The Rationality of Emotion Paperback by Ronald De Sousa

Product Details

• Publisher: Bradford Books (1990-03-14)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 400 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780262540575
• Item Weight: 368.55 grams
• Dimensions: 0.0 x 0.0 x 0.0 cm

In this urbane and witty book, Ronald de Sousa disputes the widespread notion that reason and emotion are natural antagonists. He argues that emotions are a kind of perception, that their roots in the paradigm scenarios in which they are learned give them an essentially dramatic structure, and that they have a crucial role to-play in rational beliefs, desires, and decisions by breaking the deadlocks of pure reason.The book's twelve chapters take up the following topics: alternative models of mind and emotion; the relation between evolutionary, physiological, and social factors in emotions; a taxonomy of objects of emotions; assessments of emotions for correctness and rationality; the regulation by emotions of logical and practical reasoning; emotion and time; the mechanism of emotional self-deception; the ethics of laughter; and the roles of emotions in the conduct of life. There is also an illustrative interlude, in the form of a lively dialogue about the ideology of love, jealousy, and sexual exclusiveness.

A Bradford Book.

About the Author

Ronald de Sousa teaches philosophy at the University of Toronto.