Amélie Oksenberg Rorty 
Explaining Emotions 

The challenge of explaining the emotions has engaged the attention of the best minds in philosophy and science throughout history. Part of the fascination has been that the emotions resist classification. As adequate account therefore requires receptivity to knowledge from a variety of sources. The philosopher must inform himself of the relevant empirical investigation to arrive at a definition, and the scientist cannot afford to be naive about the assumptions built into his conceptual apparatus.


The contributors to this volume have approached the problem of characterizing and classifying emotions from the perspectives of neurophysiology, psychology, and social psychology as well as that of philosophical psychology. They discuss the difficulties that arise in classifying the emotions, assessing their appropriateness and rationality, and determining their function in motivating moral action.

Table of Content

INTRODUCTION

Amelie 0. Rorty


SENSORY AND PERCEPTIVE FACTORS IN EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONS OF THE TRIUNE BRAIN

Paul D. Mac Lean


II EMOTION AND ANXIETY: SOCIOCULTURAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS

James R. Averill


III BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO BODY AND FACIAL MOVEMENT IN THE EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS

Paul Ekman


IV EXPLAINING EMOTIONS

Amelie 0. Rorty


V THERA TIONALITY OF EMOTIONS

Ronald de Sousa


VI CHARACTER AND THE EMOTIONS

Adam Morton


VII FUNCTIONALISM AND THE EMOTIONS

Georges Rey


VIII OVERDETERMINATION AND THE EMOTIONS

Graeme Marshall


IX A CASE OF MIXED FEELINGS: AMBIVALENCE

AND THE LOGIC OF EMOTION

Patricia S. Greenspan


X EMOTIONS AND CHOICE

Robert C. Solomon


XI SELF-DECEPTIVE EMOTIONS

Ronald de Sousa


XII ON PERSONS AND THEIR LIVES

Richard Wollheim


XIII INTELLECTUAL DESIRE, EMOTION, AND ACTION

Michael Stocker


XIV RITUAL AND THE RELIGIOUS FEELINGS

Gareth Matthews


XV NATURAL PRIDE AND NATURAL SHAME

Arnold Isenberg


XVI PRIDE

Gabriele Taylor


XVII MASTER PASSIONS

Annette Baier


XVIII JEALOUS THOUGHTS

Jerome Neu


XIX JEALOUSY, ATTENTION, AND LOSS

Leila Tov-Ruach


XX AGENT REGRET

Amelie 0. Rorty


XXI COMPASSION

Lawrence Blum


XXII EMOTION, PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE AND COMMON CULTURE

Roger Scruton


BIBLIOGRAPHY

CONTRIBUTORS

About the author

Amélie Oksenberg Rorty (1932-2020) was a Belgian-born American philosopher known for her work in the philosophy of mind.