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The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

Charles Darwin

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 1,084 ratings · 90 reviews

Synopsis Published in 1872, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was a book at the very heart of Darwin's research interests - a central pillar of his 'human' series. This book engaged some of the hardest questions in the evolution debate, and it showed the ever-cautious Darwin at his boldest. If Darwin had one goal with Expression , it was to demonstrate the ...more

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Hardcover, 252 pages

Published August 14th 2006 by IndyPublish.com (first published 1872)

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Sep 12, 2015 Corinne rated it really liked it

Shelves: dignity, positive, non-fiction

Let me tell you how I got to this book.

You may already know the dictum of Jean Paul Sartre about animals as ‘animated things’, that is animals are moving things without emotions. This has revolted me always, but only recently I delved into this, subsequent to my encounter with a calf.

I have been observing this calf being licked tenderly by its mother cow, particularly on his head. This is a calf that always stays away from the rest of the calves. Then, after he came to see me over a number of d ...more

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Apr 10, 2008 Meirav Rath rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: historians, Darwin fans, human behavior fans

Shelves: zoology

This book is more a historical document than a scientific paper, by today's requirements for scientific documents.
Darwing collects here his notes on the expressions of humans with a single chapter about animals and some referrences to monkeys, so the title is highly misleading (it annoyed me, anyways).

Despite that, this work is at the root of understanding both human and animal behavior and the three principles of expression are now evidently the base of every modern theory on animal and human b ...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Joshua Nomen-Mutatio rated it really liked it

Shelves: ethology, cognitive-science-and-or-psychology, evolutionary-theory

Read it for free:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1227 ...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Catherine O'Sullivan rated it it was ok

Shelves: victorian

Warning: if you read this book in a public space - like, say, a Subway - you will absent-mindedly start contorting your face in line with the facial expressions described in this book.

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Nov 18, 2018 Amirography rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cognitive-science, philosophy

Under-appreciated historic classic and sadly, most updated textbook we have on the subject.

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Jul 20, 2009 lixy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-nature-language

Make sure you read the Paul Ekman-edited new version. Darwin, of course, is a genius, and this book seems so modern so as to be unimpressive for our era. It was ahead of its time in its cross-cultural analysis in Darwin's era, and even in the 60s Darwin's theories caused a scandal in the anthropology field between a then-established Margaret Mead, and the young Paul Ekman. Do not skip the intro, where this fascinating meta-story is told! ...more

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Sep 29, 2017 Mohamedridha Alaskari محمد رضا العسكري rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: psychology, biology

Charles Darwin has started his argument in this book on three principles;
1- the movements which are serviceable in gratifying some desire or in relieving some sensation.
2- Antithesis: the habit of voluntarily performing opposite movements under opposite impulses has become firmly established in us by the practice of our whole lives.
3- The direct action of the excited nervous system on the body, independently of the will, and independently, in large part, of the habit.

On the one hand I have seen ...more

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Jun 25, 2014 Mengsen Zhang rated it really liked it

Darwin was definitely a genius! This book reveals him as an ultra observant naturalist and have great imagination and abstraction. Among the three principles of expression, the 2nd- the principle of antithesis - reminded me a lot of ancient greek thoughts, e.g. unity of the opposites, - and a much neglected point by modern neuroscientists.
Nonetheless, one thing he struggled too much about is to find *one* or *only a few* reasons for the origin of the expression of a specific emotion. I may thin ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Kio added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-english

I don't think I'm ever going to finish this cover to cover so here goes...

Good book. Obviously not a story, but it's a fascinating observation of how emotions are expressed. Darwin well documents where all his deduction comes from, if he suspects the credibility of anything and why... and so on. If you're studying Enlightenment/Humanities/anything along those lines, it's also a good firsthand look into the MO and influences of thinkers of the time.

Nevermind how notable Darwin is. ...more

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Nov 09, 2017 Xander rated it liked it · review of another edition

In On the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin explained how species originate via a continuous process of natural selection that shapes organisms, over eons of time, into the funtioning complexities that they are, suited for a particular way of life. In The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin applied his theory of evolution by natural selection to mankind. The difference between mankind and animals is one of degree, not of kind: there are vestiges in man of our animal past and there are primitive ...more

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Dec 22, 2013 Bob Nichols rated it it was ok · review of another edition

In this book Darwin writes mostly about the overt expressions of emotions, not about their evolutionary function or, for that matter, what constitutes an emotion (versus sensation, feeling, affect, passion). And, at times, it's not clear if Darwin is describing an emotion itself or its expression. The value of this book, following his "Origins" and "Descent" books, is that Darwin suggests a universal innateness in certain human emotional expressions and their close tie to the non-human animal wo In this book Darwin writes mostly about the overt expressions of emotions, not about their evolutionary function or, for that matter, what constitutes an emotion (versus sensation, feeling, affect, passion). And, at times, it's not clear if Darwin is describing an emotion itself or its expression. The value of this book, following his "Origins" and "Descent" books, is that Darwin suggests a universal innateness in certain human emotional expressions and their close tie to the non-human animal world.

Darwin opens this book by outlining three principles that explain these expressions, but his discussion was not all that understandable. His first principle is that our (animal?) ancestors voluntary actions became reinforced by habit before becoming fixed as an inherited characteristic. I didn't understand this. An emotional expression seems to be more like a byproduct of an underlying emotion that was formed by fortuitous mutation and selected by natural selection. For example, it's likely that reptiles didn't "choose" to be fearful, but those with fearful responses were able to survive and pass along this capacity and the physiological expressions that go along with it to succeeding generations. I also didn't understand the significance of Darwin's second principle of antithesis whereby "actions of a directly opposite kind, though of no use, should be unconsciously performed through habit and association, under the influence of a directly opposite sensation or emotion," and that these expressions become "hereditary through long practice." For illustration, Darwin might be referring in part to "sympathy," where we mirror certain actions that we are performing, such as moving our "jaws simultaneously with the blades of the scissors." His third principle involves clear expressions that come directly from the nervous system, independent of the will and largely independent of habit. Here Darwin appears to align himself with Spencer's argument about the "overflow of nervous energy."

Darwin's theory seems Lamarckian: Do something good long enough and it becomes inherited. His theory is strikingly similar to Spencer's 1852 critique of Alexander Bain (Darwin's book has numerous references to both). Spencer uses a Lamarck-like argument to demonstrate the development of emotions from "lower" life forms, and from the lower emotions of human "savages" who are focused only on immediate desires, to the sophisticated, cognition-infused higher emotions of "civilized" peoples. These higher-level emotions, Spencer states, then become hereditary: "We know that emotional characteristics...are hereditary; and the differences between civilized nations descended from the same stock show us the cumulative results of small modifications hereditarily transmitted." This type of argument was pre-Mendel, and we now have a significantly different view how new traits develop, genetically. Spencer's argument also stands in stark contrast to what some modern-day neuroscience says about emotions - that the primal impulses and responses in lowly reptiles, and the social emotions of mammals and primates, are very much operative in all humans, today, no matter how civilized they are. In other words, while the neo-cortex adds to the pot, the stew is essentially the same. In part, Darwin's "Expressions" book makes an argument for universal emotions and their expression, but his argument regarding their origins may not be at all accurate.

Darwin discusses "emotions and sensations" as if they are emotional reactions (fear, anger) to an outside stimulus, but elsewhere he hints that emotions are inner needs that push the self outward. He mentions that certain actions "relieve or gratify certain sensations, desires, &c" and refers to "desire or sensation," suggesting that emotions are outgoing actions and the expression of internal need (i.e., we give an emotional response to an external stimulus). I have no clue what "&c" refers to and it adds to the confusion. With his emphasis on expression versus underlying emotion itself, Darwin does not clarify that a single expression may have more than one emotional impetus. For example, ill-temper and its various expressions may be the result of chronic bodily pain, or from a perpetual anger at negative stimuli from the outside, the inability of the self to satisfy its needs and desires, or it may be just poor body chemistry.

Darwin's strongest discussion is on the expressions (blushing, shyness, shame) coming from unwanted self-attention. This was excellent. While good, and acknowledging the difficult historical context for this sort of a book, Darwin's discussion takes our insight about emotions only so far. Darwin says these expressions from unwanted attention are due to concern about what others think, but he does not indicate why this should be a concern at all. For that answer, the reader must go to Darwin's "Descent" and his discussion of our tribal nature. ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Prooost Davis rated it really liked it

When presented the theory of evolution, Darwin's contemporaries were willing to agree with it up to a point, but many people still wanted to believe that humans were a special case (uniquely created by God), much too advanced intellectually and morally to be related to the lower animals; others were upset that the theory said that Europeans were related to races they considered savage. Darwin wrote this book, as well as "Descent of Man," to demonstrate the similarities in behavior between man an ...more

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Mar 21, 2014 Philippe Malzieu rated it it was amazing

For everybody, Darwin is only associated wit the theory of évolution. By this book, the last one, he is also one of the father of éthology, the science of animal comportment.
He defines 6 elementary feelings which are for him universal in the animal kingdom. Things evolved. There are now computing tools to model the feelings. The eyebrow plays a major role in this expression. Darwin had noted its relative immobility to the chimpanzee. According to Popper, it would contradict the theory.
We know ...more

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Oct 29, 2014 Dominique Renison rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Incredibly interesting book, while some parts are funny by todays standards (sometimes the comparisons with retards/mentally ill and aboriginals is a bit racist and non PC to the point of being laugh out loud hilarious) it is a very educational piece of work which gives a excellent analysis of which emotions and expressions are innate and which are learned. Darwin was such a revolutionary thinker. I enjoy anything he wrote.

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Jun 04, 2009 Valerie added it

This book made my skin crawl, frankly. I never had any doubt that human emotions were the same as 'animal' emotions, and were often expressed the same way. But Darwin's description of his research strategy reveals appalling cruelty in the way animals (particularly zoo animals) were treated in the Victorian era--there are several descriptions of how animals resond to being beaten, for example. ...more

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Mar 31, 2017 Nikos Korexenidis rated it it was ok

Shelves: body-language, social, biology

Outdated. Only useful as historical reference. Paul Ekman has better book for facial expressions

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Mar 04, 2018 Rossdavidh rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brown

Charles Darwin first became famous for his book "Voyage of the Beagle" (the actual title was a lot longer than that), and is of course best remembered for writing "On the Origin of Species". If this book is remembered at all, nowadays, it is as a footnote. Who knows, perhaps that is justified. It is hard to top "Origin of Species", after all, for impact.

But, in addition to its intrinsic interest, I found this book fascinating because of what it reveals about Charles Darwin, the person. The man w Charles Darwin first became famous for his book "Voyage of the Beagle" (the actual title was a lot longer than that), and is of course best remembered for writing "On the Origin of Species". If this book is remembered at all, nowadays, it is as a footnote. Who knows, perhaps that is justified. It is hard to top "Origin of Species", after all, for impact.

But, in addition to its intrinsic interest, I found this book fascinating because of what it reveals about Charles Darwin, the person. The man was an extraordinarily devoted observer. He shows a great attention to detail, here, in describing exactly what we mean by "looked frightened", or "looked angry". He went to great lengths to find correspondents in remote parts of the planet who could tell him which expressions seemed to be universally understood in cultures very different from Europe's (modern psychology research is still grappling with the problems of an excessive reliance on college undergraduates for their research). He was apparently enthusiastic about the possibilities of using modern technologies such as photography to attempt to bring greater objectivity to the study of fleeting phenomena such as facial expressions.

He did not except his own children, or household pets, from his studies. I was amused by his description of his dog's excessively mournful look whenever he would approach the "hothouse", in which he would grow exotic plants. The dog, of course, wanted to keep walking, and had learned that an approach by the hothouse meant there was a good chance it would have to wait outside for some time while Darwin puttered around looking at his plants, before finally re-emerging to continue the walk. Eventually even the sight of the hothouse brought on the mopey expression, and it became known in the family as the dog's "hothouse face".

Paul Ekman's modern commentary on this book is excellent. In some cases, modern researchers have confirmed some of Darwin's speculations (and in a few cases, disproved them), and Ekman manages to work this into the flow of the book in a way which was more informative than intrusive. Darwin was not able to convince his publisher to spring for the expense of as many photographic plates as he wanted, and so some were produced by drawings instead. Ekman found some of the original photographs, and we are able to compare side by side the photo Darwin was talking about, and the drawing that was made of it. This proved Darwin's preference for the photo, since the artist did not always create an unbiased record of the expression as photographed. One of the great things about drawings by a human is that they know which features are most important, and which can be left out; in this case, however, that very thing can be an obstacle. Darwin is trying to get us to look with fresh eyes at what an emotional expression actually looks like, not what we think it looks like.

If you are looking for a grand overarching theme like, say, evolution, then obviously you will be disappointed. But, the true genius of Darwin was not so much in that idea (if he had not proposed it, others such as Wallace would have), but rather in the breadth and depth of his gathering of data in support of it. This book shows just how omnivorous a thinker and observer he was. ...more

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Jun 16, 2018 Diana Chamma rated it liked it

‘I put my face close to the thick glass-plate in front of a puff-adder in the Zoological Gardens, with the firm determination of not starting back if the snake struck at me; but, as soon as the blow was struck, my resolution went for nothing, and I jumped a yard or two backwards with astonishing rapidity. My will and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had never been experienced.’ (22)

‘_Astonishment, Terror_--A living fresh-water turtle was placed at my request in the ‘I put my face close to the thick glass-plate in front of a puff-adder in the Zoological Gardens, with the firm determination of not starting back if the snake struck at me; but, as soon as the blow was struck, my resolution went for nothing, and I jumped a yard or two backwards with astonishing rapidity. My will and reason were powerless against the imagination of a danger which had never been experienced.’ (22)

‘_Astonishment, Terror_--A living fresh-water turtle was placed at my request in the same compartment in the Zoological Gardens with many monkeys; and they showed unbounded astonishment, as well as some fear. This was displayed by their remaining motionless, staring intently with widely opened eyes, their eyebrows being often moved up and down. Their faces seemed somewhat lengthened. They occasionally raised themselves on their hind-legs to get abetter view. They often retreated a few feet, and then turning their heads over one shoulder, again stared intently. It was curious to observe how much less afraid they were of the turtle than of a living snake which I had formerly placed in their compartment;[21] for in the course of a few minutes some of the monkeys ventured to approach and touch the turtle. On the other hand, some of the larger baboons were greatly terrified, and grinned as if on the point of screaming out. When I showed a little dressed-up doll to the Cynopithecus niger, it stood motionless, stared intently with widely opened eyes, and advanced its ears a little forwards. (58-9)

‘I took a stuffed snake into the monkey-house, and the hair on several of the species instantly became erect; especially on their tails, as I particularly noticed with the Cereopithecus nictitans. Brehm states[10] that the Midas aedipus (belonging to the American division) when excited erects its mane, in order, as he adds, to make itself as frightful as possible.’ (42)

‘When I showed a stuffed snake to a Peccary, the hair rose in a wonderful manner along its back; and so it does with the boar when enraged.’ (42)

‘When frogs are seized by snakes, which are their chief enemies, they enlarge themselves wonderfully; so that if the snake be of small size, as Dr. Gunther informs me, it cannot swallow the frog, which thus escapes being devoured.’ (45)

‘Many other snakes hiss under similar circumstances. They also rapidly vibrate their protruded tongues; and this may aid in increasing their terrific appearance.’ (45)

‘I conclude from the threatening gestures made at the same time by many snakes, that their hissing,--the rattling of the rattle-snake and of the tail of the Trigonocephalus,--the grating of the scales of the Echis,--and the dilatation of the hood of the Cobra,-- all subserve the same end, namely, to make them appear terrible to their enemies.’ (46)

‘In the Zoological Gardens, an innocuous species, the Coronella Sayi, vibrates its tail so rapidly that it becomes almost invisible.’ (47)

‘Porcupines rattle their quills and vibrate their tails when angered; and one behaved in this manner when a live snake was placed in its compartment.’ (41)

‘it does not seem improbable that the terrific appearance of snakes and the sounds produced by them, may likewise serve in procuring prey, by paralysing, or as it is sometimes called fascinating, the smaller animals. no need to excite additional terror.’ (46)
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Jun 18, 2018 Andy rated it really liked it

Is the expression of emotions something inherited or are they learned from our interactions with each other? Is a smile universal? How about a nod of the head to indicate the affirmative? Nature vs. nurture is the question. Coming from Darwin, one expects there to be a “nature” response which, for the most part, there is. That doesn’t mean it’s all “nature” which, I think, Darwin acknowledges. He spends a lot of time writing about the displays of emotions, what causes them, how similar emotions ...more

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Jun 20, 2020 George rated it really liked it

For a book that was published 150 years ago, it's hard to not compare its findings to the modern era. Darwin had some great ideas about emotions, humanity and how we have evolved with our animal family. I did my PhD in this area (and read many books since, including de Waal's great "Mama's last hug" which deals with this very topic) and a lot of the claims feel dated and stale - and of course they are. I had to keep reminding myself that he was one of the first people to work in this area and cu ...more

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May 31, 2020 Kimberly rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I recently read Irving Stone's engaging historical novel about Charles Darwin titled The Origin. In it, I read that Darwin's book The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals was a sensation in his lifetime. Countless people bought it and, I presumed, enjoyed reading it. I am very interested in the ways animals express emotions, so I got this book.

I found the reading dry and technical. Some explanations were fascinating, such as why we humans squeeze our eyes shut to sneeze or cry violently. Bu ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 David rated it really liked it

Love the voice of Darwin and according to friends in the psychology field a lot of what he says still holds up. We learn about nerve force, which as animals sense things creates an impulse to act, and like skeletal systems and circulatory systems, we carry as human a huge legacy of these reactions from the animals we evolved from. Similar to On The Origin of Species, Darwin focuses on observations rather than speculation on the internal mechanisms at play, which I think had led to the long shelf ...more

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Feb 03, 2018 Michelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: dog-training, psychology

What a fascinating read! Before his time, Darwin was already discussing how similar humans are to the lower animals and only now are people taking his work seriously in this respect (at least, that is what it seems like). His methodology and examples gave a very clear image of how similar humans and animals are, and how similar we are across cultures as well. A great read.

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Jul 05, 2020 Alfa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed the book. This is the kind of book that doesn't actually answer your question, but anyway it gives you alternatives and theories to ponder on. Also you can tell that Darwin was very passionate working on this one. ...more

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Jul 16, 2020 Ian Lea rated it liked it · review of another edition

I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as The Origin of Species. Partly because for me just not as interesting but also because this is a scholarly edition or whatever the phrase is, with inserts of changes Darwin wanted made, notes on the notes and so on. A bit disappointing. ...more

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Jun 06, 2017 Sandro rated it did not like it

Shelves: biology, non-fiction, science

Too close to psychology for my taste. To be honest: my reading direction was slightly "diagonal". ...more

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Jul 16, 2018 Gonca Ercegil rated it it was amazing

a must read for everyone working on emotions

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Aug 06, 2018 Susan rated it it was ok · review of another edition

A few interesting anecdotes and observations, but overall very dry.

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Jun 01, 2019 Bt rated it really liked it

Very educational.

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Feb 12, 2021 Elora rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2020-reads

Ooof. I did enjoy reading phrases and words of the past, however it was quite verbose and could have been simplified much more in each chapter.

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About Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

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Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selec Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, eminent as a collector and geologist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.

Darwin developed his interest in natural history while studying medicine at Edinburgh University, then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell’s uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.

His 1859 book On the Origin of Species established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.

In recognition of Darwin’s pre-eminence, he was one of only five 19th century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton.

Her was the father of naturalist Francis Darwin, of astronomer George Darwin, and of politician, economist and eugenicist Leonard Darwin.

(Arabic: تشارلز داروين) ...more