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Taking affective explanations to heart

University of Geneva, 2 rue de Candolle, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland, Julien.Deonna{at}lettres.unige.ch

Fabrice Teroni

University of Geneva, 2 rue de Candolle, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland, Fabrice.Teroni{at}lettres.unige.ch

In this article, the authors examine and debate the categories of emotions, moods, temperaments, character traits and sentiments. They define them and offer an account of the relations that exist among the phenomena they cover. They argue that, whereas ascribing character traits and sentiments (dispositions) is to ascribe a specific coherence and stability to the emotions (episodes) the subject is likely to feel, ascribing temperaments (dispositions) is to ascribe a certain stability to the subject’s moods (episodes). The rationale for this distinction, the authors claim, lies in the fact that, whereas appeal to character traits or sentiments in explanation is tantamount to making sense of a given behaviour in terms of an individual’s specific evaluative perspective — as embodied in this individual’s emotional profile — appeal to temperaments makes sense of it independently of any such evaluative perspective.

Key Words: Character trait • Emotion • Explanation • Mood • Philosophy • Sentiment • Temperament

Social Science Information, Vol. 48, No. 3, 359-377 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0539018409106197


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