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Single Idea 23940
[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / c. Role of emotions
]
Full Idea
Every emotion is a strategy, a purposive attempt to structure our world in such a way as to maximise our sense of personal dignity and self-esteem.
Gist of Idea
Emotions are strategies for maximising our sense of dignity and self-esteem
Source
Robert C. Solomon (The Passions [1976], Pref)
Book Ref
Solomon,Robert C.: 'The Passions (1993 ed)' [Hackett 1993], p.-7
A Reaction
This is the main thesis of Solomon's book. There doesn't seem to be much to admire in what he takes to be our chief motivation. I would put a much more social spin on it - that our underlying urge is not self-promotion, but to fit into a community.
Related Idea
Idea 23946
The passions are subjective, concerning what is important to me, rather than facts [Solomon]
The
20 ideas
with the same theme
[role played by emotion in mental life]:
4015
|
For Descartes passions are God-given preservers of the mind-body union
[Descartes, by Taylor,C]
|
19415
|
Passions reside in confused perceptions
[Leibniz]
|
24011
|
Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality
[Kant, by Williams,B]
|
15577
|
Moods are more fundamentally revealing than theories - as when fear reveals a threat
[Heidegger, by Polt]
|
24177
|
Higher emotions have less energy, and actions may need the lower emotions
[Weil]
|
24014
|
Emotions are a sort of bodily incantation which brings a magic to the world
[Sartre]
|
24015
|
Emotions makes us believe in and live in a new world
[Sartre]
|
23946
|
The passions are subjective, concerning what is important to me, rather than facts
[Solomon]
|
23940
|
Emotions are strategies for maximising our sense of dignity and self-esteem
[Solomon]
|
23936
|
It is only our passions which give our lives meaning
[Solomon]
|
23949
|
Passions exist as emotions, moods and desires, which all generate meaning
[Solomon]
|
23956
|
The Myth of the Passions says they are irrational, uncontrolled and damaging
[Solomon]
|
23963
|
Which emotions we feel depends on our sense of our own powers
[Solomon]
|
24008
|
Reference to a person's emotions is often essential to understanding their actions
[Williams,B]
|
4269
|
An emotion is a motive which is also a feeling
[Scruton]
|
23979
|
Emotional responses can reveal to us our values, which might otherwise remain hidden
[Goldie]
|
23976
|
If we have a 'feeling towards' an object, that gives the recognition a different content
[Goldie]
|
23977
|
When actions are performed 'out of' emotion, they appear to be quite different
[Goldie]
|
23980
|
It is best to see emotions holistically, as embedded in a person's life narrative
[Goldie]
|
23982
|
If emotions are 'towards' things, they can't be bodily feelings, which lack aboutness
[Goldie]
|