4 - The cognitive and evaluative aspects of emotion

Summary

In this and the next chapter I propose to discuss the core part of the emotions. With some emotions this seems to be a reasonably easy task, and fear is the one that springs easily to mind as an example of an emotion which has been defined more or less to the psychologist's and philosopher's satisfaction. Fear is usually defined as an emotional reaction resulting from the apprehension that there is danger about and the consequent desire to avoid or be rid of the danger. In other words this core part of an emotion, the evaluative aspect of which I have suggested is what actually distinguishes this emotional reaction as being of such and such an emotion, has three parts, the cognitive part which will involve factual judgments which give rise to belief or knowledge, the evaluative part which will involve objective evaluations or subjective appraisals, and the appetitive part which will involve desires stemming from the cognitive and evaluative aspects. In the next chapter I will suggest reasons why, in addition to the evaluative aspect, the appetitive aspect seems to be part of the very concept of certain emotions.

But in this chapter I want to make an attempt to clarify the cognitive and evaluative aspects of the emotions, and in the course of this and subsequent chapters it will become clear why I speak of these aspects, together with the appetitive, as the core parts of emotional states.