In Defense of Sentimentality

Solomon, Professor Robert C.

ISBN 10: 019514550X / ISBN 13: 9780195145502

Published by Oxford University Press Inc, 2004

About this Item

Philosophy has as much to do with feelings as it does with thoughts and thinking. It requires not only emotional sensitivity but an understanding of the emotions. This book presents a defence of the emotions and of sentimentality against the background of a long history of abuse in philosophy, social thought, art, and literary criticism. Num Pages: 318 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: HP. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 243 x 164 x 23. Weight in Grams: 598. . 2004. Hardback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780195145502

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In Defense of Sentimentality
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019514550X
• ISBN 13: 9780195145502
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Philosophy has as much to do with feelings as it does with thoughts and thinking. Philosophy, accordingly, requires not only emotional sensitivity but an understanding of the emotions, not as curious but marginal psychological phenomena but as the very substance of life. In this, the second book in a series devoted to his work on the emotions, Robert Solomon presents a defense of the emotions and of sentimentality against the background of what he perceives as a long history of abuse in philosophy and social thought and art and literary criticism. The title piece reopens a classic debate about the role of sentimentality in art and literature. In subsequent chapters, Solomon discusses not only such "moral sentiments" as sympathy and compassion but also grief, gratitude, love, horror, and even vengeance. He also defends, with appropriate caution, the "seven deadly sins." The emotions, at least some emotions--are essential to a well-lived life. They are or can be virtues, features of the human condition without which civilized life would be unimaginable.

About the Author

Robert C. Solomon was Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin, and author of Living with Nietzsche, The Joy of Philosophy, In the Spirit of Hegel, From Hegel to Existentialism, Continental Philosophy Since 1750, among others.