The Phenomenology of Shared Emotions—Reassessing Gerda Walther

Abstract

To get an initial grip of what is and, in particular, what is not at stake in the phenomenology of SE, it is helpful to distinguish four dimensions of the sociality of emotions. As we shall see, the phenomenology of emotions, in the sense in which I will explore Walther’s account, is primarily, though certainly not exclusively, concerned with the fourth dimension. Roughly, the three first layers or levels in which social relations and facts come into play in the affective life of individuals and groups are i) the interpersonal, ii) the group and intergroup, and iii) the sociological and sociocultural dimensions. Whereas most phenomenologists, and certainly Walther, touch upon the interpersonal and group-level dimensions (especially in terms of empathic understanding (Einfühlung) and analyzing various collective and group phenomena), the intergroup and sociological and sociocultural levels have been mined extensively by sociologists, as well as cross-cultural and social psychologists. Here is how the social psychologists Parkinson, Fischer and Manstead concisely delineate these dimensions.