Emotions and social construction:

is there still a place for socioconstructivism in the philosophy of emotions?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47456/sofia.v12i2.43351

Keywords:

emotions, social construction, situated affectivity, cultural variation, debunking project

Abstract

In the 1980s, a research program became popular in the field of philosophy and psychology of emotions. This program, called social constructionism, claimed that emotions were products of social factors and could not be understood in an adaptationist vocabulary. However, over time these theories lost much of their strength and popularity, and practically disappeared from contemporary philosophy of emotions. The goal of this paper will be to diagnose this predicament, and ask whether social constructionism could still be an interesting theoretical path for the study of emotions. To do this, we will clarify the meaning of the “construction” metaphor and examine some of the main constructionist theories of emotions. Although our conclusions will be mostly negative regarding the social construction label, they may nevertheless bring some relief to those who are sympathetic to its theoretical goals, methodological prescriptions and focus of analysis.

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Author Biographies

Felipe Nogueira de Carvalho, UFLA - Universidade Federal de Lavras

Professor adjunto do departamento de Ciências Humanas da Universidade Federal de Lavras. Se interessa por emoções e pela afetividade e suas relações com domínios diversos como a epistemologia, a percepção, a literatura, a filosofia da ciência etc.

Sabrina Balthazar Ramos Ferreira, UFMG – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Doutoranda em filosofia pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) e mestre em filosofia pela Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Pesquisa a constituição de emoções na linha de Lógica, Ciência, Mente e Linguagem do PPG de Filosofia da UFMG.

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Published

29-12-2023

How to Cite

Nogueira de Carvalho, F., & Ramos Ferreira, S. B. (2023). Emotions and social construction:: is there still a place for socioconstructivism in the philosophy of emotions?. Sofia , 12(2), e12243351. https://doi.org/10.47456/sofia.v12i2.43351

Issue

Section

Dossiê Filosofia das Emoções