Franklin

a| 9780493699943

a| DISSAAI3054932

a| AAI3054932

a| (PU)4972585-penndb-Voyager

a| UMI c| UMI

a| Cohen, Marc Andrew.

a| Self-interpretation and emotion h| [electronic resource].

a| 193 p. b|

a| Thesis (Ph.D. in Philosophy) -- University of Pennsylvania, 2002.

a| Mode of access: World Wide Web.

a| Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 63-05, Section: A, page: 1858.

a| Supervisor: Gary Hatfield.

a| Restricted for use by site license.

a| In this dissertation I argue that self-interpretive processes play a central role in the production of emotions.

a| I begin in Chapter One by reconstructing Charles Taylor's work on the subject: I use Taylor as a starting point in order to set out two theses about the role of self-interpretation in emotion. According to the first thesis, we interpret physiological responses to events and situations in order to produce emotions; this I call direct self-interpretation, and the process results in the assignment of meaning or aboutness to the response. I argue that without this meaning responses are not emotions or emotional. According to the other thesis we interpret ourselves and our relationships to others in order to establish a background against which emotion-producing appraisals can be made; this I call indirect self-interpretation.

a| In the chapters that follow I appeal to literature in experimental psychology to show that these theses are plausible. In Chapters Two and Three I show that direct self-interpretation is at work in the (supposedly) basic emotions, emotions for which a reflex-like appraisal process produces a physiological response. And in the fourth chapter I extend this account to the formation of all emotions. In that chapter I outline two comprehensive (though speculative) accounts of emotion, according to which what are called non-basic emotions are also the product of direct self-interpretation. On the one I take to be more plausible, non-basic emotions are formed in two stages: first, there is a reflex-like appraisal of a situation in general terms, for example, an appraisal of a situation as being one of social conflict, and second, the direct self-interpretation of the response produces a particular emotion, like shame, envy, or anger. Finally, in the Postscript I describe the recent the literature on the construction of emotion. I argue that most of the claims running through that literature are not compelling, but the claim that emotions are constructed in virtue of the role played by indirect self-interpretation should not be controversial.

a| Also available in print.

a| School code: 0175.

a| Psychology

a| Philosophy

a| 0422

a| 0621

a| Penn dissertations x| Philosophy.

a| Philosophy x| Penn dissertations.

a| Hatfield, Gary, e| advisor

a| University of Pennsylvania.

t| Dissertation Abstracts International g| 63-05A.

a| 0175

a| Ph.D.

a| 2002

u| http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/559864 z| Connect to full text