Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Graham, Steven

Keywords

William James, Antonio Damasio, mind-body problem, subject-object problem, feeling, emotion, conciousness, phenomenology, nueroscience, psychology, A.D. Craig, Jaak Pannsepp

Area of Concentration

General Studies

Abstract

First published in 1884, William James� theory of emotion identifies emotional feelings with the body�s perception of its own living in the world. Though James� theory stands as a well-known landmark in the study of emotion, it is often taken out of the larger context of his attentive investigations of subjective experience. This thesis integrates James� writings on the topics of the body, consciousness, and value to propose a vision of the mind that is thoroughly affective, embodied, and organic, dynamically relating to a world of lived-through meanings as a unified whole. This understanding finds strong convergent support from current research in neuroscience, cognitive science, and neuroethology. James� hypothesis, in addition to enjoying empirical validation, also undermines dualistic notions of the relationship between mind and body, subject and object, and self and world. In exploring the implications of James� singular insights into the phenomenon of bodily feeling, the contemporary relevance of his philosophical and psychological project- as well as the vital primacy of felt life- are affirmed.

Download

Share

COinS