While emotion has often been seen as antithetical to reason and morality, contemporary philosophers and cognitive scientists have shown that emotions incorporate rational thought, and as such can play important roles in guiding our moral decision-making. In this course, we will explore the benefits and risks of being guided by moral emotions such as anger, empathy, awe, shame, and anxiety, and discuss what role they should play in our lives and our societies. To address this question, we will discuss readings drawn from philosophy, psychology, political science, and related disciplines.
Student Reviews
Anonymous AY24/25 Sem 1
About the Instructor
Prof Bart is very knowledgeable and he gives really good feedback for the discussions in class but he can be quite monotonous so his classes can be hard to stay awake for when you are really sleep-deprived
Content (Structure/Organization)
[The course is] very structured. It covers various moral emotions. With the semester split into a few broad themes like "Anger" "Shame and Guilt" and the papers will be talking about those specific emotions
Manageability of Workload
Pretty heavy. The papers can be quite hard to understand and you will have to read them slowly and annotate in order to digest them
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades
Difficult. Prof Bart is a really nice prof but he can be quite critical about the work you produce
Learning Value/Recommendation
Not very useful practically but sometimes you will hear something in a podcast or read something and it will ping something that you have learned from this class. It also taught me to be more aware of my own emotions