Introductory Lectures on the Philosophy of Emotion

2021/03/23

In everyday life, when we speak of the "mind," we usually mean "emotions." While the mind has various functions such as perception, thought, prediction, and imagination, emotions are likely seen as the most representative example of the mind.

Consequently, one might think that emotions are the center of the "philosophy of mind," which studies the mind philosophically. However, that was not the case about 15 years ago when I first encountered the philosophy of mind. In the "philosophy of mind" in Japan at that time, the mind-body problem—addressing questions such as "Are the mind and brain identical?" and "Can consciousness be understood as a physical phenomenon?"—was the primary focus. Of course, the mind-body problem has been the most important issue in philosophy since Descartes. Furthermore, while there was a fair amount of literature on the philosophy of emotion abroad at the time, I believe it was hardly introduced in Japan.

It was probably about five years ago that the philosophy of emotion began to attract attention in Japan. Around that time, several works based on international research were published, such as "Series: New Philosophy of Mind III: Emotions" edited by Yukihiro Nobuhara and Hiroshi Ota (Keiso Shobo, 2014) and "Philosophy of Fear" by Kazuhisa Todayama (NHK Publishing, 2016). At that time, I also translated Jesse Prinz's "Gut Reactions" (Keiso Shobo, 2016), which is considered a foundational text in the philosophy of emotion. Since then, with the publication of Yukihiro Nobuhara's "Introduction to the Philosophy of Emotion" (Keiso Shobo, 2017) and Kiyokazu Nishimura's "Philosophy of Emotion" (Keiso Shobo, 2018), it can be said that the philosophy of emotion is currently in vogue in Japan.

As the amount of Japanese literature has increased, it has become easier to incorporate emotions into university classes. In fact, I believe emotion is a suitable theme for teaching philosophy. While philosophy is often perceived as an abstract and detached field, emotions are very familiar things that we experience daily. Therefore, by using emotion as a theme, students can learn philosophy concretely through familiar topics. In my own classes, specifically the liberal arts philosophy courses for all departments, I feel that the sessions dealing with emotions were the best received by students.

This book is a compilation of those lectures on the philosophy of emotion. If you have ever wondered, "What kind of things are discussed in a university philosophy class?" please pick up a copy.

Introductory Lectures on the Philosophy of Emotion

Toru Genka

Keio University Press

240 pages, 2,000 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.