Philosophy and the Emotions

Philosophy and the Emotions is a Cognitive Science class taught by Laura Sizer.

This course satisfies Division I requirements.

Course Description
In one sense we are all experts on emotions. After all we have them every day. Nonetheless, we would be hard pressed to say precisely what emotions are. Are they bodily responses? Feelings? Thoughts? Why do we have them? What functions do they serve? Are emotions rational? Controllable? Are there universal emotions found across cultures? Do non-human animals have emotions? What are the relationships between emotions, moods and temperament? To answer these questions we need to look beyond our personal experiences and examine evidence and arguments offered by philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary theory. In the past decade there has been an explosion of research on emotions across the cognitive sciences. This class will focus on some of this recent literature. Students will read and critically analyze philosophical works and primary research articles, and will write a series of short papers and several longer papers.

Learning Goals

 * Reading
 * Writing
 * Project-based