Paolo D’Angelo
University of Rome 3
Main goal of my speech will be to discuss some difficulties concerning the application of the embodied simulation theory to the arts, with special regard to visual arts and film.
The first issue to be examined will concern the role that different kinds of emotions play in the arts. It appears that the embodied simulation theory can provide a convincing explanation of the functioning of basic emotions (such as fear, disgust, etc.) in the arts, but have much more difficulties in explaining the elicitation of complex emotions such as shame, embarrassment or homesickness. Now it seems that, if we exclude some popular genres like horror movies, thrillers, tear-jerkers etc., the other kind of emotions is much more important for the arts. Examining the interpretation of a famous painting by Caravaggio, provided by David Freedberg in accordance with the mirror-neurons theory, it will be shown that this interpretation fails to grasp the deep significance of the artwork.
Secondly, I will discuss the answer the embodied simulation theory gives of abstract art. Where there is no human figure or gesture, the gesture of the artist himself during the creation of the artwork should be the cause of the emotional resonance in the observer. Well, but what about most works of abstract art in which it is impossible for the observer to guess how they were produced?
In third place, I will examine the notion of “liberated embodied simulation”. This notion echoes very traditional convictions in philosophical aesthetics, such as disinterestedness, psychical distance etc. The problem is that it is not clear the way embodied simulation can produce a mental state which appears to be its opposite. In conclusion, this theory seems to give exclusive predominance to the affective components of the arts, neglecting their cognitive ones.
Michele Cometa
University of Palermo
My discussion of the role of emotions in literary theory will be in two parts. In the first, I will try to argue for the possibility and necessity of a biopoetics, that is, a literary theory that takes into account the evolution and development of Homo sapiens’ cognitive capacities and of a behaviour (storytelling) that is common to the entire species. Biopoetics has always existed, ever since the time of Aristotle, and has introduced into literary theory several concepts from the sciences of bios, medicine and cognitive sciences ante litteram (empathy, mimesis, katharsis, pleasure, blending, etc.).
In the second part, I will focus on the notion of “liberated embodied simulation", a term that evokes many aesthetic and literary categories, but which is crucial for understanding the development and evolution of Homo Sapiens also on the level of a fundamental anthropology. Instead of looking at aesthetic categories such as disinterestedness, suspension of disbelief, etc., we need to look at the categories of philosophical anthropology such as unburdening/relief, distance and hiatus. These are also important concepts for a theory of human emotions.