Emotional minds

Exploring the emotional mind philosophically does not seem self-evident if one considers the history of western philosophical thought; for it can hardly be denied that there is some truth in the wide spread prejudice that emotions were regarded by philosophers in general with suspicion and as obstructive to cognition. However, over the last few decades the relation between philosophy and the emotions seems to have changed altogether, as emotions have gained a new role in current philosophical research: innumerable books and conferences have been devoted to this new branch – the philosophy of emotions. This growing interest in the emotions is not a single case restricted to the realm of philosophy but can be traced in a wide range of scientific disciplines such as the cognitive, social and political sciences and the humanities. In some disciplines research work on the nature and role of emotions has increased in the last decades to an extent that there is already talk of an affective turn (see Clough 2007, Priddat 2007 and McCalman 2010).
[Berlin, Boston: 2012]

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