Strong Feelings: Emotion, Addiction, and Human BehaviorEmotion and addiction lie on a continuum between simple visceral drives such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire at one end and calm, rational decision making at the other. Although emotion and addiction involve visceral motivation, they are also closely linked to cognition and culture. They thus provide the ideal vehicle for Jon Elster's study of the interrelation between three explanatory approaches to behavior: neurobiology, culture, and choice. The book is organized around parallel analyses of emotion and addiction in order to bring out similarities as well as differences. Elster's study sheds fresh light on the generation of human behavior, ultimately revealing how cognition, choice, and rationality are undermined by the physical processes that underlie strong emotions and cravings. This book will be of particular interest to those studying the variety of human motivations who are dissatisfied with the prevailing reductionisms. *Not for sale in Belgium, France, or Switzerland. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Emotion | 13 |
22 What Emotions There Are | 20 |
Phenomenological Analysis | 25 |
Causal Analysis | 42 |
Addiction | 51 |
32 What Addictions There Are | 56 |
Phenomenological Analysis | 58 |
42 Culture and Emotion | 98 |
43 Culture and Addiction | 114 |
Choice Emotion and Addiction | 135 |
52 Choice and Emotion | 149 |
53 Choice and Addiction | 165 |
Conclusion | 193 |
Notes | 207 |
References | 229 |
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Common terms and phrases
abstain action tendency addictive behavior addictive cravings addictive substances agent alco alcohol amphetamine amygdala anger animals argued arousal beliefs bicameralism binge brain Cambridge causal chemical addictions cigarette cited cocaine compulsive compulsive gambling concept consequences consume consumption costs cue-dependent culture desire discussed dopamine drinkers dysphoria Elster emotion and addiction emotional dispositions emotions and cravings envy euphoria example experience fact fear feel Frijda gamblers gambling George Loewenstein guilt Heath heavy drinking hedonic hyperbolic discounting idea important individuals induce instance intentional objects irrational irrationality LeDoux limerence Loewenstein M. A. Screech mechanism motivated neurobiology nicotine observed occur occurrent emotions one's Oxford pain person physiological placebo preference reversal produced rational addiction rational choice relapse reward reward-sensitive risk Robinson and Berridge self-control shame smoking social norms societies Sournia Stendhal strategy theory tion University Press valence values visceral whereas withdrawal York