Rational Sentimentalism

FAIN: RZ-50212-04

Ohio State University (Columbus, OH 43210-1349)
E. Justin D'Arms (Project Director: November 2003 to January 2008)

A book on emotions in relation to moral philosophy, written by two philosophers: Justin D'Arms and his collaborator Daniel Jacobson.

We seek support for a collaborative book project, Rational Sentimentalism, currently under contract with Oxford University Press. The book will articulate and defend an original philosophical theory of the relationship between emotions and value. This sentimentalist ethical theory relies upon a novel account of emotion which utilizes both the findings of emotion science and the insights of humanistic scholars and writers about the lived character of human emotional life. We will then defend some surprising and controversial evaluative claims arising from this approach to ethical theory. Among these is our suggestion that although various emotions (such as envy, jealousy, and contempt) are widely regarded as hostile to morality, any adequate theory of value must acknowledge that all such emotions are sometimes accurate responses to value. With Rational Sentimentalism we aspire to make an important contribution both to ethical theory and the philosophy of emotion.