Medieval and Early Modern Theories of Emotions

הקורס יערך ב- 7 שבועות מרוכזים 30/4/09-11.6.09

Emotions were the focus of intense debates in medieval and early modern philosophy. Tho-mas Aquinas, William Ockham, Renי Descartes, Baruch de Spinoza and many other philoso-phers explored the nature of emotions, the role they play in our mental life and the impact they have on our actions. Scholastic and modern thinkers did not confine themselves to de-scribing particular emotions but analyzed them within the framework of a comprehensive theory of the mind. As soon as this theory changed, the explanation of emotions changed as well. Therefore, one needs to look at the transformation of the theoretical framework (e.g., the transition from Aristotelian to Dualist and Monist theories of the mind), if one wants to un-derstand the crucial changes that took place in the period between 1250 and 1650.

This course will focus on four prominent philosophers in the discussions on emotions, paying particular attention to their metaphysical framework. We will deal with the following prob-lems:
1. The nature of emotions: How was the ontological status of emotions explained? How were emotions related to beliefs, wishes, sensations and other mental states? And what place was assigned to bodily aspects of emotions?
2. The causal mechanism of emotions: What kind of causal story did medieval and early modern philosophers tell about emotions? What role did perceptions and beliefs play in this story? And what were emotions supposed to cause in turn?
3. The responsibility for emotions: Were emotions taken to be passive states that simply affect us? Or were they considered to be states that we can actively control? And if so, how far reaches this control? Can we be blamed if we fail to control them?

We will discuss these questions on the basis of a close reading of selected texts by Aquinas, Ockham, Descartes and Spinoza (see list of primary sources). No special knowledge of these authors or their intellectual background is required. All texts are available in English transla-tion. Knowledge of Latin and French is helpful but not necessary.

Literature
Primary sources

Descartes, R., The Passions of the Soul, in: The Philosophical Writings, vol. 1, transl. by J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, D. Murdoch, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge Univer-sity Press 1985.
Spinoza, B., Ethics, in: A Spinoza Reader, transl. by E. Curley, Princeton: Princeton Univer-sity Press 1994.
Thomas Aquinas, The Emotions, in: Summa Theologiae, vol. 19, transl. by E. D’Arcy, Cam-bridge & New York: Cambridge University Press 2006.
William of Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions, transl. by A. Freddoso & F. E. Kelley, New Ha-ven & London: Yale University Press 1991.

Secondary literature (only introductions and surveys, a detailed list for each author will be provided at the beginning of the course)

Brown, D. J., Descartes and the Passionate Mind, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press 2006.
Della Rocca, M., Spinoza, London & New York: Routledge 2008.
James, S., Passion and Action. The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford: Clarendon 1997.
Knuuttila, S., Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Oxford: Clarendon 2004.
Lagerlund, H. & Yrjצnsuuri, M. (eds.), Emotions and Choice from Boethius to Descartes, Dordrecht: Kluwer 2002.

הקורס יערך ב- 7 שבועות מרוכזים 1.5.09-18.6.09

Emotions were the focus of intense debates in medieval and early modern philosophy. Tho-mas Aquinas, William Ockham, Renי Descartes, Baruch de Spinoza and many other philoso-phers explored the nature of emotions, the role they play in our mental life and the impact they have on our actions. Scholastic and modern thinkers did not confine themselves to de-scribing particular emotions but analyzed them within the framework of a comprehensive theory of the mind. As soon as this theory changed, the explanation of emotions changed as well. Therefore, one needs to look at the transformation of the theoretical framework (e.g., the transition from Aristotelian to Dualist and Monist theories of the mind), if one wants to un-derstand the crucial changes that took place in the period between 1250 and 1650.

This course will focus on four prominent philosophers in the discussions on emotions, paying particular attention to their metaphysical framework. We will deal with the following prob-lems:
1. The nature of emotions: How was the ontological status of emotions explained? How were emotions related to beliefs, wishes, sensations and other mental states? And what place was assigned to bodily aspects of emotions?
2. The causal mechanism of emotions: What kind of causal story did medieval and early modern philosophers tell about emotions? What role did perceptions and beliefs play in this story? And what were emotions supposed to cause in turn?
3. The responsibility for emotions: Were emotions taken to be passive states that simply affect us? Or were they considered to be states that we can actively control? And if so, how far reaches this control? Can we be blamed if we fail to control them?

We will discuss these questions on the basis of a close reading of selected texts by Aquinas, Ockham, Descartes and Spinoza (see list of primary sources). No special knowledge of these authors or their intellectual background is required. All texts are available in English transla-tion. Knowledge of Latin and French is helpful but not necessary.

Literature
Primary sources

Descartes, R., The Passions of the Soul, in: The Philosophical Writings, vol. 1, transl. by J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff, D. Murdoch, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge Univer-sity Press 1985.
Spinoza, B., Ethics, in: A Spinoza Reader, transl. by E. Curley, Princeton: Princeton Univer-sity Press 1994.
Thomas Aquinas, The Emotions, in: Summa Theologiae, vol. 19, transl. by E. D’Arcy, Cam-bridge & New York: Cambridge University Press 2006.
William of Ockham, Quodlibetal Questions, transl. by A. Freddoso & F. E. Kelley, New Ha-ven & London: Yale University Press 1991.

Secondary literature (only introductions and surveys, a detailed list for each author will be provided at the beginning of the course)

Brown, D. J., Descartes and the Passionate Mind, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge Uni-versity Press 2006.
Della Rocca, M., Spinoza, London & New York: Routledge 2008.
James, S., Passion and Action. The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford: Clarendon 1997.
Knuuttila, S., Emotions in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Oxford: Clarendon 2004.
Lagerlund, H. & Yrjצnsuuri, M. (eds.), Emotions and Choice from Boethius to Descartes, Dordrecht: Kluwer 2002.