Shame and Philosophy - by P Hutchinson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Engaging with current research in the philosophy of emotions, both analytic and continental, the author argues that reductionist accounts of emotions leave us in a state of poverty regarding our understanding of our world and of ourselves.

Review Quotes

'Phil Hutchinson offers an incisive, insightful and deeply humane New Wittgensteinian critique of a number of influential accounts of the emotions, including shame. That too many philosophers have marginalized the 'person' in their accounts that they have forgotten the place of the emotions in human lives and in the life-world is the shame of philosophy.' - Katherine Morris, Oxford University

'A fine work: not only does it provide convincing answers to important questions, it also reveals the limitations - and cures some of the blindspots - of much contemporary research on emotions. The discussion of cognitivism is particularly subtle, while the perspicuous presentation of the lived experience of shame might help to resolve some crucial theoretical aporias about the nature and the significance of being a person.' - Anthony Hatzimoysis, The University of Manchester

'Hutchinson's book is a thoughtful, thorough and interesting work. He offers many striking reflections on emotion, language and, specifically, shame. In showing how different conceptions of emotions are based on problematic conceptions of language, he also goes much deeper than philosophers usually when they write about this subject.' - Ylva Gustafsson, Philosophical Investigations

About the Author

PHIL HUTCHINSON is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. His philosophical interests include Wittgenstein and Philosophical Method, Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Emotions, Film, and Rhetoric and Informal Logic.