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Passionate Cognition: A Perceptual Theory of Emotion and the Role of the Emotions in Cognition

Stepanenko, Walter Scott
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1396533522

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts, University of Toledo, College of Languages, Literature, and Social Sciences.
In recent years, a growing number of cognitive scientists have advocated for a more central role of emotion in reasoning and other skills. In this thesis, I investigate how emotion may play such roles and why having emotion in such roles is beneficial to cognition in general. I examine both empirical and philosophical accounts of emotion and suggest that if one wants to provide an account of both how emotion-laden cognition works and why it is successful, one must employ a suitable notion of emotion. I adopt the view that emotions are essentially embodied and I show how understanding a bodily appraisal as the generation of a hypothesis and emotion as the confirmation of that hypothesis can meet many of the charges leveled at perceptual theories of emotion and explain how passionate cognition operates and why passionate cognition is successful. Specifically, I argue that there are five main advantages to my theory of emotion. First, I argue that my view most accurately meets the developmental constraints of not positing innate emotions. Second, I argue that my view fits the apparent evolutionary continuity of emotion by salvaging the intuition that emotions are not exclusively human. Third, I argue that my view explains the role emotions play in an individual’s cognitive economy, particularly the role in practical decision-making. Fourth, I argue that my view accounts for the duration of emotional episodes whereas more common perceptual views do not. Finally, I argue that my view affords explanations of exceptional psychological cases, such as Capgras Syndrome. In Chapter One, I present a few exceptional psychological cases so as to elucidate the reason many affective scientists are concluding that emotion plays a larger role in cognition than folk psychological wisdom would have it. In Chapter Two, I construct a preliminary taxonomy of affective phenomena so as to situate emotion amongst other affects, emphasize the dynamics of affective life, and explain why emotions are probably not innate. In Chapter Three, I present a few alternative views of emotion, highlight the ways emotion theorists have come up short, and make the case for thinking that emotion is essentially embodied. In Chapter Four, I reimagine the role of body appraisals in the emotion elicitation process and I demonstrate how such a reimagining meets many of the charges leveled against perceptual views of emotion. In Chapter Five, I conclude with a brief discussion of passionate cognition and I explain why passionate cognition may have contributed to evolutionary fitness.
John Sarnecki, Dr. (Advisor)
Madeline Muntersbjorn, Dr. (Committee Member)
Ammon Allred, Dr. (Committee Member)
120 p.
Philosophy
Philosophy of Mind; Emotion; Cognition; Reason; Embodiment; Psychology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stepanenko, W. S. (2014). Passionate Cognition: A Perceptual Theory of Emotion and the Role of the Emotions in Cognition [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1396533522

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stepanenko, Walter. Passionate Cognition: A Perceptual Theory of Emotion and the Role of the Emotions in Cognition. 2014. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1396533522.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stepanenko, Walter. "Passionate Cognition: A Perceptual Theory of Emotion and the Role of the Emotions in Cognition." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1396533522

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1396533522
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This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.