The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

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The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

Author	Charles Darwin
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Evolutionary theory, human behaviour
Publisher	John Murray
Publication date	1872

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is Charles Darwin's third major work of evolutionary theory, following On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). Initially intended as a chapter in The Descent of Man, The Expression grew in length and was published separately in 1872. This book concerns the biological aspects of emotional behavior, and Darwin explores the animal origins of such human characteristics as smiling and frowning, the shrugging of shoulders, the lifting of the eyebrows in surprise, and the baring of teeth in an angry sneer. A German translation of The Expression appeared in 1872; Dutch and French versions followed in 1873 and 1874. Since its first publication, The Expression has never been out of print, but it has also been described as Darwin's "forgotten masterpiece"; psychologist Paul Ekman has argued that The Expression is the foundational text for modern scientific psychology.

Before Darwin, human emotional life had posed problems to the traditional philosophical categories of mind and body.^[1][2] Darwin's interest can be traced to his time as an Edinburgh medical student and the 1824 edition of Sir Charles Bell's Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression which argued for a spiritual dimension to the subject. In contrast, Darwin's biological approach links emotions to their origins in animal behaviour, and allows cultural factors only an auxiliary role in the shaping of expression. This biological emphasis leads to a concentration on six different emotional states: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust. It also leads to an appreciation of the universal nature of expression, with its implication of a single origin for the entire human species; and Darwin points to the importance of emotional communication with children in their psychological development. Darwin sought out the opinions of some leading psychiatrists, notably James Crichton-Browne, in the preparation of the book which forms his main contribution to psychology.^[3]

Amongst the innovations with this book are Darwin's circulation of a questionnaire (probably inspired by his cousin, Francis Galton) during his preparatory research; simple psychology experiments ^[4] on the recognition of emotions with his friends and family; and (borrowing from Duchenne de Boulogne, a physician at the Salpêtrière) the use of photography in his presentation of scientific information. Publisher John Murray warned Darwin that including the photographs would "poke a hole in the profits" of the book and withheld the publication of some which are discussed in the text. Nevertheless, The Expression of the Emotions is an important landmark in the history of book illustration.