Anger is a meaningful act in situation, not a hidden inner event

Evidence

But this point must be clearly understood. In itself a clenched fist is nothing and means nothing. But also we never perceive a clenched fist. We perceive a man who in a certain situation clenches his fist. This meaningful act considered in connection with the past and with possibles and understood in terms of the synthetic totality “body in situation” is the anger. It refers to nothing other than to actions in the world (to strike, insult, etc.); that is, to new meaningful attitudes of the body. We can not get away from the fact that the “psychic object” is entirely released to perception and is inconceivable outside corporeal structures. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 904

Categorization

• DEFINE: The synthetic totality ‘body in situation’ replaces the sign-interpreter model of emotion.
• XREF: Elaborates the body-in-situation concept that undergirds Beauvoir’s analysis of situated freedom. — connects to: Emotions are constitutive conditions giving acts their excellence, not just causes. — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival…, 1004; Emotional behaviors do not express inner states; they are the states — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 904; Effective change combines anger, science, patience, and both particular and systemic understanding. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 97

Broader Connections

• Emotional behaviors do not express inner states; they are the states #expands (0.88) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 904
• Emotions are constitutive conditions giving acts their excellence, not just causes. #expands (0.82) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1004