Philosophy James, William: What is an Emotion? v.1, 6 December 2008

[Patricia]

What is an Emotion?
By William James (1842–1910)
First published in Mind, 9, pp.188–205.

James proposes an unusual thesis:
“Common sense says, we lose our fortune, are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; we are insulted by a rival, are angry and strike. The hypothesis here to be defended says that this order of sequence is incorrect, that the one mental state is not immediately induced by the other, that the bodily manifestations must first be interposed between, and that the more rational statement is that we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble…”

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