Command or Refine? Cultural Patterns of Cognitively Organizing Emotions
Cultural bodies of knowledge used by the European Ucs since the Middle Ages in order to make their emotions & emotional displays consistent with the exigencies of social life are described relying on diverse writings on man, manners, morals & society. Norbert Elias's hypothesis, in The...
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| Published in: | Theory, culture & society culture & society, 1987-06, Vol.4 (2-3), p.489-514 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Cultural bodies of knowledge used by the European Ucs since the Middle Ages in order to make their emotions & emotional displays consistent with the exigencies of social life are described relying on diverse writings on man, manners, morals & society. Norbert Elias's hypothesis, in The Civilizing Process (see IRPS No. 31/83c00199 & 83c00200), that the bodily expression of affects was more & more strictly controlled & repressed is not confirmed due to insufficiently valid indicators; however, the changing moral assessment of emotional sincerity or dissimulation proves to be an important indicator for thoroughly different modes of sociomoral thought. It is demonstrated that, as to psychological acumen & behavioral rationality, the seventeenth century's "political prudence" is equally superior to the thirteenth century's "knightly" & the late eighteenth century's "civil" virtue. It is suggested that this superiority in sociomoral reasoning developed while coping with the fundamental erosion of social structure, & hence of moral consensus, in the process of state-formation. By comparison the higher structural & moral stability of both intact feudal societies & settled nation-states prescribe modes of behavioral control that are less efficient intellectually but more deeply ingrained in feelings. The advantageous & destructive aspects of sentimental morals within modern societies are also discussed. 50 References. Modified AA |
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| ISSN: | 0263-2764 1460-3616 |