PHIL309D

Is anger simply a cognitive distortion we should eliminate from our minds? Is it better understood as a response to injustice, capable of motivating social change? Is shame a morally effective form of punishment? Is it rational for grief to diminish after a short time despite the persistence of loss? The course will examine answers to these and other questions about the philosophical nature of anger, shame, fear, anxiety,and grief. A theme of the course will be the good of these so-called negative emotions and the extent to which they are ethically and politically significant. Readings will draw on historical and contemporary philosophy as well as psychology and literary art.