This article examines recent developments in cognitivist theories of the emotions, and seeks to develop an original theory within that approach. The article specifically considers the criticism that such theories over-intellectualise emotions by reducing them to attitudes towards propositions and by excluding feelings. I argue that few cognitivists have ever held the former position, and that it is possible to claim that emotions are partly-constituted by feelings and remain within the parameters of a cognitivist theory. This is possible in virtue (...) of the fact that cognitivists take emotions to be composed of intentional states. If we define a feeling as a perception of the state of one’s body, then a feeling can be counted as one of the intentional states, alongside, say, a belief of a judgement, which partly constitute any emotion. I call this position ‘complex cognitivism’. (shrink)

Le texte examine les recherches récentes et le développement de la théorie cognitive des émotions, et cherche à développer une théorie originale dans le cadre de cette approche. L e texte s’oriente particulièrement sur la critique qui réduit ces théories des émotions trop intellectualisées à des attitudes selon des propositions et exclue les sentiments. Je tiens que quelques cognitivistes seulement ont représenté ladite théorie, et qu’il est possible d’affirmer que les émotions sont partiellement constituées de sentiments et qu’elles restent à (...) l’intérieur des paramètres de la théorie cognitive. Cela est possible si les cognitivistes considèrent que les émotions soient constituées d’attitudes intentionnelles. Si l’on définit le sentiment comme la perception d’une attitude envers le corps de quelqu’un, alors on peut entendre le sentiment comme l’une des attitudes intentionnelles, tout comme la conviction de discernement qui constitue partiellement toute émotion. Je nomme cette position le « cognitivisme complexe ». (shrink)

Tekst propituje novija istraživanja i razvoj kognitivnih teorija emocija te nastoji razviti originalnu teoriju unutar tog pristupa. Tekst se posebno usmjerava na kriticizam koji takve teorije pre-intelektualiziranih emocija reducira na stavove prema propozicijama i isključuje osjećaje. Tvrdim da je svega nekoliko kognitivista zastupalo navedenu teoriju te da je moguće tvrditi da su emocije djelomično konstituirane od osjećaja i da ostaju unutar parametara kognitivne teorije. To je moguće ako je valjana činjenica da kognitivisti smatraju da su emocije sastavljene od intencionalnih stavova. (...) Ako definiramo osjećaj kao percepciju stava o nečijem tijelu, tada se osjećaj može razumjeti kao jedan od intencionalnih stavova uz, primjerice, uvjerenje o moći prosuđivanja koje djelomično konstituira svaku emociju. To poziciju nazivam »kompleksnim kognitivizmom«. (shrink)

Der Artikel hinterfragt neuere Entwicklungen in kognitiven Emotionstheorien und versucht von diesem Ansatz ausgehend eine originelle Theorie zu entwickeln. Es wird insbesondere der Kritizismus in Erwägung gezogen, der Theorien überintellektualisierter Emotionen reduziert auf Einstellungen zu Propositionen und Gefühle ausschließt. Ich bin der Ansicht, dass nur einige wenige Kognitionswissenschaftler die genannte Theorie vertraten, sodass man behaupten kann, dass Emotionen teilweise aus Gefühlen konstituiert sind und dabei im Rahmen der Parameter der kognitiven Theorie bleiben. Dies ist möglich aufgrund der Tatsache, dass Kognitivisten (...) die Meinung vertreten, dass Emotionen aus intentionalen Einstellungen bestehen. Wenn wir das Gefühl als Perzeption der Einstellung zu jemandes Körper definieren, dann kann das Gefühl als eine der intentionalen Einstellungen verstanden werden, neben der Überzeugung, dass die Urteilskraft teilweise jede Emotion konstituiert. Diese Position bezeichne ich als „komplexen Kognitivismus”. (shrink)

This article addresses whether contemporary feeling theories of the emotions can overcome the problems generally associated with such theories. Specifically, it considers whether they can explain the normative assessment of the emotions, their availability for introspective identification, and their intentionality. The article looks primarily at the work of Jesse Prinz, and suggests that his responses to these problems fall short as a result of a flawed account of the intentional nature of emotions. I conclude with brief comments on how theories (...) which include intentional states such as judgements within the ontology of emotion overcome the problems which are identified. (shrink)

This article develops an Aristotelian account of moral obligation, and defends the account in the face of certain standard Kantian criticisms.Specifically, Aristotelian obligations may be interpreted as being dependent on virtue in such a way that they do not apply to non-virtuous agents, and therefore lack universality. The article draws on various aspects of Aristotle’s own work to set out an initial account, and then on recent discussions within the analytic tradition on this subject.An Aristotelian position is developed which focuses (...) on the distinction between the subjective and objective senses in which virtues of character need to be understood. At the objective level, the virtues are the dispositions required for any human being to live the best life.At the subjective level, the virtues are the dispositions of character which are present in certain persons, but absent in others. It is at the objective level that we can locate an Aristotelian account of how the demands of practical reason ground universal moral obligations. (shrink)