at this point.

In any case, there is no denying the service done by the James-Lange
theory in calling attention to bodily sensations as real components of
the conscious emotional state.

Emotion and Impulse

Most people are rather impatient with the James-Lange theory, finding
it wholly unsatisfactory, though unable to locate the trouble
precisely. They know the theory does not ring true to them, that is
all. Now the trouble lies just here: what they mean by "being afraid"
is "wanting to get away from the danger", what they mean by "being
angry" is "wanting to strike the offending person", and in general
what they mean by any of the named "emotions" is not a particular sort
of "stirred-up conscious state", but an _impulse_ towards a certain
action or a certain result. Evidently it would be absurd to say we
want to get away from the bear because we tremble, or that until we
started to tremble we should be perfectly indifferent whether the bear
got us or not.

The tendency to escape is aroused directly by the perception of
danger; of that there can be no doubt. It does not depend on
trembling, but for that matter neither does it depend on _feeling_
afraid. Sometimes we recoil from a {131} sudden danger before
experiencing any thrill of fear, and are frightened and tremble the
next moment, after we have escaped. The stirred-up state develops more
slowly than the tendency to escape. The seen danger directly arouses
an adjustment towards the end-result of escape, and both the
preparatory bodily responses and the feeling of fear develop after
this adjustment has been set up. If the end-result is reached
instantly, the preparatory reactions and the feeling may not develop
at all, or they may put in an appearance after the main act is all
over. There is nothing in all this that speaks either for or against
the James-Lange theory.

These statements need further elucidation, however. Notice, first,
that psychology makes a perfectly proper and important distinction
between emotion and impulse. In terms of consciousness, emotion is
"feeling somehow", and impulse is "wanting to do something". In
behavior terms, emotion is an organic state, and impulse an adjustment
of the nerve centers towards a certain reaction. An impulse is a
conscious tendency.

Since emotion and impulse so often go together, common sense does not
bother to distinguish them, and the common names for the "emotions"
are more properly names of impulses