Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy

Passion and Action explores the place of the emotions in seventeenth-century understandings of the body and mind, and the role they were held to play in reasoning and action. Interest in the passions pervaded all areas of philosophical enquiry, and was central to the theories of many major figures, including Hobbes, Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza, Pascal, and Locke. Yet little attention has been paid to this topic in studies of early modern thought. Susan James surveys the inheritance of ancient and medieval doctrines about the passions, showing how these were incorporated into new philosophical theories in the course of the seventeenth century. She examines the relation of the emotions to will, knowledge, understanding, desire, and power, offering fresh analyses and interpretations of a broad range of texts by little-known writers as well as canonical figures, and establishing that a full understanding of these authors must take account of their discussions of our affective life. Passion and Action also addresses current debates, particularly those within feminist philosophy, about the embodied character of thinking and the relation between emotion and knowledge. This ground-breaking study throws new light upon the shaping of our ideas about the mind, and provides a historical context for burgeoning contemporary investigations of the emotions.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction: The Passions and Philosophy PART I 2: Passion and Action in Aristotle 3: Passion and Action in Aquinas 4: Post-Aristotelian Action and Passion PART II 5: Negotiating the Divide: Descartes and Malebranche 6: Mental and Bodily Passions Identified: Hobbes and Spinoza PART III 7: Passion and Error 8: Dispassionate Scientia 9: The Value of Persuasion 10: Knowledge as Emotion PART IV 11: Conflicting Forces: The Cartesian Theory of Action 12: Deliberating with the Passions Bibliography. Index.

Review :
`an excellent history of ideas ... a highly scholarly project ... a supberb introduction.' Ingrid Wassenaar, Women's Phil. Rev., No.26, 2000. `insightful connections between the individual philosophers she discusses.' Times Literary Supplement `Densely written but clearly argued, this book provides valuable context and background for several important themes in early modern philosophy ... sturdily bound, very fully annotated ... and equipped with an extensive bibliography and an excellent index. Highly recommended ...' H.J.John, Trinity College DC, CHOICE Oct 98