Emotion and ImaginationRecent years have seen an enormous amount of philosophical research into the emotions and the imagination, but as yet little work has been done to connect the two. In his engaging and highly original new book, Adam Morton shows that all emotions require some form of imagination and goes on to fully explore the link between these two important concepts both within philosophy and in everyday life. We may take it for granted that complex emotions, such as hope and resentment, require a rich thinking and an engagement with the imagination, but Morton shows how more basic and responsive emotions such as fear and anger also require us to take account of possibilities and opportunities beyond the immediate situation. Interweaving a powerful tapestry of subtle argument with vivid detail, the book highlights that many emotions, more than we tend to suppose, require us to imagine a situation from a particular point of view and that this in itself can be the source of further emotional feeling. Morton goes on to demonstrate the important role that emotions play in our moral lives, throwing light on emotions such as self-respect, disapproval, and remorse, and the price we pay for having them. He explores the intricate nature of moral emotions and the challenges we face when integrating our thinking on morality and the emotions. This compelling and thought-provoking new book challenges many assumptions about the nature of emotion and imagination and will appeal to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the role that these concepts play in our lives. The book also has far reaching implications that will spark debate amongst scholars and students for some time to come. |
Contents
Seeing | |
Keeping mood and emotion distinct | |
Categories of emotion | |
Imagining what we shouldnt feel | |
Imagining a point of view | |
Misimagination | |
Emotions with multiple points of view | |
The variety of moral emotions | |
Emotional learning | |
The ideas and the questions | |
Shamelike versus regretlike | |
Looking backward and looking inward | |
Two kinds of pride | |
Dark humour radical possibilities | |
fiction and philosophy | |
Sympathy versus empathy | |
The threat of irrelevance | |
a virtue of imagination | |
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Common terms and phrases
accurate actions actual admirable anger approval attitude awful basic become belief better cause changes characters child comes completely concern connection consider contrast describe despair directed disapproval discussed disgust distinctions effect embarrassment empathy evidence example experience face fact fear feel fiction focus give going grasp guilt happen hard harm hope human idea images imagine important interesting involves keep kind later lead less linked looking means mind mood moral emotions motives move object one’s oneself particular past pattern perhaps person perspective philosophy picture point of view possible present pressure pride problem question reaction reasons regret remorse represent representations respect result self-respect sense sentiment shame similar simple situation smugness social someone sometimes story structure suggests Suppose tell things thoughts trying understand usually vivid wonder wrong