Giuseppe Sergi’s peripheral theory of emotion and the response of William James. Some critical remarks on Dolore e Piacere (1894)

In 1894 Giuseppe Sergi, one of the chief representatives of the late 19th- and early 20th-century mind sciences in Italy, published Dolore e piacere – a book outlining a theory of emotions that attempted to define their origin, nature, development, and anatomical loci. In Sergi’s own words, the book represented an advancement in the discussion (begun some years before by William James and Carl Lange) on the peripheral theory of emotions. James’ response to Sergi’s study was quite harsh: in 1895, he published a review of Sergi’s book that emphasized its outdatedness and the superficiality of the theory it introduced. This paper offers a detailed analysis of Sergi’s theory of emotions – which has not yet received significant attention by scholars – by evaluating it in light of James’ critical remarks