Denken hilft. Folge 16: Is there a history of feelings?

Walter Ötsch in conversation with Rob Boddice



Rob Boddice is a Senior Researcher at the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in the History of Experiences, Tampere in Finland. He is an expert in the history of medicine, of science and emotions.

Combining historical and neuroscience knowledge Rob Boddice argues that people in different centuries feel differently. He gives examples from Homer's Iliad (Achilles' “anger”), the Middle Ages (Hildegard von Bingen's “love”) and from modern times.  Eg. Hildegard “sees” a special form of love.

hat leads to the question, how are feelings and perceptions are connected. What can we learn from it for our own perceptions? About the way we feel emotions? Do we live a happy society? Or have we become uncaring and insensitive? And what does that mean for the emotional politics of the right-wing populists?

Aufgezeichnet am 1. September 2023