Are there any Distinctions between Basic and Complex Emotions?

• Main Authors: Leung-Ka Yeung, 梁家揚
• Other Authors: Aleksandra Mroczko-Wąsowicz
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/04207251319148679400

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 心智哲學研究所 === 103 === Are there any distinctions between basic and complex emotions? This is one of the most controversial questions in the discussion of emotion. Based on different assumptions, philosophical theories tend to give different answers to this question. In order to have a thorough understanding of the nature of emotion, a theory needs to give a sound explanation for three aspects of emotion, i.e., the phenomenology, the intentionality, and the justification of emotions. In this thesis, I will first give a general review on the philosophical understandings of emotions. Second, I will introduce the physiological and neural bases of emotions. Third, I will provide several reasons to show that basic and complex emotions have distinct features. After making the distinction between basic and complex emotions, I will propose my theory of emotion, i.e., the Constructive Theory of Emotion. I will show how complex emotions are constructed. Finally, I will make comparisons between several philosophical theories and the Constructive Theory. After making the comparisons, I will show that the Constructive Theory of Emotion gives a better explanation for the phenomenology, the intentionality, and the justification of emotions.