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Sartre and James on the Role of the Body in Emotion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2010

Bruce Baugh
Bruce Baugh
Affiliation:
Victoria University, University of Toronto
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Extract

Sartre begins the first chapter of his monograph, Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions with a critique of William James' “peripheric theory” of the emotions. According to Sartre, James claims that emotions are “nothing but the consciousness of physiological manifestations” (p. 33), the reflection in consciousness of changes occuring in the body. Sartre attacks this theory as being unable to account for the meaningful and purposive nature of emotions. Sartre's own view is that emotions are the substitution of a magical or symbolic way of relating to the world for problem-solving behaviour, and occur when problem-solving behaviour is perceived to be “impossible” for one reason or another.

Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , Summer 1990 , pp. 357 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 1990

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