Summary
Charles Darwin: The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals
This work by Darwin caused a revolution in the study of emotions, but also a huge interest of experts and the general public.
Along with The Origin of Species by Natural Selection (1859) and The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection (1871), this book on emotions is counted among his three capital works. It is interesting that this book has not been translated into Serbian until now.
Charles Darwin was a great, careful and insightful observer who was able to notice the details of expressions that others missed, and he also had an exceptional gift to describe with words gestures and facial expressions that are hard to grasp. However, he was not satisfied only with a valid description of the external expression of emotions, but was primarily interested in explaining the origin and meaning of these bodily expressions, as well as the role of emotions. Externally visible, often barely perceptible traces of emotions can be a guide to the very being of emotions and their biological and psychological functions. Why does fear and anger make our hair stand on end? Why do we blush with shame? Why is our face and whole body relaxed when we are sad? By decoding the often incomprehensible physical expressions of emotions, Darwin shows us, we get to what is deepest in our soul, to the most intimate and important mental states.
He simply and convincingly explains many mysterious emotional expressions such as, for example, crying from pain and sadness, increased muscle tone and gnashing of teeth from anger, etc.
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