The reactive theory of emotions

European Journal of Philosophy 31 (3):785-802 (2023)
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Abstract

Evaluative theories of emotions purport to shed light on the nature of emotions by appealing to values. Three kinds of evaluative theories of emotions dominate the recent literature: the judgment theory equates emotions with value judgments; the perceptual theory equates emotions with perceptions of values, and the attitudinal theory equates emotions with evaluative attitudes. This paper defends a fourth kind of evaluative theory of emotions, mostly neglected so far: the reactive theory. Reactive theories claim that emotions are attitudes which arise in reaction to perceptions of value.

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Olivier Massin
Université de Neuchâtel

Citations of this work

Knowing Value and Acknowledging Value: On the Significance of Emotional Evaluation.Jean Moritz Müller - forthcoming - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy.
The intentionality of emotions and the possibility of unconscious emotions.Stéphane Lemaire - 2022 - J. Deonna, C. Tappolet and F. Teroni (Eds.), A Tribute to Ronald de Sousa. URL Https://Www.Unige.Ch/Cisa/Related-Sites/Ronald-de-Sousa/.

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References found in this work

Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind.John R. Searle - 1983 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind.John R. Searle - 1983 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Emotions, Value, and Agency.Christine Tappolet - 2016 - Oxford: Oxford University Press UK.
Moral reasons.Jonathan Dancy - 1993 - Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell.

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