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Core Affect and Natural Affective Kinds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Andrea Scarantino
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Abstract

It is commonly assumed that the scientific study of emotions should focus on discrete categories such as fear, anger, sadness, joy, disgust, shame, guilt, and so on. This view has recently been questioned by the emergence of the “core affect movement,” according to which discrete emotions are not natural kinds. Affective science, it is argued, should focus on core affect, a blend of hedonic and arousal values. Here, I argue that the empirical evidence does not support the thesis that core affect is a more “natural” category than discrete emotions. I conclude by recommending a splitting strategy in our search for natural affective kinds.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 76 , Issue 5 , December 2009 , pp. 940 - 957
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I would like to thank Eddy Nahmias, George Graham, and especially Jason Clark for their very useful comments on previous drafts of this paper.

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