The Philosophy of Emotions

Understanding emotions is an urgent and ongoing task in philosophy and the mind sciences. Despite centuries of debate by philosophers and scientists in various cultures, significant empirical and philosophical puzzles persist. They include whether emotions constitute a natural kind or are socially constructed, the relation between affect and cognition in analyses of emotions, whether and in what senses specific emotions might be considered appropriate, amongst many others. Topics considered in this course will vary from year to year. The course will take a philosophical approach to theories and arguments drawn from a diverse range of literature, including materials from philosophy, cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology and evolutionary biology.