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Single Idea 24011
[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / c. Role of emotions
]
Full Idea
Kant thinks emotions can't contribute to moral worth because emotions are too capricious, they are too passive, and they are fortuitously distributed by nature.
Gist of Idea
Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality
Source
report of Immanuel Kant (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals [1785]) by Bernard Williams - Morality and the emotions p.226
Book Ref
Williams,Bernard: 'Problems of the Self: Papers 1956-1972' [CUP 1979], p.226
A Reaction
[compressed] If, like Kant, you want morality to be concerned with rational principles, then you will want morality to be clear, stable and consistent - which emotions are not. I'm with Williams on this one.
Related Idea
Idea 24010
An admirable human being should have certain kinds of emotional responses [Williams,B]
The
20 ideas
with the same theme
[role played by emotion in mental life]:
4015
|
For Descartes passions are God-given preservers of the mind-body union
[Descartes, by Taylor,C]
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19415
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Passions reside in confused perceptions
[Leibniz]
|
24011
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Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality
[Kant, by Williams,B]
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15577
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Moods are more fundamentally revealing than theories - as when fear reveals a threat
[Heidegger, by Polt]
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24177
|
Higher emotions have less energy, and actions may need the lower emotions
[Weil]
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24014
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Emotions are a sort of bodily incantation which brings a magic to the world
[Sartre]
|
24015
|
Emotions makes us believe in and live in a new world
[Sartre]
|
23946
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The passions are subjective, concerning what is important to me, rather than facts
[Solomon]
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23940
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Emotions are strategies for maximising our sense of dignity and self-esteem
[Solomon]
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23936
|
It is only our passions which give our lives meaning
[Solomon]
|
23949
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Passions exist as emotions, moods and desires, which all generate meaning
[Solomon]
|
23956
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The Myth of the Passions says they are irrational, uncontrolled and damaging
[Solomon]
|
23963
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Which emotions we feel depends on our sense of our own powers
[Solomon]
|
24008
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Reference to a person's emotions is often essential to understanding their actions
[Williams,B]
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4269
|
An emotion is a motive which is also a feeling
[Scruton]
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23979
|
Emotional responses can reveal to us our values, which might otherwise remain hidden
[Goldie]
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23976
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If we have a 'feeling towards' an object, that gives the recognition a different content
[Goldie]
|
23977
|
When actions are performed 'out of' emotion, they appear to be quite different
[Goldie]
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23980
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It is best to see emotions holistically, as embedded in a person's life narrative
[Goldie]
|
23982
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If emotions are 'towards' things, they can't be bodily feelings, which lack aboutness
[Goldie]
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