Emotion, Evolution and Rationality

Pierre Cruse

ISBN 10: 0198528981 / ISBN 13: 9780198528982

Published by Oxford University Press, GB, 2004

About this Item

For thousands of years, many Western thinkers have assumed that emotions are, at best, harmless luxuries, and at worst outright obstacles to intelligent action. In the past decade, however, scientists and philosophers have begun to challenge this 'negative view of emotion'. Neuroscientists, psychologists and researchers in artificial intelligence now agree that emotions are vital to intelligent action. Evolutionary considerations have played a vital role in this shift to a more positive view of emotion.This book brings together some of the leading thinkers about emotion from a variety of disciplines. In a series of fascinating and challenging essays, they examine the role that evolutionary considerations can play in helping us to understand the role of emotions in rational thought and decision-making. How should we understand the evolutionary role of emotions? And can this explain the relationship between emotions and rationality?

Seller Inventory # LU-9780198528982

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Emotion, Evolution and Rationality
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198528981
• ISBN 13: 9780198528982
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 461 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Do our emotions stop us from being rational? For thousands of years, emotions have been thought of as obstacles to intelligent thought. This view has been challenged in recent years by both philosophers and scientists. In this groundbreaking book, leading thinkers from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience challenge this commonly held view of emotion in a series of fascinating and challenging essays.

About the Author

Dylan Evans is at Centre for Biomimetics and Natural Technology, University of Bath, Bath, UK. Pierre Cruse is at Centre de Philosophie des Sciences, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.