Passion & Action

Passion and Action is an exploration of the role of the passions in seventeenth-century thought. Susan James offers fresh readings of a broad range of thinkers including such canonical figures as Hobbes Descartes Malebranche Spinoza Pascal and Locke and shows that a full understanding of their philosophies must take account of their interpretations of our affective life. This ground-breaking study throws new light upon the shaping of our ideas about the mind knowledge and action and provides a historical context for burgeoning current debates about the emotions.