La Theorie des Gefühls hegeliana in dialogo con le recenti teorie sulle emozioni

Abstract

Considering the relevance of the interaction between neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy in the contemporary debate on emotions, this paper aims at establishing a fruitful dialogue between Hegel’s Philosophie des subjektiven Geistes and the most important neuroscientific and psychological research on emotions. By means of an analysis of the role of Empfindungen (sensations) and Gefühle (feelings) in the Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften (1830), we will show that Hegel developed a Theorie des Gefühls. The proposed dialogue between Hegel’s thought and contemporary theories is useful for distinguishing the various types of emotions and their cognitive and affective aspects. In fact, it will emerge that both Hegel and recent studies on emotion consider emotions to be characterized by a cognitive valence which enables a person to orient herself/himself in the world.

Keywords

• G.W.F. Hegel
• Subjective Spirit
• Emotion
• Feeling
• Cognition