What is an emotion? Why is fear an emotion but anxiety a mood? What makes something anger rather than terror? Are emotion and reason fundamentally opposed or more akin than traditional views suggest? What role should emotions play in enquiry, judgement and moral life?

No previous knowledge of philosophy is required.

Knowledge and Understanding:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of core elements of the course material;
• identify central philosophical questions concerning emotion and key positions addressing them;

• evaluate claims concerning emotions and positions which presuppose such claims, in the context of historical and contemporary discussions;
• understand relevant empirical findings and discussions of their philosophical implications;
• bring the insights of philosophy to bear on questions concerning social and moral education, psychology and public policy.

Intellectual Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will be able to:

• analyse the structure of an argument;

• critically evaluate an argument;
• compare and contrast different positions on an issue;
• adjudicate disputes.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will be able to:

• critically read and analyse a philosophical text;

• use philosophical vocabulary appropriate to the subject matter of the specific course;
• formulate and defend a philosophical thesis;
• constructively discuss philosophical ideas with others.

This course is taught in 10, two-hour sessions, delivered on a weekly basis.

There will be a mixture of lectures and seminars, the precise proportion to be determined by the needs of the students enrolled. The seminar element may include debate, discussion, group activities, presentations and readings. Additional reading material will be recommended and a reading list will be supplied. If appropriate, other materials such as documentaries may also be included. Course handouts will be provided as appropriate.

The seminars will encourage the development of knowledge and understanding of the ideas and concepts discussed in the course. Intellectual skills will be encouraged through participation in class discussion, reading and coursework.

Academic Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will have:

• found relevant resources in the library and online;

• assessed the reliability of different sources of information;
• demonstrated a critical approach to academic texts.

Transferable/employability Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will have shown that s/he can:

• recognise, analyse and criticise arguments;

• explain and defend a view clearly and concisely whether orally or in writing;
• respond constructively to disagreement;
• evaluate claims in the context of historical and contemporary debates about moral psychology;
• formulate useful questions in the context of philosophical theory, empirical psychology and psychiatry, and public policy.

Issue identification      5%    Question Formulation         Various

Exegesis of 400-500 words  20%    Comparative application  Agreed by week 4/5 and submitted in week 6/7

Paper of 1,300-1,500 words   75%    Paper     Set by week 6/7 and submitted shortly after end of course

We will be concerned with the nature of emotions and their role in human cognition, moral psychology and psychopathology, and their place in normative ethics, metaethics and philosophy of mind. Discussion will be informed, as appropriate, by both classical and contemporary philosophy, including feminist approaches, and empirical work in the human sciences, especially experimental and clinical psychology and psychiatry.

The following list of sample topics illustrates the kind of subject matter which may be discussed but the specific issues selected will vary.

• Ontology.
  • What is an emotion?
    • What distinguishes an emotion from a mood, say?
    • What contribution do physiological changes, thought processes, culture and education make?
    • Are there different types of emotions?
    • What is the relationship between an emotion and its expression?
  • What distinguishes one emotion from another?
    • What makes an emotion anger, say, rather than fear?
• Rationality.
  • How are emotion and reason related?
• Ethics & moral psychology.
  • What role should emotions play in ethical theory and moral life?
    • What role should they play in ethical judgement, choice and motivation?
  • Are there specifically ‘moral sentiments’? If so, how should they be developed, sustained and utilised?
    • Is sympathy or empathy required for, supportive of or detrimental to good moral agency?
  • Are (some) emotions ethically evaluable in themselves?
• Epistemology.
  • Are emotions at odds with the detachment required for the attainment of knowledge or might they play a positive, even crucial, role in enquiry? If so, is this true for all domains? Or might certain areas, such as astrophysics, be best served by an enquirer as free from affective distractions as possible, while others, such as clinical psychology, depend on emotional engagement?
  • Are there specifically intellectual emotions?
  • What is the relationship between emotion and the perception of truth?
• Psychopathology.
  • Psychopathologies frequently involve emotional disorders, even when they are not fully constituted by them. What can such disorders tell us about the role and limits of affective processing in healthy human cognition?
• Non-human animals.
  • Do non-human animals experience emotions? If so, is it sometimes appropriate to use the same terms to describe theirs and ours? Or does this risk anthropomorphisation?
• Aesthetics.
  • What is the relationship between emotion and aesthetic value?

The course may draw on case studies and examples from fiction and non-fiction to illustrate the theoretical positions  discussed and students are encouraged to draw further examples from their own experience.

Indicative Reading and Resource List:

Reading and resources will vary according to the specific topics covered in the module.