Philosophy of Emotions (PHL 532), Eaton, Fall 2015

This course is meant to be a survey of contemporary philosophy of emotion. The idea is to

give you a sense of the lay of the land. I have left the last weeks of the semester open so
that I can choose reading that responds to our discussions thus far, and also for your
presentations.
Work required:
Presentation of 45 minutes to one hour
Final paper, due on last day of semester. 3,000 4,000 words.
Please note that I have not ordered books. In a few cases I may provide pdfs, but unless
otherwise noted it is your responsibility to get the readings. Books are available in our
library r through interlibrary loan; if you have one of these, please be prepared to share it
with others who may want to scan or photocopy it.
Schedule:
WEEK 1 (8/24): Intro. Please be prepared with the following: (1) read the SEP entry on
emotion by Ronnie de Sousa1 and (2) be prepared to describe one question that you would
like to investigate this semester.
WEEK 2 (8/31): Peter Goldie, The Emotions: A Philosophical Exploration (Clarendon 2002).
WEEK 3 (9/7): LABOR DAY, NO CLASS.
WEEK 4 (9/14): (8/31): Selections from Martha Nussbaums Upheavals of Thought: The
Intelligence of the Emotions (CUP 2001).
Read Ch. 1
Scan Ch. 2
Read. Ch. 3
Scan Ch. 4
Scan Ch. 5
Read Ch. 6
Read Ch. 7
Read Ch. 8
Read Ch. 9
WEEK 5 (9/21): DArms and Jacobson (articles available online -- TBA)

For those of you who do not know, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (often
abbreviated SEP) is an open-access (i.e., free of charge) resource that is typically very
high quality and up-to-date. Become familiar with it if you have not already.
1

WEEK 6 (9/28): Jesse Prinz, Gut Reactions: A Perceptual Theory of the Emotions (OUP
2006).
WEEK 7 (10/5): Griffiths. TBA (but I will make it available via pdf).
WEEK 8 (10/12): Jenefer Robinson, Deeper than Reason: Emotion and its Role in Literature,
Music, and Art (OUP 2005). (selections)
WEEK 9 (10/19): Daniel Kelly, Yuck: The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust (MIT
2013).
WEEK 10 (10/26): Carolyn Kormeyer, Savoring Disgust (OUP 2011)
WEEK 11 (11/2):
WEEK 12 (11/9):
WEEK 13 (11/16):
WEEK 14 (11/23):
WEEK 15 (11/30):
Other things we may read:
Jonathan Haidt
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
selections from Martha Nussbaums Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice
and her recent essay on Transitional Anger in JAPA.