A phenomenological discussion of Antonio Damasio’s theory of emotions

Antonio Damasio’s Theory of Emotions has deeply contributed to the understanding of the cognitive significance of affective states and of the relation between embodiment and cognition. Nevertheless, in this paper I argue that his account is inadequate from a phenomenological point of view. In the f...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Anna Bortolan
Format: article
Langue:EN
FR
IT
Publié: Rosenberg & Sellier 2016
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:https://doaj.org/article/a376c00e7dd14900b3f8afdbb3c95c5d
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
Description
Résumé:Antonio Damasio’s Theory of Emotions has deeply contributed to the understanding of the cognitive significance of affective states and of the relation between embodiment and cognition. Nevertheless, in this paper I argue that his account is inadequate from a phenomenological point of view. In the first place, I suggest that Damasio doesn’t provide a plausible analysis of the intentionality of emotions, ignoring both the intentional structure of feelings and the variety of objects they can be directed at. Secondly, I claim that by adopting a physiological approach to the study of emotions he can hardly account for their responsiveness to education and thus for the idea that it is possible to speak of responsibility also with regard to affective life. Besides, I suggest that Damasio doesn’t provide a plausible description of the way we become aware of other people’s affects, because he argues in favour of a separation between external behaviour and inner mental states.