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Single Idea 23953

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / d. Emotional feeling ]

Full Idea

Feeling is the ornamentation of emotion, not its essence. ...For example, what is the difference in feeling between embarrassment and shame? …We may also experience an emotion like subdued anger or envy with no feeling.

Gist of Idea

Feeling is a superficial aspect of emotion, and may be indeterminate, or even absent

Source

Robert C. Solomon (The Passions [1976], 4.2)

Book Ref

Solomon,Robert C.: 'The Passions (1993 ed)' [Hackett 1993], p.97

A Reaction

This is very persuasive, and supports the idea that what matters in an emotion is its content, rather than its phenomenology. He adds later that we are often mistaken about our own emotions.

The 26 ideas from 'The Passions'

23942 Philosophy is creating an intellectual conceptual structure for life [Solomon]
23943 Distinguishing reason from passion is based on an archaic 'faculty' theory [Solomon]
23945 Reason is actually passions, guided by perspicacious reflection [Solomon]
23944 Emotions are our life force, and the source of most of our values [Solomon]
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]
23937 It is reason which needs the anchorage of passions, rather than vice versa [Solomon]
23941 'Absurdity' is just the result of our wrong choices in life [Solomon]
23947 Dividing ourselves into confrontational reason and passion destroys our harmonious whole [Solomon]
23949 Passions exist as emotions, moods and desires, which all generate meaning [Solomon]
23948 Wisdom needs both thought and passion, with each reflecting on the other [Solomon]
23952 I say bodily chemistry and its sensations have nothing to do with emotions [Solomon]
23953 Feeling is a superficial aspect of emotion, and may be indeterminate, or even absent [Solomon]
23954 Emotions are judgements about ourselves, and our place in the world [Solomon]
23955 Ideologies are mythologies which guide our actions [Solomon]
23958 The supposed irrationality of our emotions is often tactless or faulty expression of them [Solomon]
23956 The Myth of the Passions says they are irrational, uncontrolled and damaging [Solomon]
23957 We often trust our intuitions as rational, despite their lack of reflection [Solomon]
23959 Some emotions are externally directed, others internally [Solomon]
23963 Which emotions we feel depends on our sense of our own powers [Solomon]
23960 Emotions are defined by their objects [Solomon]
23961 The heart of an emotion is its judgement of values and morality [Solomon]
23962 Lovers adopt the interests of their beloved, rather than just valuing them [Solomon]
23965 Emotions can be analysed under fifteen headings [Solomon]
23964 There are no 'basic' emotions, only socially prevalent ones [Solomon]