more on this theme     |     more from this text

Single Idea 5963

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / f. Emotion and reason ]

Full Idea

Some philosophers make the emotions varieties of reason, on the ground that all desire and grief and anger are judgments, while others declare that the virtues have to do with emotions, as when fear is the province of courage.

Gist of Idea

Some say emotion is a sort of reason, and others say virtue concerns emotion

Source

Plutarch (68: Generation of the soul in 'Timaeus' [c.85], 1025d)

Book Ref

Plutarch: 'Selected Essays and Dialogues', ed/tr. Russell,Donald [OUP 1993], p.247

A Reaction

The second idea comes from Aristotle, but the second is interesting, and corresponds to the views coming from modern neuroscience, where even the most basic thought seems to involve emotion. What could be the motivation for 'pure' reason?

Related Idea

Idea 20850 Passions are judgements; greed thinks money is honorable, and likewise drinking and lust [Chrysippus, by Diog. Laertius]

The 16 ideas from Plutarch

5957 Absurd superstitions make people atheist, not disharmony in nature [Plutarch]
5958 The sun is always bright; it doesn't become bright when it emerges [Plutarch]
1477 Being manly and brave is the result of convention, not of human nature [Plutarch]
1479 Animals have not been led into homosexuality, because they value pleasure very little [Plutarch]
1478 Animals don't value pleasure, as they cease sexual intercourse after impregnation [Plutarch]
5960 When the soul is intelligent and harmonious, it is part of god and derives from god [Plutarch]
5963 Some say emotion is a sort of reason, and others say virtue concerns emotion [Plutarch]
5974 People report seeing through rocks, or over the horizon, or impossibly small works [Plutarch]
5948 The good life involves social participation, loyalty, temperance and honesty [Plutarch]
5950 If only atoms exist, how do qualities arise when the atoms come together? [Plutarch]
5951 If atoms have no qualities, they cannot possibly produce a mind [Plutarch]
5952 Rather than being the whole soul, maybe I am its chief part? [Plutarch]
5955 No one will ever find a city that lacks religious practices [Plutarch]
20796 Action needs an affinity for a presentation, and an impulse toward the affinity [Plutarch]
5959 Some philosophers say the soul is light [Plutarch]
1212 Replacing timbers on Theseus' ship was the classic illustration of the problem of growth and change [Plutarch]