Charles Darwin

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Charles Darwin

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

The expression of emotions in man and animals is the third major work in the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, after the origin of species (1859) and The origin of man (1871). Initially conceived as a chapter in The Descent of Man, The Expression grew in length and was published separately in 1872. This book deals with the biological aspects of emotional life, and Darwin explores the animal origins of human characteristics such as the rising of the eyebrows in moments of surprise and mental confusion that typically accompanies blush. A German translation of The Expression appeared in 1872; The Dutch and French versions followed in 1873 and 1874. A second edition of the book, with only minor modifications, was published in 1890. Since its first publication, The Expression has never been out of print, but has also been described as Darwin's "masterpiece. forgotten ".

Before Darwin, human emotional life had posed problems for the Western philosophical categories of mind and body. Darwin's interest dates back to his time as a medical student and Sir Charles Bell's 1824 edition of Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression, which advocated a spiritual dimension to the subject. In contrast, Darwin's biological approach links emotions to their origins in animal behavior and allows cultural factors to play only an auxiliary role in shaping expression. This biological emphasis leads to a concentration on six emotional states: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. It also leads to an appreciation of the universal character of the expression, with its implication of a single origin for the entire human species; and Darwin points out the importance of emotional communication with children in their psychological development. Darwin sought the opinions of some of the leading British psychiatrists, notably James Crichton-Browne, in preparing the book which constitutes his main contribution to psychology.

Among the innovations of this book is the distribution of a questionnaire by Darwin (probably inspired by his cousin, Francis Galton) during his preparatory research; simple psychology experiments on emotion recognition with his friends and family; and (borrowing from Duchenne de Boulogne, physician de la Salpêtrière) the use of photography in his presentation of scientific information. Publisher John Murray warned Darwin that including the photographs would "put a hole in the profit" of the book, and Expression of Emotions is an important milestone in the history of book illustration.