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TTC Passions Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions Robert C Solomon Torrent

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Passions: Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions
(24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)
Course No. 4123
Taught by Robert C. Solomon
The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., University of Michigan

Fear, joy, grief, love, hate, pride, shame.We all have emotions, and we recognize emotions in others. But do wereally understand what emotions are and what they signify? It isremarkable how often we are wrong about our own emotions and misreadthe emotions of others. We also deceive ourselves about their meaning.The more we puzzle over the nature of emotions, the deeper the mysterybecomes. It is a mystery that is by no means solved, but one thatrepays careful, philosophical analysis. Far frombeing routine, emotions are “the key to the meaning of life,” saysdistinguished philosopher and author Robert C. Solomon, who in these 24lectures takes you on a tour of his more than three-decade-longintellectual struggle to reach an understanding of these complexphenomena. Some of his conclusions are surprising and very much againstthe current of common sense.
Professor Solomon'slectures unfold as a rich dialogue with other philosophers, includingPlato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Descartes, Adam Smith, Nietzsche, WilliamJames, Freud, Heidegger, and Sartre. He also relates these views tocontemporary work in the cognitive sciences on emotions, notablyresearch by Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, and Paul Ekman. And hediscusses the portrayal of emotions in writers and artists includingHomer, Shakespeare, Melville, Dostoevsky, and Picasso.
Emotions Have Intelligence
Byprobing the ideas of these and other thinkers and presenting his ownviews, Professor Solomon will lead you to a remarkable conclusion:emotions have intelligence and provide personal strategies that arevitally important to our everyday lives of perceiving, evaluating,appraising, understanding, and acting in the world.
Thisidea runs counter to the widespread view that draws a sharp distinctionbetween the emotional and the rational and views the emotions asinferior, disruptive, primitive, and even bestial forces. For ProfessorSolomon, many emotions are distinctively human and they are far morecomplicated than mere “feelings.” They are rationaljudgments—sophisticated strategies for survival.
In exploring the multifaceted nature of emotions you will address such questions as:
How do we distinguish emotions from feelings, such as pain? What is the meaning of our emotions, and how do they serve to enrich and guide our lives? Is there a determinable number of basic emotions that serve as building blocks for the range of emotions we experience? Is an emotion such as jealousy a genetic trait shared by all humans—or is it something learned? The Japanese have an emotion named amae, but it seems unknown to Westerners. To what extent do language and culture determine emotional experience? Are emotions subconscious products of the mind, or are they under conscious control? Philosopher at Work
Oneof the fascinating features of this course is that you get to witness aphilosopher wrestling with the ideas of his predecessors—accepting,rejecting, refining their contributions, and modifying some of his ownearlier views—in a demonstration of the intellectual honesty requiredto make progress in tackling a profound philosophical problem. He alsoranges beyond philosophy to draw insights from psychology, sociology,neurology, history, and literature.
Amulti-award-winning teacher at The University of Texas at Austin,Professor Solomon has written or edited more than 45 books, including The Passions, Not Passion's Slave, In Defense of Sentimentality, and About Love, as well as works on Existentialism, Nietzsche, Hegel, business ethics, and introductory philosophy.
In a review of Not Passion's Slave,he was singled out for being “at the heart of a revival ofphilosophical interest in the emotions” by The Times LiterarySupplement, which noted his “energetic and provocative contributions tothe field.”
Professor Solomon had such a profoundeffect on one of his students at UT, the future film director RichardLinklater (best known for Before Sunrise and Before Sunset ), that Linklater included a memorable extract of Professor Solomon lecturing on Existentialism in the acclaimed feature film Waking Life.
Professor Solomon has conducted three other highly popular Teaching Company courses: No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life; Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (with Kathleen Higgins); and Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (selected lectures).
Wondrous Troublemakers
“Iwant to invite you to look at your own emotions as if they aresomething wondrous, mysterious, and exotic, something you've alwaystaken for granted—even when they've gotten you in trouble,” saysProfessor Solomon at the outset of this course, which he divides intothree sections:
Section I(Lectures 2–9) Passions, Love, and Violence: The Drama of the Emotions.The course begins with eight lectures on specific emotions (anger,fear, love, compassion, pride, envy, vengeance, and grief) withinsights into the complexity, importance, and roles emotions play inour lives. Section II (Lectures 10–17): Out ofTouch with Our Feelings: Misunderstanding the Emotions. These eightlectures examine how we misinterpret and fail to take responsibilityfor our emotions. For example, the innocent-sounding claim thatemotions are feelings represents a fundamental misunderstanding of whatemotions are about. Other misconceptions are the seemingly innocentassertion that emotions are “in the mind” and the idea that we are thevictims or slaves of our passions. Section III(Lectures 18–24): How Our Passions Enrich Our Lives. The concludingsection takes a positive look at the richness and value of ouremotions, probing what it is about them that make life worth living.Professor Solomon talks about laughter, music, and the roles thatemotions play in different cultures. Throughoutthe course, Professor Solomon returns again and again to his thesisthat emotions have intelligence, an idea that has roots in Westernphilosophy tracing back to Aristotle. The notion of “emotionalintelligence” gained notoriety through a 1990s bestseller bypsychologist Daniel Goleman, but while Goleman and other popularwriters on the subject primarily discuss learning how to controlemotions, Professor Solomon digs deeper to reach the core of howemotions themselves contain intelligence—indeed many kinds ofintelligence—and to explore the complex emotional repertoire that makesus uniquely human.
As you listen to these lectures,prepare to think: think about your own emotions, think about what youobserve in others, and think about the enormous body of research andconjecture on this fascinating topic as Professor Solomon takes you ona challenging and stimulating journey.
“Emotions are ourdoing,” he says. “An emotion is not just a product of evolution, but aproduct of cultivation and, sometimes, personal choice. If you look atyour emotions and say, ‘I will take responsibility for this because itis my doing,' sometimes you will be wrong; but in general, you willsuddenly find that you've taken ownership of your life in a way thatyou hadn't before. And it seems to me that is a very importantphilosophical lesson.”
About Your Professor
RobertC. Solomon is the Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Business andPhilosophy at the University of Texas at Austin . Professor Solomon haswritten or edited more than 45 books. This is his fourth course for TheTeaching Company.


Course Lecture Titles Emotions as Engagements with the WorldThe Wrath of AchillesIt’s Good to Be AfraidLessons of Love—Plato’s SymposiumWe Are Not Alone—Compassion and EmpathyNoble? Or Deadly Sin? Pride and ShameNasty—Iago’s Envy, Othello’s JealousyNastier—Resentment and VengeanceA Death in the Family—The Logic of GriefJames and the Bear—Emotions and FeelingsFreud’s Catharsis—The Hydraulic Model Are Emotions “in” the Mind?How Emotions Are IntelligentEmotions as JudgmentsBeyond Boohoo and HoorayEmotions Are RationalEmotions and ResponsibilityEmotions in EthicsEmotions and the SelfWhat Is Emotional Experience?Emotions across Cultures—UniversalsEmotions across Cultures—DifferencesLaughter and Music Happiness and Spirituality

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