The “problem of emotions,” that is, that many of them are both meaningful and corporeal, has yet to be resolved. Western thinkers, from Augustine to Descartes to Zajonc, have handled this problem by employing various forms of mind–body dualism. Some psychologists and neuroscientists since the 1970s have avoided it by talking about cognitive and emotional “processing,” using a terminology borrowed from computer science that nullifies the meaningful or intentional character of both thought and emotion. Outside the Western-influenced contexts, emotion and thought are not seen as distinct kinds of things. Here a solution of sorts is proposed by thinking of emotional expression as a dynamic activity that declares and stirs emotions at the same time. As such, its dynamism may help historians to understand the dramatic changes and trends they investigate.

“情绪问题”，即它们中的许多情绪既有意义又有肉体，尚未解决。从奥古斯丁到笛卡尔再到Zajonc的西方思想家都通过采用各种形式的心身二元论来解决这个问题。自1970年代以来，一些心理学家和神经科学家通过使用从计算机科学中借用的术语来消除认知和情感的“处理”，从而使思想和情感的有意义或故意的特性无效，从而避免了这种情况。在受西方影响的环境之外，情感和思想并未被视为不同的事物。在这里，通过将情感表达视为一种动态的活动来提出各种解决方案，这种活动同时宣告和激起了情感。因此，它的动态性可以帮助历史学家了解他们研究的戏剧性变化和趋势。