In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

7 On the Pleasures of the Mind Michael Kubovy Pleasures ofthe mind are different from pleasures of the body. There are two types ofpleasures ofthe body: tonic pleasures and relief pleasures. Pleasures of the body are given by the contact senses and by the distance senses (seeing and hearing). The distance senses provide a special category ofpleasure. Pleasures ofthe mind are not emotions; they are collections of emotions distributed over time. Some distributions of emotions over time are particularly pleasurable, such as episodes in which the peak emotion is strong and the final emotion is positive. The idea that all pleasurable stimuli share some general characteristic should be supplanted by the idea that humans have evolved domain-specific responses of attraction to stimuli. The emotions that characterize pleasures of the mind arise when expectations are violated, causing autonomic nervous system arousal and thereby triggering a search for an interpretation. Thus, pleasures ofthe mind occur when an individual has a definite set ofexpectations (usually tacit) and the wherewithal to interpret the violation (usually by placing it in a narrative framework). Pleasures of the mind differ in the objects of the emotions they comprise. There is probably a small number of categories ofobjects of emotions that we share with other mammals. I discuss two: the unknown (giving rise to curiosity) and skill (giving rise to virtuosity), two others being nurturing and sociality. There is also a uniquely human category of objects of emotion: suffering . Don't make it a matter of course, but as a remarkable fact, that pictures and fictitious narratives give us pleasure, occupy our minds. -Wittgenstein 1958, ยง524 IT IS EASIER to point to pleasures of the mind than to define them. Imagine you're ending a magnificent meal with good friends at Troisgros with the celebrated feu de pommes-Granny Smith apple tartlets, topped with caramelized confectioners' sugar and covered with a sauce of warmed acacia honey, calvados, and lemon juice (Lang 1988, 31) accompanied by a Coteau du Layon (Loire) sweet chenin blanc.I Now remove the elements that made this a marvelous experience, except for the food. You eat the same dessert alone at home, on your everyday dishes, without having anticipated the delectable food or wine. What you have lost are pleasures of the mind. I do not wish to imply that you have lost all the pleasures of the mind or that the pleasures that remain are just pleasures of the body. We can take the opposite tack, as the following anecdote suggests: My friend, a French painter and Resistance fighter, was put in a concentration camp by the Nazis. Evety evening during his long incarceration, he and two or three of his fellow prisoners ... entirely by means of conversation and gestures ... dressed for dinner in immaculate white shirts that did not exist, and placed, at times with some difficulty because of the starched material that wasn't there, pearl or ruby studs and cuff links in those shirts.... They drank Chateauneuf-du-Pape throughout the meal and Chateau d'Yquem with the dessert pastry. . . . There were certain restaurants they did not patronize a second time because the lobster had been overcooked. . . . On the evenings that they saw themselves as men of letters, they quoted from the great poets while they dined. (Boyle 1985, 88) We have removed the food; what we have retained are pleasures of the mind. The notion of pleasures of the mind goes back to Epicurus (341-270 B.C.E.) who regarded pleasures of the mind as superior to pleasures of the body because they were more varied and durable.2 As Cabanac (1995) remarks, these pleasures have been neglected by contemporary psychology. Their scope and their differentiation from other pleasures and from emotions need to be explored and eventually specified. As we embark on our exploration, we must avoid being too restrictive. You might identifY the pleasures of the mind with aesthetic pleasures- the pleasures of listening to music, hearing poetry, or attending a play. But what you or I have learned to call aesthetic pleasures may not be universal . Some cultures, such as the BaAka pygmies, do not make a distinction between listening to music, performing it, and dancing to it.3 Other cultures, such as certain Bedouin societies, have forms of poetry that cannot be interpreted unless it is known who recited the poem and under what circumstances (Abu-Lughod 1986). You might identify the pleasures of the mind with intellectual pleasures-the pleasures of hearing...

Share