Stephen T. Asma and Rami Gabriel on The Emotional Mind: The Affective Roots of Culture and Cognition

Please join the Affect and the Emotions Workshop
MONDAY, November 11 when

Stephen T. Asma | Professor of Philosophy, Columbia College Chicago, and
Rami Gabriel | Associate Professor of Psychology, Columbia College Chicago
present their book:

The Emotional Mind: The Affective Roots of Culture and Cognition
MONDAY, November 11
4:30-6pm | Cobb 409

Respondent: Michal Zechariah, English

Description from Harvard University Press:

Many accounts of the human mind concentrate on the brain’s computational power. Yet, in evolutionary terms, rational cognition emerged only the day before yesterday. For nearly 200 million years before humans developed a capacity to reason, the emotional centers of the brain were hard at work. If we want to properly understand the evolution of the mind, we must explore this more primal capability that we share with other animals: the power to feel.

Emotions saturate every thought and perception with the weight of feelings. The Emotional Mind reveals that many of the distinctive behaviors and social structures of our species are best discerned through the lens of emotions. Even the roots of so much that makes us uniquely human—art, mythology, religion—can be traced to feelings of caring, longing, fear, loneliness, awe, rage, lust, playfulness, and more.

From prehistoric cave art to the songs of Hank Williams, Stephen T. Asma and Rami Gabriel explore how the evolution of the emotional mind stimulated our species’ cultural expression in all its rich variety. Bringing together insights and data from philosophy, biology, anthropology, neuroscience, and psychology, The Emotional Mind offers a new paradigm for understanding what it is that makes us so unique.

 

The Introduction and Chapter 2: “Biological Aboutness: Reassessing Teleology,” to be read in advance, will be distributed to the Affect and the Emotions Workshop mailing list and are available in the post below with a password. Chapter 1: “Why A New Paradigm?” is provided as well, as optional reading. Light refreshments will be served.

 

If you would like to join our mailing list, please click here. We are committed to making our sessions accessible to all persons. Questions, requests, or concerns may be directed to Paul Cato (pcato@uchicago.edu) or Michal Zechariah (michalz@uchicago.edu).

 

Image: The Emotional Mind, Harvard University Press.

michalz