Personhood and Emotion

[PhotonTurtle]

Earlier today I found myself having an internal discussion on the concept of "personhood", specifically what is required for said distinction to apply. I determined that the presence of a consciousness is required which I (unoriginally) define as:1. Self awareness

2. Capacity for rational thought3. Ability to act as a moral agent

 

During my internal dialogue I was unsure whether emotion ought to be included with my definition of consciousness. In the end, after much debate, I decided not to include it on the grounds that emotions are not predicated by the presence of a consciousness as I define it. Lesser animals, which do not have a consciousness, have been observed exhibiting emotion. Although I concede that a consciousness adds complexity to emotion, it is not required. Our consciousness after all is tasked with keeping our emotions in check, lest we act irrationally.

 

At this point in my dialogue I asked what was necessary to act as a moral agent. I felt that "personal/individual values" was a sufficient answer as whether a moral agent acts morally or not is irrelevant. This response resulted in the question "How can we get values in the absence of emotion?" At this time, I do not have a satisfactory answer.

 

I make this post for three reasons. (1) I wish to have my position criticized as it is not something that happens often. (2) Said criticism will hopefully lead me to become a more intelligent individual and (3) I am stuck. I can not think of an argument in which values are possible without emotion. I would truly appreciate other perspectives on this.

 

Well, I look forward to reading people's responses to this sometime in the near future. Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!

 

PS: I'm rather unread on this topic,among others, and would appreciate if anyone could recommend good literature on the subject.

[Lians]

You can read Antonio Damasio on the role of emotions. People who don't have access to their emotions have great difficulty in making decisions and prioritizing. That's because emotions underlie our value judgements; what psychologists call valence. One of Damasio's patients, Elliot, became a famous example of this inability to apply valence to one's reasoning capacity.

[PhotonTurtle]

@Lians

Thank you for the recommendation and insight. I'll read Damasio for needed perspective on emotions, not that you haven't given me some already.

 

Again I appreciate the assistance, perhaps now I can sleep. On a side note, I ought to learn how to research a topic effectively.