Customer Reviews

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (Penguin Classics)

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This book was written by Charles Darwin and published in 1872, and deals with how both humans and animals express emotions. It contains material that he gathered while writing his book on human evolution, The Descent of Man: The Concise Edition.

He states early on in the book, "No doubt as long as man and all other animals are viewed as independent creations, an effectual stop is put to our natural desire to investigate as far as possible the causes of Expression ... He who admits on general grounds that the structure and habits of all animals have been gradually evolved, will look at the subject of Expression in a new and interesting light."

He articulates three general principles which "throw light on the theory of the subject," namely, "The principle of serviceable associated Habits," "The principle of Antithesis," and "The principle of actions due to the constitution of the Nervous System."

Many of Darwin's observations are interesting, such as:

"(T)he essence of savagery seems to consist in the retention of a primordial condition, and this occasionally holds good even with bodily pecularities."

"The expression here considered, whether that of a playful sneer or ferocious snarl, is one of the most curious which occurs in man. It reveals his animal descent..."

"Blushing is the most peculiar and the most human of all expressions."

This book will interest students of Darwin, and of the development of evolutionary theory.

Published in 1872, this book conforms together with "On the origin of species" (1858) and "The descent of man" (1871) a primordial text of huge value. Its scientific importance resides in showing the genetical aspects determined with behaviour.

Darwin makes an impressive journey around the body language, instincts, facial expressions and how they interelate themselves into the semiotic lexicon. In this sense, C.D preceeds by far the complex universe of behavioural psychology, paving the way for the whole development of this fascinating scientific discipline.

Darwin points to a shared human and animal ancestry in sharp contrast to the arguments deployed in Charles Bell's Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression (1824) which claimed that there were divinely created human muscles to express uniquely human feelings. Bell's famous aphorism on the subject was: "expression is to the passions as language is to thought".

You shouldn't miss this erudite, captivating and revealing book.

I found this book not particularly useful for what I was interested in -- the perception and expression of emotions. Darwin spent most of the book describing the physical mechanisms of expression, muscles and all. He seemed to be concerned to prove the connection of human emotional expression to those of the other animals, something that I pretty much accept already. There were pictures of people's faces, but many of them I found confusing, not clear as to what emotion they were supposed to be showing. Lots of 19th century people, strange to a modern, if that is what I am!