Peter Toohey, een professor in klassieke studies, duikt in de aard en geschiedenis van emoties. Zijn werk dringt door tot in de diepten van de menselijke psyche en zoekt naar manieren om de complexe gevoelens die ons vormen te begrijpen. Hij onderzoekt hoe emoties onze ervaring van tijd beïnvloeden en hoe onze opvattingen erover historisch zijn geëvolueerd. Zijn aanpak biedt een verfrissend en levendig perspectief op onderwerpen die vaak als somber worden beschouwd.
Arguing for the benefits of boredom, this title dispels the myth that it's simply a childish emotion or an existential malaise like Jean-Paul Sartre's nausea. It shows how boredom is, in fact, one of our most common and constructive emotions and is an essential part of the human experience.
A witty and insightful investigation into the green-eyed monster's role in our lives Compete, acquire, succeed, enjoy: the pressures of living in today's materialistic world seem predicated upon jealousy--the feelings of rivalry and resentment for possession of whatever the other has. But while our newspapers abound with stories of the sometimes droll, sometimes deadly consequences of sexual jealousy, Peter Toohey argues in this charmingly provocative book that jealousy is much more than the destructive emotion it is commonly assumed to be. It helps as much as it harms. Examining the meaning, history, and value of jealousy, Toohey places the emotion at the core of modern culture, creativity, and civilization--not merely the sexual relationship. His eclectic approach weaves together psychology, art and literature, neuroscience, anthropology, and a host of other disciplines to offer fresh and intriguing contemporary perspectives on violence, the family, the workplace, animal behavior, and psychopathology. Ranging from the streets of London to Pacific islands, and from the classical world to today, this is an elegant, smart, and beautifully illustrated defense of a not-always-deadly sin.