104
Views
17
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Are Frijda's “Laws of Emotion” Empirical?

Pages 435-456 | Received 08 Apr 1991, Published online: 07 Jan 2008
 

Abstract

It is argued that 12 allegedly empirical “laws” of emotion, formulated by Frijda, are actually non-empirical, that is, a priori and necessarily true. It is shown that they can be derived from plausible definitions of the terms involved and presuppositions (axioms) that cannot be meaningfully denied. Given that the “laws” of Frijda are a priori and necessarily true, the evidence cited in their support must be reinterpreted as merely indicating that the diagnostic and investigatory procedures involved have been adequate. Conversely, evidence not consistent with the laws must be taken to indicate that the diagnostic and investigatory procedures have been faulty. The introduction of formal definitions of psychological terms and explicit statements of what is presupposed (axioms) is important for two purposes. First, it enables one to make a clear distinction between the non-empirical and the empirical which is important in order to prevent a waste of resources on pseudo-empirical research (attempting to test a priori and necessarily true propositions by empirical methods). Secondly, formalisation enables one to make inferences from given descriptive or general propositions, in other words, to derive outcomes and possibilities.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.