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Single Idea 23980

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / c. Role of emotions ]

Full Idea

The best understanding of a person's emotions …will be holistic in its overall approach, seeing feelings as embedded in an emotion's narrative, as part of a person's life.

Gist of Idea

It is best to see emotions holistically, as embedded in a person's life narrative

Source

Peter Goldie (The Emotions [2000], 3 Intro)

Book Ref

Goldie,Peter: 'The Emotions' [OUP 2002], p.51

A Reaction

Sounds reasonable, but I didn't find it very helpful. When told that my Self or my life has a 'narrative' I don't learn much. The concept of narrative relies on selves and lives. Ditto for being told that emotions or language are 'holistic'.

The 19 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]
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]