Single Idea 23953

[catalogued under 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 Reference

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.