Thomas Dixon shows how, during the nineteenth century, the emotions came into being as a distinct psychological category, displacing such concepts as appetites, passions, sentiments and affections. From Passions to Emotions is a significant contribution to that ongoing debate about emotion and rationality which has preoccupied thinkers across many disciplines.
Until two centuries ago "the emotions" did not exist. Thomas Dixon reveals in this study how emotions came into being as a distinct psychological category. They replaced such concepts as appetites, passions, sentiments and affections, which had preoccupied thinkers as diverse as Augustine, Aquinas, Hume, and Darwin. The book is a significant original contribution to the debate which has preoccupied western thinkers across many disciplines in recent decades.
