ABSTRACT
Charles Darwin was an English biologist who was particularly renowned for his contributions to the theory of evolution. In Expressions of Emotions, Darwin argues that many dimensions of emotion are biological and universal not just across humans, but also other significant mammals. He brings together a broad range of observational evidence from anthropological studies across the globe, and zoology to suggest that people, and some animals, move their bodies and their faces in similar ways to display the emotions they feel within the body/mind. Such similarity in physical expression enabled humans to communicate their emotions to each other, and supplemented language. Darwin suggested that these shared expressions evidenced that all mankind had evolved from a shared ancestor, and were overlaid with cultural expressions and emotional management that reflected a community or individual’s level of civilisation. His evidence is wide-ranging, pulled from a broad array of cultures, and includes photographs and historic observations in art and literature.
