Vittorio Benussi, hypnosuggestive methods, and emotional functional autonomy

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• History of Science

Background:

• Vittorio Benussi's research on emotional functional autonomy (1920-1927) challenged the prevailing intellectualist and Brentanian-Meinongian views.
• His work aimed to establish the independence of emotions from cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reconstruct Benussi's research on emotional functional autonomy.
• To demonstrate the fundamental independence of emotions from cognitive functions.
• To highlight the legacy and encourage the resumption of Benussi's research model.

Main Methods:

• Utilized hypnosis as an experimental tool to isolate emotional phenomena.
• Compared psychological research methods to those of physics and chemistry.
• Disassembled mental life phenomena from their global functional unity.

Main Results:

• Benussi's research suggested emotions possess functional autonomy, independent of cognitive processes.
• His experimental techniques were unique for their theoretical ambitions and methodology.
• The research was abandoned post his death.

Conclusions:

• Benussi's work offers a unique perspective on the emotion-cognition relationship.
• The study encourages the revival of Benussi's research model in contemporary emotion-cognition studies.
• Hypnosis proved an effective tool for dissecting mental phenomena.