Philosophy of Emotions

Content

The research of emotions has developed into one of the most important areas of interdisciplinary scholarship in the recent decades. Along with empirical scientists, philosophers have taken a keen interest in this historically neglected topic. This course focuses on the contemporary philosophy of emotion, its main problems and theoretical approaches. The course offers an overview of the development of emotion research in the 20th and the early 21st century, starting from William James’ influential feeling theory of emotions, ranging through the rise of cognitive theories from the 1960's onwards until the recent challenges to cognitivism that have brought fundamental questions about the nature of emotions back to the fore. The focus will be on philosophical theories but important contributions of scientific emotion research will be highlighted as well. These include the debate between Robert Zajonc and Richard Lazarus about the primacy of affect or cognition in emotion, Joe LeDoux’s and Antonio Damasio’s findings about the neurophysiology of emotion, and the research on emotional labor initiated by the sociologist Arlie Hochschild. Among the philosophical themes that will be discussed are the distinction between emotions and other affective states, the question of basic emotions, the primacy of cognition and feeling in emotion, emotions and culture, the rationality of emotions , the nature of emotional affectivity, responsibility for emotions, and the role emotions in ethics. The course suits both advanced undergraduate students and graduate students.

Thematic session 1: Emotions and culture (5.11.)

• Article 1: Ron Mallon and Stephen Stich: The Odd Couple: The Compatibility of Social Construction and Evolutionary Psychology. Philosophy of Science, 6, (2000), pp. 133-154.

Thematic session 2: The primacy of affect and cognition in emotion (12.11.)

• Article 2: Jesse Prinz: Emotion, Psychosemantics, and Embodied Appraisals, in A. Hatzimoysis (ed): Philosophy and the Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2003), 69-86.

Thematic session 3: Emotions and rationality (19.11.)

• Article 3: Patricia Greenspan: Emotions, Rationality, and Mind/Body, in A. Hatzimoysis (ed): Philosophy and the Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2003), 113-125.

Thematic session 4: Emotional affectivity (26.11.)

• Article 4: Peter Goldie: Emotions, Feelings, and Intentionality. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 1 (2002), pp. 235-254.

Thematic session 5: Emotions, agency, and responsibility (3.12.)

• Article 5: Robert Solomon: On the Passivity of the Passions , in Manstead, A., Frijda, N. and Fischer, A. (eds): Feelings and Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2004), pp. 11-29.

Thematic session 6: Emotions and ethics (10.12.)

• Article 6: Jonathan Haidt and Craig Joseph: Intuitive Ethics: How Innately Prepared Intuitions Generate Culturally Variable Virtues. Daedalus, Vol. 133 (2004), pp. 55-66.

See also Questions for readings .

PowerPoint presentations of lectures

• Introductory lecture 29.10.
• Emotions and Culture 5.11.
• The primacy of cognition and affect in emotion 12.11.
• Emotions and rationality 19.11.
• Emotional affectivity 26.11.
• Emotions, agency and responsibility 3.12.
• Emotions and ethics 10.12.

Course work and forms of study

Lectures + weekly reading assignments TBA.