Abstract

We will start with common sense, since it is often said that emotion is hard to define despite the fact that most of us know – quite intimately – what it is. Artists, for instance, devote themselves not only to its expression, but also to stimulating and cultivating the ‘emotions’ of their publics. A piece of music, heard at the right moment, might make us shiver with nostalgia or melancholy, and a good novel might make us weep, fume, and despair at the joys and sorrows of its characters. What we intuitively call ‘emotion’ is the collective name for this multitude of feelings (sentiments, passions, affections) through which we are affected by actual, imaginary, remembered, and anticipated events, and on the basis of which we affect the world around us.