Comments on Philosophy, et cetera: Emotion and Reflective Equilibrium

I'd call Michael's account a version of rationalis...

2008-06-15T12:58:42.882-04:00

I'd call Michael's account a version of rationalism, because it still makes emotion properly subservient to reason.

The sentimentalist is not merely claiming that we should "rework" our emotions when they clash with reasoned judgments, but that at least sometimes our emotions should come first.

Possible examples include: (1) justifying a preference for this world -- containing one's actual loved ones -- to an alternative possible world where you had completely different attachments and were slightly better off because of them. (2) The interest many adopted people feel in discovering their biological parents, or African-Americans in discovering their African "roots", and similar forms of emotionally-nourishing historical fetishism. (3) Emotionally-driven calls for retribution (rather than rehabiliation) in punishment. Etc.

cihan b.,your point about bad emotions is a good o...

2008-06-15T05:24:38.848-04:00

cihan b.,
your point about bad emotions is a good one, though i don't think it implies the conclusion you come to. The idea of an emotional equilibrium is very welcome, though we must certainly allow for an interplay between reason and emotions. In the case of the slave owners, what needs to happen is not that they go with their reason _against_ their emotions, but rather that they rework their emotions in line with their reason so as to arrive at an acceptable emotional (and cognitive) equilibrium. It is a mistake to ignore our emotions; as richard points out, that might not lead us to happiness. emotions are a constituent part of our humanity and must be worked with and not against.

Think of emotions as a tool we've been given that helps us to navigate through life. The problem is not that this tool needs to be replaced with a new, better one (reason), but that it needs to be tuned or tweaked to work with another one (reason). In the end we want to feel good about abolishing slavery.

Hello Richard,I have trouble giving making emotion...

2008-06-15T03:07:47.009-04:00

Hello Richard,

I have trouble giving making emotion a "partner on equal footing [with reason] in our mental economy" since I believe that we can have many bizarre feelings that need to be just discounted.

For instance, during the times when slavery was prevalent in the US, I am sure many perpetrators of slavery were repulsed by the idea of giving full rights to African-American people. So suppose one of these slave masters reasoned to the moral conclusion that slavery was wrong - a conclusion that didn't mesh with her feelings.
From this, should she conclude that her reasoning was bad or that she is not at the right equilibrium?

I don't think so. Passions are and ought to be a slave to reason.