Abstract
The paper investigates the impact of emotion and rhetoric for practical reasoning. With regard to Aristotle's theory of emotion, it is argued for the thesis that the role of emotion is essential for acting and decision making, but highly ambivalent in character. The first part (I.) presents the thesis and discuss the problematic relationship between philosophy and rational reasoning on the one side and rhetoric and emotional arousal on the other. The next two parts analyse Aristotle's arguments presented in his Rhetoric against (II.) and for (III.) arousal of emotions in political speech. The last part (IV.) outlines two arguments : how and why the Aristotelian account of emotion can add to contemporary philosophical discussion of emotions? First, as the current debate on emotion is strongly shaped by a cognitivistic approach focusing on the cognitive requisites of emotion, the Aristotelian theory brings back in the political and social dimension of emotion, which has been neglected in current research. Second, the Aristotelian account of emotion challenges our self-conception as animal rationale and requires a reevaluation and recognition of the emotional components of human nature.
| Bidragets oversatte titel | Driving or Seducing Reason? Reflections on the Ambivalence of Emotions from Aristotle's Rhetoric |
|---|---|
| Originalsprog | Fransk |
| Tidsskrift | Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale |
| Vol/bind | 66 |
| Udgave nummer | 2 |
| Sider (fra-til) | 233-248 |
| Antal sider | 16 |
| ISSN | 0035-1571 |
| Status | Udgivet - 2 jun. 2010 |
| Udgivet eksternt | Ja |