Friday Philosophy Colloquium: Matthew Congdon

The Philosophy Department's Friday Colloquium, with guest speaker, Matthew Congdon (Vanderbilt; ethics, social, aesthetics). “Two Myths about Emotion” Abstract: An old myth once held that emotion and reason are fundamentally opposed. In this paper, I argue that a common philosophical strategy for overcoming this myth—defending an analogy between emotional rationality and propositional rationality—constitutes many philosophers’ “new myth” about emotion. I defend the alternative that emotions help frame agents’ outlooks in ways that precede and underlie the possibility of forming propositional attitudes in the first place. I conclude by considering the implications this has for an account of the rational assessment of emotions.

When 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm on 12 September 2025
Building STH 325