitive states. Criticizing those who think that some emotions are social constructions, while others can be explained by evolutionary psychology, Prinz argues that all emotions are the same kind of phenomena, involving both nature and nurture.Prinz also distinguishes emotions from other affective states, such as motivations and moods, and offers a theory of emotional valence (what makes some emotions good and others bad). Ultimately, his theory of emotion consciousness is inspired by recent research on the neural correlates of conscious vision. Drawing a parallel between emotion consciousness and visual consciousness, Prinz shows that emotion is a form of perception in the fullest sense. Where vision reveals the identity of objects in a given situation, emotion reveals how that situation bears on our well-being. |
Contents
Piecing Passions Apart | 3 |
Feeling Without Thinking | 21 |
Embodied Appraisals | 52 |
Copyright | |
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activity affect programs amygdala anger anterior cingulate cortex appraisal theory argued that emotions argument associated attitudinal emotions basic emotions behavior beliefs biological blend bodily changes body brain calibration file chapter cingulate claim that emotions cognitive theories compatibilism components concepts consciousness consider constructionists core relational themes cortex culture Damasio defend Descartes detect dimensional appraisal disgust dispositions Ekman elicit elicitors embodied appraisals emotional response evidence evolutionary evolutionary psychologists example experience explain facial expressions fear feeling function genetic guilt happiness higher cognitive emotions hypothesis identify innate intuition involve jealousy judgments labeling theory Lazarus Lazarus's memory moods motivations natural kind negative emotions neural nominal contents nonbasic emotions nucleus accumbens occur one's perception physiological positive emotions praisals properties propositional attitudes psychology real contents reductionism reliably caused romantic love sadness says that emotions Schadenfreude sense snake somatosensory system suggests surprise theories of emotion things thoughts tions triggered valence markers visual
References to this book
Cognition and Emotion: From Order to Disorder Michael J. Power,Tim Dalgleish No preview available - 2008 |
Mental Mechanisms: Philosophical Perspectives on Cognitive Neuroscience William Bechtel Limited preview - 2008 |