Abstract
The aim of this paper is to advance, within the framework of enactivism, towards a more radically embodied and situated theory of emotions and, in general, of affectivity. Its starting point is that of discussing the well-established notion of bodily resonance (Fuchs 2013, Fuchs & Koch 2014, Fuchs 2018) and the primordial affectivity approach (Colombetti 2014). I will incorporate John Dewey’s theory of emotions, and recent models and empirical finding from cognitive science on the relation between perception and bodily activity (Azzalini, Rebollo & Tallon-Baudry 2019; Allen et al. 2019). The novel element proposed in this paper is taking into consideration the role of bodily oscillatory activity in the perceptual side of cognition through phenomena of relative coordination. This concept from dynamical systems theory allows for an enactivist view of emotions as temporal episodes triggered by a tension that affects the rhythmic interaction between brain, body, and environment. By defending the importance of this enacted rhythm, the body emerges as a truly active agent, gating and modulating affectivity during all the stages of the sensorimotor circuit from perception to action.
Highlights
The limits and the implications of the role of emotions at the crossroads between the body, the brain, and the environment, as well as its alleged mediation between perception and action, continue to be debated
This concept from dynamical systems theory allows for an enactivist view of emotions as temporal episodes triggered by a tension that affects the rhythmic interaction between brain, body, and environment
Pragmatist ideas, mainly those presented by William James, are still highly influential in philosophy of emotions; some of these conceptual lines, which were developed by some fellow pragmatists such as John Dewey (Dreon 2019), do not enjoy as much attention
Summary
The limits and the implications of the role of emotions at the crossroads between the body, the brain, and the environment, as well as its alleged mediation between perception and action, continue to be debated. Pragmatist ideas, mainly those presented by William James, are still highly influential in philosophy of emotions; some of these conceptual lines, which were developed by some fellow pragmatists such as John Dewey (Dreon 2019), do not enjoy as much attention This fact and the acknowledgement of pragmatism as forerunner of enactivism, justify an exploration of the relation of some pertinent Deweyan notions in relation with the theories mentioned in (1). The main goal of this paper, following the encouragement of this special issue to discuss new approaches in the field of philosophy of emotions, is exploring the role of the dynamics of oscillatory patterns between brain and body in our affective engagement with the world. Passive, that takes place from the very start of our perceiving the world while conditioning our actions
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