Here's the latest state of the art in the cognitive science of emotion, summarized in three words: Emotions are predictions More precisely, emotions are predictions generated by the brain using an internal model informed by sensory data and past experiences. What does this mean? Let's analyze that definition word by word, starting from the end: Past experiences. All your emotions are shaped by your memories of the past, categorized by distinct emotion concepts. Some of your experiences … [Read more...]
When Reason Needs Emotion: The Problem of Rational Foresight
You are on a good path in life when you do your true will (what you truly want), leading you towards eudaimonia (long-term well-being). Your rational true will aims at a goal and listens to reason, which calculates the outcome probabilities of actions. You use reason to estimate how potential actions will affect eudaimonia, and then you choose the path of action with the most desirable consequences. This is how you make good life decisions, right? Well, not quite... The problem of rational … [Read more...]
Are Consequences All That Matter? (Intentions Vs. Outcomes)
The True Will is the chief principle of decision making. A man doing his True Will acts in a way that maximizes eudaimonia. So what matters are the outcomes of his actions, its consequences for well-being. Does this make his intentions, his state of mind, irrelevant? Imagine a man punching another man in the face in an act of self-defense that we assume maximizes eudaimonia. Does it matter whether the man threw his punches out of reactive anger and ill intent or out of mindcoolness? It … [Read more...]
Are Pride and Humility Good or Bad? (Affective Ethics)
On the Ethics of Pride and Humility Definitions Pride is the pleasure you feel when you contemplate your strength, competence, or superiority. Humility is the pain you feel when you contemplate your weakness, incompetence, or inferiority. Affective Ethics According to a utilitarian reading of the above definitions, pride is inherently good (pleasurable) and humility inherently bad (painful). Yet if we look at all their potential consequences on well-being, the picture becomes more … [Read more...]
Is It a Weakness to Turn the Other Cheek?
In the New Testament, Matthew writes, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." In the Satanic Bible, LaVey writes, "Hate your enemies with a whole heart, and if a man smite you on one cheek, smash him on the other!; smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law! He who turns the other cheek is a cowardly … [Read more...]
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