on page 68-69 Damasio says - in relation to a patient
who received a certain treatment for Parkinson's disease
- and had a contrary reaction - to that expected -
'...the presence of thoughts capable of causing sadness -
the presence of emotionally competent stimuli. Except
of course that no such thoughts had been present prior
to the unexpected incident; nor was the patient prone
to having such thoughts spontaneously. Emotion related
thoughts only came after the emotion began'
the presence of thoughts capable of causing sadness
again Spinoza's definition of emotion -
'I understand the modifications of the body by which
the power or action of the body is increased or
diminished, aided or restrained, and at the same
time the ideas of these modifications'
and sadness - III. prop.11 Scholium -
'We see that the mind can suffer great changes,
and can pass to a greater and now lesser perfection:
the passions explaining to us the affects of joy
and sorrow. By joy therefore in what follows, I shall
understand the passion by which the mind passes to a
greater perfection; by sorrow, on the other hand,
the passion by which it passes to a lesser perfection.'
so - thoughts capable of causing sadness
does Spinoza think that thoughts cause sadness?
sadness is on his view a modification of the body by
which the power or action of the body is diminished
and the idea of this modification
the idea - as well as the altered physical state -
is sadness
a change in the body - as for example describe by
Damasio in his example - in so far as it leads to
a diminishing of capability - will be accompanied
by the idea of this change - in this case - sadness
so - in this case - there is a change of state
in the person - resulting in diminished action -
and the idea of this
Spinoza does not say one causes the other
that the change in the body causes the change
in the mind
his perspective is that there is a modification
in the mode which expresses itself in a change
in the capacity to act and the idea of this
sadness in this case is a name for such a modification
its expression is physical and at the same time mental
so on this interpretation
thoughts per se do not cause sadness
sadness - as a thought is the idea of a loss of power -
that is the same event as the body's loss of capacity
and this is the emotion
the emotion of sadness is not one aspect of this state
of affairs - it is both aspects
so
'emotion related thoughts only came about after the
emotion began'
I think for Spinoza - 'emotion related thoughts' -
just is the emotion - some change of potency
as revealed in thought (and act)
the thinking that is sad is the emotion expressed
in thought
so - from Spinoza's point of view - it makes no
sense to speak of emotion and 'emotion related thoughts'
this is a confusion
for they just are one in the same
for Spinoza - it's not as if there is some kind of
faculty we call emotion which has certain kinds of
thoughts - or doesn't - so it can be either a full
warehouse or an empty one
such thoughts - i.e. - joyous or sorrowful are the
emotion (as expressed through the mind) - in the body
the emotion is expressed in a change in physical capacity.
