The philosophy of emotion can be divided into two schools: one that emphasizes feelings (sometimes known as the Feeling Theory of Emotion) and one that emphasizes thoughts (The Cognitive Theory of Emotion). Hume and Aristotle, respectively, are often taken as predecessors of these views. There are of course disagreements within the schools, and some have called the central distinction between them into question. Yet it is safe to say that while cognitivism predominated among philosophers in the latter half of last century, recently the tide has turned back toward versions of a perceptual or feeling-based theory, which is claimed to be better grounded empirically. It remains to be seen if this marks a significant shift or just a change of fashion. Moreover, it is worth investigating whether the newer theories have the resources to speak to the questions philosophers have traditionally asked of a theory of emotion. In this seminar we will consider theories of both kinds for their empirical and philosophical adequacy. We will be reading works by Patricia Greenspan, Robert Solomon, Peter Goldie, Paul Griffiths, and Jesse Prinz, among others, and some psychologists as well.

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