My research interests include philosophy of mind (especially nature of emotion and phenomenological approaches to understanding mind), moral psychology, and various issues in medical ethics. I defend a broadly Humean view of emotion, according to which emotions are feelings that have no representational properties of their own. Although that view is not popular today, I think it is overwhelmingly supported by the way emotions present themselves to consciousness. A feeling theory also opens up whole new ways of thinking about the role and importance of emotions in our lives, including in relation to motivation, moral thought, virtue and vice, …
My research interests include philosophy of mind (especially nature of emotion and phenomenological approaches to understanding mind), moral psychology, and various issues in medical ethics. I defend a broadly Humean view of emotion, according to which emotions are feelings that have no representational properties of their own. Although that view is not popular today, I think it is overwhelmingly supported by the way emotions present themselves to consciousness. A feeling theory also opens up whole new ways of thinking about the role and importance of emotions in our lives, including in relation to motivation, moral thought, virtue and vice, and our understanding of the self. If you're interested in finding out more, then please have a look at my book, Emotions as Original Existences: A Theory of Emotion, Motivation, and the Self.