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In what sense, if any, is an emotion a passion?A passion can be thought of in many ways, but I shall be considering just two. In one sense it is something that overcomes us, that takes us over and over which we have no control. In another, less dramatic sense, it is merely something experienced passively (the two words derive from the same root). In other words something that happens to us, rather than something we instigate ourselvesi. In this essay I shall consider a few ideas on what an emotion is, and examine when, if ever, according to these ideas, an emotion can be considered a passion. I shall examine ideas of emotions as physiological changes and as judgements, and I hope to show that only the former can be considered passions. James suggests that emotions are the sensations we experience as a result of bodily changesii. We find ourselves in a dangerous situation. Our pulse quickens. Adrenaline is released. Our body prepares itself for fight or flight. These various changes produce a characteristic feeling, which we come to know as "fear". A different scenario requires different bodily changes, with their own characteristic feeling that we experience as a different emotion. On this interpretation we have no more control over our emotions than we do over base physiological functions such as tiredness or pain. Pain originates as nerve signals in my body, which my brain experiences passively. I do not choose to initiate them, and I cannot choose not to feel them once they've started. In the same way, fear originates in my body as a heightened pulse and elevated adrenaline. I cannot choose to feel pain, and I cannot choose to feel fear. "We cannot exercise control over our perceptual states"iii. Both are sensations that happen to me, that I experience passively. Thus, in this sense, all emotions are passions. Is it still true in the more dramatic sense? Can we be overcome by physiological changes? Can they control us? Yes. We can, for instance, be so tired we cannot prevent ourselves falling asleep. It's also not hard to think of emotions which, when too intense, have overwhelming or controlling physiological effects. We can be so overcome by fear that we cannot stop ourselves fainting. While we could not claim that all emotions are always passions, or even that all emotions are sometimes passions, we can certainly say that if emotions are the sensations of physiological changes then some emotions can sometimes be passions. However, is it true to say we cannot influence bodily sensations? As I write this, it is past midnight, but I fight off my tiredness in the name of philosophy. Yesterday I burnt myself ironing, but I fought off the pain in order to avoid being late. If I can control these purely physical responses, surely I can control the responses that I perceive as emotions? If I can suppress the sensation of pain caused by burning flesh and frantic nerve transmissions, surely I can suppress the feelings of fear caused by quickening pulse and flowing adrenaline?iv There is a more fundamental issue though. Are emotions really just physiological sensations? If I see a lion, my body prepares me to flee, and I feel the sensation of fear, but how does my body know the lion is a threat? "Bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting event"v but there has to be some element of judgement involved. I know a lion is dangerous, but a very young child may simply see a great big kitty-cat, and feel no fear at all. A hundred years ago a man would get jealous if his wife even spoke to another man. Nowadays men and women associate freely, and in some circles it is common for men and women to share spouses without feeling jealousy. Therefore our knowledge, judgements and beliefs must play a part in our emotions. Even the most ardent substance dualist is unlikely to claim that my judgements are not part of what makes me "me", therefore the source of my emotions is (in part) me, and I can no longer claim that I am entirely passive. So let us move on to examine the idea of emotions as judgements, as advocated by Solomon. Solomon discusses how emotions are intentional, i.e. about somethingvi. This cannot be said for bodily changes, which are just physical states. He illustrates how an emotion depends on our beliefs and our understanding of a situation. It is not the fact of John stealing my car (which may be false) that makes me angry, but my belief that he didvii viii. When our belief changes, our emotion changes. "A change in what I am angry about demands a change in my anger"ix We must also be capable of understanding our role in a scenario. I cannot feel angry unless I understand I've been wronged. "One cannot be ashamed if he does not accept some responsibility for an awkward situation"xxi If an emotion is a judgement, a rational calculation based on our observations and beliefs, then "we choose an emotion much as we choose a course of action"xii. We instigate them ourselves. We are in no sense passive. "Emotions are not occurrences, and do not happen to us"xiii. Thus in this sense at least an emotion can never be a passion. After choosing an emotion, can it overcome us? Can we be controlled by our chosen emotions? Solomon allows for no additional forces that might fuel emotions once they are chosen, therefore an emotion will only continue while we still judge it appropriate. We will be controlled by our emotions only while we choose to be. This is a contradiction. Therefore in this sense too, if emotions are judgements, emotions can never be passions. "In order to make a judgement, it is necessary to assent to it"xiv Is there really no more to emotions than judgements though? If emotions are judgements, how can we feel emotions that contradict our judgements? How can we have irrational phobias of spiders, open spaces or buttons?xv How can we be stubborn, or prejudiced? How can we account for the internal conflict we feel as we try to conquer our fear or suppress our anger? James points out that "without the bodily states [emotion] would be purely cognitive in form, pale, colourless, destitute of emotional warmth"xvi. We might judge it best to flee, but we would not 'feel' afraid. How could we even comprehend the concept of a passion? It seems then that emotions have a dual nature. If we consider our everyday experience of emotion, there appears to be an initial, involuntary aspect, followed by a more considered aspect that can validate or counter it. For example, if I wake up in the middle of the night and see a strange shape in my room, my first response is fear. After a moment, my rational mind has made sense of the situation and concluded either that it's only a shadow cast by my raincoat and that I should go back to sleep, or that it's an intruder and that I should attend to the matter. The fear is quelled or amplified as appropriate. We passively experience the initial response, so this can be considered a passion. We subsequently make a judgement, which cannot be considered a passion. If the initial response is reinforced by the judgement, it may be amplified to such a degree it overcomes us, in which case it can be considered a passion in the other sense. We find aspects of this idea in Roberts' "serious concern-based construals"xvii. A construal is subtly different from a judgement. It is "a mental event or state in which one thing is grasped in terms of something else"xviii. You can construe something to be a certain way even while it contradicts your judgement. You can initially construe something to be one way, then judge it appropriate to construe it another way. This switch in construal may or may not be a simple matter. Consider an optical illusion such as Kant's "duck-rabbit". Upon first seeing the duck-rabbit drawing, you will form an initial construal, e.g. "it's a duck". You may subsequently judge that it can also be seen as a rabbit, but you may or may not be able to construe it as suchxix. The initial construal is spontaneous. It is the construal that comes most easily to mind without any analysis. As such, we are passive and the construal is a passion. We can adjust our construal indirectly by focussing on different aspects of what we see. In the case of the duck-rabbit, to construe it as a rabbit I may concentrate on part of the drawing that is the rabbit's chin. In the case of a scenario that has made me angry, I may concentrate on the mitigating circumstances, or the consequences of losing my temper. Exerting control over our construal may be simple or difficult depending on how easy it is for us to shift our focus. I may be so fixated on one aspect I become locked inxx xxi. I cannot control my emotion, and thus it is a passion. Another example of this initial-appearance/subsequent-judgement model can be seen in the teachings of the Stoics. The Stoics strongly maintained that all emotions were judgements. In fact, there were two judgements involved: a judgement about goodness/badness, and a judgement about appropriatenessxxii. They had the idea of an "initial appearance" although they maintained that this was not a true emotion. It is only when judgements come into play, and the initial appearance is judged appropriate or otherwise, that an emotion is formed. The initial appearance is spontaneous, physiological in nature, and beyond our control. We experience it passively, and so it is in that sense a passion. Our judgements are controlled by us, and so are not. Now the Stoics believed that (almost) all emotions are undesirable to one of good characterxxiii, so they taught that all initial appearances should be strongly controlled by our judgement. Still, they acknowledged that poor judgement could be made, and that the initial appearance could be inappropriately emphasised, perhaps to the point where it runs amok. In this case it becomes a passion in our other sense. So, we can conclude as follows: An emotion can only be considered a passion if it is not a judgement. An emotion that is a sensation of a physiological change, or is otherwise physiological in nature, is experienced passively, and so is always a passion. A passive emotion can be amplified and reinforced by a judgement, possibly to the point where it overwhelms and controls us, and thus becomes a passion in the other sense. Therefore, in either sense, an emotion can only be a passion if it originates in the body. Bibliography
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