From Passions to Emotions

The Creation of a Secular Psychological Category

Bibliographic Data

ID6551259
AuthorsThomas Dixon (0000-0001-8783-6465), Thomas Dixon Jr
Year2003
Pages287
Publication date2003-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueFROM PASSIONS TO EMOTIONS: THE CREATION OF A SECULAR PSYCHOLOGICAL CATEGORY. (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/cbo9780511490514
ISBN9780511490514
Open LibraryOL22531049M
LanguageEN
Citations received130
References cited213

Today there is a thriving 'emotions industry' to which philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists are contributing. Yet until two centuries ago 'the emotions' did not exist. In this path-breaking study Thomas Dixon shows how, during the nineteenth century, the emotions came into being as a distinct psychological category, replacing existing categories such as appetites, passions, sentiments and affections. By examining medieval and eighteenth-century theological psychologies and placing Charles Darwin and William James within a broader and more complex nineteenth-century setting, Thomas Dixon argues that this domination by one single descriptive category is not healthy. The overinclusivity of 'the emotions' hampers attempts to argue with any subtlety about the enormous range of mental states and stances of which humans are capable. This book is an important contribution to the debate about emotion and rationality which has preoccupied western thinkers throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and which continues to have implications for contemporary debates."--Jacket

Emotions · Emotions (Philosophy)