Western philosophy regarded emotion in varying ways. In stoic theories it was seen as a hindrance to reason and therefore a hindrance to virtue. Aristotle believed that emotions were an essential component of virtue. In the Aristotelian view all emotions (called passions) corresponded to appetites or capacities. During the Middle Ages, the Aristotelian view was adopted and further developed by scholasticism and Thomas Aquinas in particular. There are also theories of emotions in the works of philosophers such as René Descartes, Niccolò Machiavelli, Baruch Spinoza and David Hume. In the 19th century emotions were considered adaptive and were studied more frequently from an empiricist psychiatric perspective. COUNT 5
QSN1 What school of thought saw emotion as an impediment to virtue? ANS1 stoic QSN2 What thinker believed that emotions were necessary for virtue? ANS2 Aristotle QSN3 What did the Aristotelians call emotions? ANS3 passions QSN4 Who was a notable scholastic thinker? ANS4 Thomas Aquinas QSN5 Along with Descartes, Machiavelli and Hume, what notable philosopher developed a theory of emotions? ANS5 Baruch Spinoza