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Single Idea 23984

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

Full Idea

I see no need to insist that feelings …must be present at all times whilst you are having an emotion, …but without at least episodes of feeling, of which you can be more or less aware, an experience would not be an emotional one.

Gist of Idea

An emotion needs episodes of feeling, but not continuously

Source

Peter Goldie (The Emotions [2000], 3 'Unreflective')

Book Ref

Goldie,Peter: 'The Emotions' [OUP 2002], p.68


A Reaction

[He cites William James] An odd situation, but it is the same as many chronic illnesses. Presumably because of the actual episodes the person will be aware of the emotion as a background state of potential episodes.


The 7 ideas with the same theme [phenomenal experience of emotions]:

Some emotional states are too strong for human nature [Aristotle]
Feeling is a superficial aspect of emotion, and may be indeterminate, or even absent [Solomon]
The feeling accompanying curiosity is neither pleasant nor painful [Zagzebski]
If reasons are seen impersonally (as just causal), then feelings are an irrelevant extra [Goldie]
We have feelings of which we are hardly aware towards things in the world [Goldie]
An emotion needs episodes of feeling, but not continuously [Goldie]
Moods can focus as emotions, and emotions can blur into moods [Goldie]