Emotion and movement. A beginning empirical-phenomenological analysis of their relationship

Author: Sheets-Johnstone M.

Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 6, Numbers 11-12, 1999 , pp. 259-277(19)

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Abstract:

Three methodologically distinctive empirical studies of the emotions carry forward Darwin's work on the emotions, vindicate Sperry's finding that the brain is an organ of and for movement, and implicitly affirm that affectivity is tied to the tactile-kinesthetic body. A phenomenological analysis of movement deepens these empirical findings by showing how the dynamic character of movement gives rise to kinetic qualia. Analysis of the qualitative structure of movement shows in turn how motion and emotion are dynamically congruent. Three experiences of fear are presented--phenomenological, ethological, and literary--to demonstrate the dynamic congruency. Five implications follow from the analysis, including the implications that movement is not equivalent to behavior, experience is not physiological activity, and a brain is not a body.

Keywords: Kinetic qualia; experience; embodiment; movement notation systems; whole-body dynamics; motivation; cognitivism; methodology; dynamic congruency

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Box 722, Yachats, OR 97498, USA. Email:msj@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU

Publication date: 1999-01-01