ジェームズの感情理論 : 教科書にあらわれるその根拠と論理
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概要
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William James' phrase that "we feel sorry because we cry" appears in many textbooks of psychology. This anti-common-sense phrase is often followed by W.B. Cannon's critique with much physiological evidence against the James' view. It is unusual, however, we see the evidence for the James' claim per se. Since James' assertion is against "common sense," it should be expected that he submitted a set of clear evidence to support his claim. In the first part of this article textbooks of psychology published in 1921 to 2005, both Japanese textbooks and textbooks published in English-speaking countries, were reviewed. Most of them introduce James' theory as a seemingly illogical but actually very persuasive one, and also state that Cannon severely criticized it later mentioning Cannon's own evidence. Almost nothing is mentioned on what basis James claimed his theory. Some textbooks do not mention Cannon's criticism, and there are some textbooks that do not refer to James' theory. In the second part the logical basis of the James' theory was sought in James' "Psychology ; The briefer course" and "Principles of Psychology." James states that "the one mental state is not immediately induced by the other" as the fundamental basis of his theory ; he does not provide any proofs or discussions why it is so, however. Even so, he provides some experiential evidence that perceptions produce immediate bodily changes. Also he states that every bodily change is felt. His argument suggests that a particular bodily change can be felt after a particular perception, but it doesn't seem to be a support to his first, apparently most important statement. In the third part whether "subtler" emotions are emotions in James' view of emotion is briefly discussed. Even though James' theory is very informative and inspiring, his discussion about emotions does not seem to be very logical.
- 神戸大学の論文