Gut Reactions: A Perceptual Theory of Emotion

by Jesse J. Prinz

Overview

Gut Reactions is an interdisciplinary defense of the claim that emotions are perceptions in a double sense. First of all, they are perceptions of changes in the body, but, through the body, they also allow us to literally perceive danger, loss, and other matters of concern. This proposal, which Prinz calls the embodied appraisal theory, reconciles the long standing debate between those who say emotions are cognitive and those who say they are noncognitive. The basic idea behind embodied appraisals is captured in the familiar notion of a "gut reaction," which has been overlooked by much emotion research. Prinz also addresses emotional valence, emotional consciousness, and the debate between evolutionary psychologists and social constructionists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195348590
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/12/2004
Series:	Philosophy of Mind
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Jesse Prinz is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of Furnishing the Mind, in which he defends the view that all concepts have their basis in perception, and two forthcoming titles. In The Emotional Basis of Morals, he argues that moral concepts essentially involve emotions, and, in eyond Human Nature, he argues that culture and experience shape human thought.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Piecing Passions Apart
2. Feeling Without Thinking
3. Embodied Appraisals
4. Basic Emotions and Nature
5. Emotions and Nature
6. Emotions and Nurture
7. Valence
8. A Typology of Affective States
9. Emotional Consciousness
10. Is Getting Mad Like Seeing Red?
Coda: Parting Ways
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Excellent... Prinz's book is utterly compelling and a valuable read for any student or researcher of the emotions, philosophy of mind and perception."—Metapsychology Online Book Reviews

"Jesse Prinz's wide-ranging knowledge of the cognitive sciences makes this book a watershed contribution to the field of emotion research. His embodied appraisal theory, which attempts to mediate between recent neurobiological approaches and the cognitive theories that have dominated philosophical thinking, is a major step forward in the debate. Because Prinz builds his case on a richly detailed account of empirical research, I recommend this as the book to read on the renaissance of emotion in the last two decades, in neuroscience and psychology as well as philosophy."—Robert M. Gordon, University of Missouri, St. Louis

"In this philosophically deep and scientifically erudite work, Jesse Prinz provides the first systematic philosophical account of the emotions grounded in 'affective neuroscience.' This rapidly developing science has had a major influence on recent philosophy of mind and moral psychology. Through his searching analysis of its conceptual underpinnings Prinz throws light on many of the central issues in the philosophy of mind. Essential reading for philosophers of mind and for emotion researchers in all disciplines."—Paul Griffiths, University of Pittsburgh

"Jesse Prinz's Gut Reactions is an exciting book. I couldn't put it down, but I fought with it every inch of the way. I found myself forced to look at the emotions through a "brain's eye view" instead of by way of my usual humanist perspective. Thirty years ago, a younger generation employed excessive but effective polemics against the Jamesian paradigm. Prinz energetically returns the favor, but now it is we cognitivists and social constructionists who are on the defensive."—Robert C. Solomon, The University of Texas at Austin

From the Publisher