Critical Feeling
How to Use Feelings Strategically

How can we develop the sensitivity necessary for playing music or making crafts? How can teachers make their lessons interesting? In what ways can consumers avoid undue influence? How do we acquire refined tastes, or come to believe what we want to believe? Addressing these issues and providing an account for tackling personal and societal problems, Rolf Reber combines insights from psychology, philosophy, and education to introduce the concept of 'critical feeling'. While many people are familiar with the concept of critical thinking, critical feeling denotes the strategic use of feelings in order to optimize an outcome. Reber discusses the theoretical and empirical foundations of critical feeling and provides an overview of applications, including well-being, skill learning, personal relationships, business, politics, school, art, morality, and religion. This original and thought-provoking study will interest a broad range of researchers, students, and practitioners.

Part I. The Basics of Critical Feeling: Introduction; 1. Critical thinking; 2. The psychology of feelings; 3. Critical feeling; Part II. Applications of Critical Feeling: 4. Happiness through critical feeling; 5. The role of sensory and bodily feedback; 6. Living together; 7. Critical feeling in business and politics; 8. Critical feelings at school; 9. Music, art, and literature; 10. Religion and morality; Epilogue.

Rolf Reber is Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Oslo and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Bergen, Norway. With his colleagues, Reber developed and tested the processing fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure; example choice, which is a new teaching method to increase student interest at school; new accounts of mathematical intuition and of the aha-experience; a new solution of an old paradox in Confucianism; and the psycho-historical approach to research on art appreciation. He has held visiting professorships and is an award-winning teacher and author of two popular science books in German.