In Defense of Passion

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Flakne, April

Keywords

Philosophy, Hume, David, Kant, Immanuel, Aristotle, Materialism, Dualism, Irvine, William, Gass, William, Neo-Humean

Area of Concentration

Philosophy

Abstract

In Western philosophy, the traditionally set dichotomy of reason and sentiment as modes by which we human beings approach our world seems to set limitations to the way we understand our choices and actions that might find some relief in a more unifying conception. This work proposes the notion of ‘Passion’ as such a unifying conception, which rather than attempting to eliminate our experiences of these approaches to the world, offers a re-description of them by way of a continuum. Extractions from the works of Aristotle, Hume, and Kant are used to present instances of complications with a dichotomous view that provide openings for re-description. Since much of our present philosophical discussion is currently informed by the sciences this work presents contemporary neuropsychological findings that tie our approaches to the world to our biology, with which the concept of Passion agrees though it strives to present an active and responsive organism in contrast to a reactively determined one. The work also explores how the active stance of Passion might place it as a morally capable concept, and proposes a notion of moral beauty.

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