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This book is an account of the psychology of romantic love in the context of a theory of emotions. The account develops out of studies in brain psychology and the extension to topics in process-philosophy, such as the nature of value and belief, and the central role of feeling in mental process. The approach is subjectivist, that is, from the internal standpoint, and in this respect it differs greatly from the externalist and objectivist trends in modern cognitive science and empiricist philosophy. Love is the ultimate in value, so that a theory of love is also a theory of the nature of value and its relation to feeling, belief, and to drive and desire. The role of intention, reason, and appraisal is critiqued. The relation to other feelings, such as jealousy, envy, anger, loss and grief is discussed in terms of a general theory of emotion and the basis in a process account of the mind/brain state
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LOVE AND OTHER EMOTIONS
LOVE AND OTHER EMOTIONS On the Process of Feeling
Jason W. Brown
First published in 2012 by Karnac Books Ltd 118 Finchley Road London NW3 5HT Copyright © 2012 by Jason W. Brown Figures 1.1, 2.1, and 4.1 were originally published in Brown, J. W. (2010). Neuropsychological Foundations of Conscious Experience. Brussels: Chromatika. Reprinted with permission. The right of Jason W. Brown to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library ISBN-13: 978-1-78049-071-7 Typeset by Vikatan Publishing Solutions (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain www.karnacbooks.com
This book is dedicated to those whose love has given so much meaning to my life; my mother, Sylvia, who guided me to the very end; my wife, Carine, who continues this task with tender charm and deep wisdom; and my sons, Jonathan and Ilya, who make it all worthwhile.
CONTENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ix
PREFACE
xi
CHAPTER ONE Falling in love
1
CHAPTER TWO Theory of the emotions
21
CHAPTER THREE Love and desire
51
CHAPTER FOUR The reconciliation of the emotions: love, envy, and hate
79
CHAPTER FIVE Desire for things
103
vii
viii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER SIX Love and pathology: a note on psychoanalytic theory
127
CHAPTER SEVEN Pornography and perversion
145
CHAPTER EIGHT Kindness and compassion
161
CHAPTER NINE Belief and value
187
CHAPTER TEN Philosophy of romantic love
211
REFERENCES
233
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jason W. Brown has for many years been clinical professor of neurology at New York University Medical Center, with academic appointments in behavioral neurology at Boston University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, and Rockefeller University. He has been adjunct professor at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. He is the recipient of the prestigious Copernicus Award in Poland and has received fellowships for research study in Bonn, Paris, Bucharest, and Moscow, in addition to laboratories in the US. Dr Brown has published ten books and over 200 articles in behavioural neurology and philosophy of mind, the most recent book being Gourmet’s Guide to the Mind (2011). His website is jwbrown.centerforcognition.org.
ix
PREFACE<