Panksepp was battling a behaviorist establishment that believed animals did not have feelings.
The history of psychology is as ideological as the history of economics. After Freud, which barely qualifies as science, the reactionary behaviorist establishment effectively suppressed anything which conflicted with their ideology, including common sense. Affective Neuroscience—which should be uncontroverial science—must instead explain basic concepts of the philosophy of science. The book plays so defensive against behaviorist ideology I got bored and never got deep into the book.
The behaviorists made improvements to the field of psychology, but they also dealt damage that echoes to this day. I met someone a few years ago who worked in a (presumably behaviorist) laboratory who insisted that literally all behavior was produced by reinforcement learning.
The history of psychology is as ideological as the history of economics. After Freud, which barely qualifies as science, the reactionary behaviorist establishment effectively suppressed anything which conflicted with their ideology, including common sense. Affective Neuroscience—which should be uncontroverial science—must instead explain basic concepts of the philosophy of science. The book plays so defensive against behaviorist ideology I got bored and never got deep into the book.
The behaviorists made improvements to the field of psychology, but they also dealt damage that echoes to this day. I met someone a few years ago who worked in a (presumably behaviorist) laboratory who insisted that literally all behavior was produced by reinforcement learning.