View source for Are Emotions Natural Kinds

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[[keyname::2006-Barrett]]
[[author::Barrett, L.F.]]
[[year::2006]]
[[cite/author::Barrett 2006]]
[[title::Are Emotions Natural Kinds?]]
[[published in::Perspectives on Psychological Science]]
[[cite/source::''Perspectives on Psychological Science'', 1, 28-58]]

[[abstract::Laypeople and scientists alike believe that they know anger, or sadness, or fear, when they see it. These emotions and a few others are presumed to have specific causal mechanisms in the brain and properties that are observable (on the face, in the voice, in the body, or in experience) &ndash; that is, they are assumed to be natural kinds. If a given emotion is a natural kind and can be identified objectively, then it is possible to make discoveries about emotion. Indeed, the scientific study of emotion is founded on this assumption. In this article, I review the accumulating empirical evidence that is inconsistent with the view that there are kinds of emotion with boundaries that are carved in nature. I then consider what moving beyond a natural-kind view might mean for the scientific understanding of emotion.]]
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