Author:
Stella Villarmea
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The book Pride—Sin or Virtue? History and Phenomenology of a Janus-Faced Emotion by Ricardo Parellada combines two timely fields of research: the history and the phenomenology of emotions. These fields are usually cultivated independently, but here they are taken to be complementary. Without a sound articulation of both, we cannot grasp and analyze thoroughly the richness of human emotional life. This book deals with one of the most ambiguous and paradoxical emotions: pride can be a very noble feeling, but also the worst of sins.

Pride has been the object of recent and sustained monographs. The author of this essay holds that the ambiguity and richness of pride explains this interest and argues that other treatments fail to account for them and for their varied historical and philosophical implications. This is what this book aims at. In order to do so, the initial linguistic and conceptual analysis paves the way for the two journeys offered: historical and philosophical.

Although this is a philosophical essay, it resorts to a variety of historical, literary and theological sources in order to deal with Greek hubris, the sins of man and the angel or Faustus’ cravings. It can be enjoyed by a variety of readers interested in Philosophy, the Humanities or the History of Religions. Philosophical analysis leads to the phenomenology of pride, where the historical and philosophical variations come together.

In addition, when dealing with contemporary forms of pride, the author resorts to key Spanish philosophers and writers, such as Ortega, Unamuno and Machado. For instance, he offers a thesis on the similarities and differences between the feeling of resentment, analyzed by Nietzsche, and what the author calls, following Ortega, the feeling of mass pride. Thus, the Brill Series Philosophy in Spain is a good fit for this book.

Stella Villarmea

Editor, Philosophy in Spain Series

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