Aristotle on Emotion

When "Aristotle on Emotion" was first published twenty-seven years ago, it broke new ground by showing how discussion within Plato's Academy led to a better understanding of emotional response, and how that understanding influenced Aristotle's work in rhetoric, poetics, politics and ethics. The subject has been much discussed since then: there are numerous articles, anthologies and large portions of books on emotion and related topics. In a new Epilogue to this second edition, W.W. Fortenbaugh takes account of points raised by other scholars and clarifies some of his earlier thoughts, focussing on the central issue: how Aristotle conceived of emotional response. Among other matters, he considers laughter, emotion in relation to belief and appearance, the effect of emotion on judgement, and the involvement of pain and pleasure in emotional response.

W. W. Fortenbaugh is Professor of Classics at Rutgers University.