Abstract: An affective approach to culture and cognition may hold the key to uniting findings across experimental psychology and, eventually, the Human Sciences. Many accounts of the human mind concentrate on the brain’s computational power yet for nearly 200 million years before humans developed a capacity to reason the emotional centers of the brain were running the show. To attain a clearer picture of the evolution of mind, we challenge the cognitivist and behaviorist paradigms in psychology by exploring how the emotional capacities that we share with other animals saturate every thought and perception. Many of the distinctive social and cultural behaviors of our species, including: bonding, social learning, hierarchy, decision-making, self-identity can be integrated if we use an affective approach. Even the roots of so much that makes us uniquely human—art, mythology, religion—can be traced to feelings of caring, longing, fear, loneliness, awe, rage, lust, and playfulness. An affective framework is developed through elaborations upon biological intentionality, an ecological model of social intelligence, and biocultural loops in the ontogeny of affective systems. Furthermore, we explain the evolution of imagination through its early manifestations in body grammar, dreams, and spatial cognition, also revisiting the evolution of language debate to suggest its associative and analogical forbearers. Drawing from research in anthropology, we describe how affect is domesticated through social and cultural technologies like norms, ceremonies, and goods. We critically analyze the homo economicus model to emphasize the constitutive role of affect in decision-making and acts of passion. Finally, we explore the spiritual emotions in how art, religion, and mythology create ecological niches for belief, commitment, and solidarity. By organizing an analysis of behaviors from an affective perspective, the mind is naturalized and further research into disparate findings across the Human Sciences is enabled. Chair: Cecilea Mun (Independent Researcher) 7:00 p.m. – 7:25 p.m.: Book Synopsis, Stephen T. Asma (Columbia College Chicago, IL) and Rami Gabriel (Columbia College Chicago, IL) (25 minutes) 7:25 p.m.– 7:45 p.m.: First Commentary, “Whither Humanity? Emotional Mind Begs Rational Assessment,” Ann E. Cudd (University of Pittsburgh, PA) (20 minutes) 7:45 p.m. – 8:05 p.m.: Second Commentary, “Emotional Correctness,” Owen Flanagan (Duke University, NC) (20 minutes) 8:05 p.m. – 8:25 p.m.: Third Commentary, Jea S. Oh (West Chester University of Pennsylvania, PA) (20 minutes) 8:25 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.: Fourth Commentary, Bongrae Seok (Alvernia University, PA) (20 minutes)
8:45 p.m. – 8:55 p.m.: Short Break ( 10 minutes) 8:55 p.m. – 9:25 p.m.: Authors' Response, Stephen T. Asma (Columbia College Chicago, IL) and Rami Gabriel (Columbia College Chicago, IL) (30 minutes) 9:25 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.: Audience Questions for Author and Panel of Critics (35 minutes) Note to Critics: Please email your comments to all the participants (just so we’re all on the same page) by December 31, 2019 using the group email thread set-up by Cecilea Mun. We also ask that you submit the final drafts of your comments to the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion, to be peer reviewed and published as a part of a book symposium in the 2020 summer or winter issue, no later than March 31, 2020. Your symposium paper should be between 1,500-3,000 words. Note to Author: We ask that you submit your response to your commentators to all the participants (just so we’re all on the same page) by January 31, 2020 using the group email thread set-up by Cecilea Mun. We also ask that you submit the final drafts of your précis and response to the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion, to be peer reviewed and published as a part of a book symposium in the 2020 summer or winter issue, no later than March 31, 2020. Your symposium précis should be between 1,500-3,000 words, and we will leave it to you to determine the length of your response. Note to Presenters: You should make sure that you are a member of the SPE at the time of the conference and that you also register for the 2020 Central APA conference (which may be more cost effective if you are also a member). Furthermore, because the SPE does not currently have the funds to pay for video projectors, you should be prepared to present your paper without the use of a video projector. SPE Dinner/Social Event: The SPE will reserve seats at a local restaurant for a group dinner on the evening of the symposium. Reservations will be made for all participants unless you have notified Cecilea Mun that you will not be able to attend. Please contact her regarding any dietary restriction, and please note that all participants will be responsible for their own bill.