The Conceptual Framework for the Investigation of Emotions

Abstract

For a long period the experimental study of the emotions was out of bounds for neuro-psychologists and neuro-psychiatrists. Now, `thanks to the work of Ledoux [(1996)] and Damasio [(1994)], emotions are once again a legitimate topic for research' (David and Halligan 2000, p. 508). However, as I shall argue, the conceptual structures with which they operate (partly inherited from William James) are misconceived.1 Mary Phillips has recently observed that `there is at present no generally accepted theoretical framework for human emotion' (Phillips et al. 2003). Philosophical analysis, properly conducted, can assist in filling this lacuna.