32 The pragmatics of emotion, argument and conflict
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Tim Wharton
Abstract
This chapter synthesizes an account of emotions and emotion-reading that fits with work on emotions in cognitive science (Cosmides and Tooby 2000; Deonna and Teroni 2012) and cognitive models of pragmatics (Blakemore 2002; Carston 2001; Sperber and Wilson [1986] 1995, 2015; Wilson 2015). From cognitive science, we adopt two ideas: firstly, that an emotion is a kind of superordinate cognitive mechanism, the function of which is to mobilize cognitive processes responsible for perception and attention, physiological changes, etc.; secondly, that emotions are viewed as attitudes bearing on evaluations. Our account builds on these observations using relevance-theoretic pragmatics. The kind of information conveyed during emotional communication puts the user into a state in which emotional procedures are highly activated, and are therefore much more likely to be recognized and selected by an audience (Wharton 2009, 2015). Central to this thinking is the idea that the notion of cognitive effect needs to be complemented by a new notion of affective effect, typically activated by emotion-reading procedures. Our account can be extended to all emotional states, but we concentrate here on positive and negative states, with particular attention paid to their role in argumentation, epistemic attitudes and poetic artefacts (de Saussure 2013, forthcoming).
Abstract
This chapter synthesizes an account of emotions and emotion-reading that fits with work on emotions in cognitive science (Cosmides and Tooby 2000; Deonna and Teroni 2012) and cognitive models of pragmatics (Blakemore 2002; Carston 2001; Sperber and Wilson [1986] 1995, 2015; Wilson 2015). From cognitive science, we adopt two ideas: firstly, that an emotion is a kind of superordinate cognitive mechanism, the function of which is to mobilize cognitive processes responsible for perception and attention, physiological changes, etc.; secondly, that emotions are viewed as attitudes bearing on evaluations. Our account builds on these observations using relevance-theoretic pragmatics. The kind of information conveyed during emotional communication puts the user into a state in which emotional procedures are highly activated, and are therefore much more likely to be recognized and selected by an audience (Wharton 2009, 2015). Central to this thinking is the idea that the notion of cognitive effect needs to be complemented by a new notion of affective effect, typically activated by emotion-reading procedures. Our account can be extended to all emotional states, but we concentrate here on positive and negative states, with particular attention paid to their role in argumentation, epistemic attitudes and poetic artefacts (de Saussure 2013, forthcoming).
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Introduction xvii
-
A Emotion Research – General Aspects
- 1 A survey of emotion theories and their relevance to language research 1
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I Affective sciences: Theories of emotion and their linguistic relevance
- 2 Language and emotion in the history of linguistics 31
- 3 Emotion and language in philosophy 54
- 4 Anthropological theories of emotion 73
- 5 Linguistic theories of emotion 84
- 6 Psychological theories of emotion and their relationship with language 103
- 7 Cognitive approaches to emotion and semantics 147
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II Methods of emotion research and their linguistic relevance
- 8 Qualitative methods 163
- 9 Quantitative and behavioral studies 183
- 10 Quantitative and physiological measures 201
- 11 Linguistic data resources for computational emotion sensing and modeling 226
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B Perspectives in Semiotics, Linguistics, and Communication Theory
- 12 A survey of language-based approaches and their relation to emotions 253
-
III Language history and language change
- 13 Historical aspects of linguistic and emotional changes 281
- 14 Expressions of emotion and linguistic change 302
- 15 Historical semantic and linguistic history of thinking 324
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IV Semiotics of emotion
- 16 Semiotic conceptions of emotion 341
- 17 Multimodality, facial expression, and emotional language 364
- 18 Emotion and communication design 385
- 19 Emotion, colour, and language 403
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V Grammatical dimensions of emotion research
- 20 Morphology and emotion 423
- 21 Interjections and other emotional communicative acts 442
- 22 Morphosyntactic structure and emotion 472
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VI Semantics and the expression of emotion
- 23 Affective meaning in language 489
- 24 Vocabulary of emotions and its development in English, German and other languages 511
- 25 The use of emotion lexicon in emotion research 532
- 26 Emotions and figurative language 549
- 27 Studying emotion effects in language 570
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VII Language action and the processing of emotion
- 28 Pragmatics and emotions in social contexts 589
- 29 Rhetoric, stylistics, and emotion 606
- 30 Deception and emotion 636
- 31 Apologies, forgiveness and the social perception of emotions 650
- 32 The pragmatics of emotion, argument and conflict 664
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Introduction xvii
-
A Emotion Research – General Aspects
- 1 A survey of emotion theories and their relevance to language research 1
-
I Affective sciences: Theories of emotion and their linguistic relevance
- 2 Language and emotion in the history of linguistics 31
- 3 Emotion and language in philosophy 54
- 4 Anthropological theories of emotion 73
- 5 Linguistic theories of emotion 84
- 6 Psychological theories of emotion and their relationship with language 103
- 7 Cognitive approaches to emotion and semantics 147
-
II Methods of emotion research and their linguistic relevance
- 8 Qualitative methods 163
- 9 Quantitative and behavioral studies 183
- 10 Quantitative and physiological measures 201
- 11 Linguistic data resources for computational emotion sensing and modeling 226
-
B Perspectives in Semiotics, Linguistics, and Communication Theory
- 12 A survey of language-based approaches and their relation to emotions 253
-
III Language history and language change
- 13 Historical aspects of linguistic and emotional changes 281
- 14 Expressions of emotion and linguistic change 302
- 15 Historical semantic and linguistic history of thinking 324
-
IV Semiotics of emotion
- 16 Semiotic conceptions of emotion 341
- 17 Multimodality, facial expression, and emotional language 364
- 18 Emotion and communication design 385
- 19 Emotion, colour, and language 403
-
V Grammatical dimensions of emotion research
- 20 Morphology and emotion 423
- 21 Interjections and other emotional communicative acts 442
- 22 Morphosyntactic structure and emotion 472
-
VI Semantics and the expression of emotion
- 23 Affective meaning in language 489
- 24 Vocabulary of emotions and its development in English, German and other languages 511
- 25 The use of emotion lexicon in emotion research 532
- 26 Emotions and figurative language 549
- 27 Studying emotion effects in language 570
-
VII Language action and the processing of emotion
- 28 Pragmatics and emotions in social contexts 589
- 29 Rhetoric, stylistics, and emotion 606
- 30 Deception and emotion 636
- 31 Apologies, forgiveness and the social perception of emotions 650
- 32 The pragmatics of emotion, argument and conflict 664
