180119 SE Philosophy of Emotions (2024S)

This seminar is an introduction to contemporary philosophy of emotions in the anglo-American-Australasian, “analytic” tradition. Investigating the emotions is exciting in many ways. On the one hand, emotions are a vital part of our conscious lives, they motivate our actions and protect us from dangers. On the other hand, they present formidable philosophical questions from a broad range of subdisciplines: Philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics – and beyond: In the seminar, we will also look at results from psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. Our focus, however, will be on philosophical questions such as the following: What are emotions? What are the main theories of emotion – historically and systematically? Which emotions are there – are we culturally influenced in which emotions we feel and how we conceptualise them? Are emotions social constructs? What are the functions of emotions? What is the connection between emotions and bodily sensations? Are emotion and cognition opposites? What is the relation between emotion and motivation? Are emotions rational, irrational, or arational? What are the ethical implications of emotions?

We will pursue these questions in an introductory, systematic way by means of short presentations, classroom discussion and inputs from the instructor.

The readings and seminar discussion will be in English. Written work may be submitted in either English or German.