Einstein Foundation Berlin | Meeting Einstein: Jesse Prinz

Vortrag und Gespräch

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: How Emotions Shape Experience

Emotion, consciousness, and values are three of the most intensively studied aspects of the human mind, and three of the most important. They are often investigated independently, but they can also be studied together. We frequently have conscious evaluative experiences. Some of these are moral in character: we react to statements made by political candidates, we observe behaviour that strikes us as wrong, and we reflect on the merits of open-borders. Other evaluative experiences are aesthetic: we decide which song we like best or we see a person as beautiful. These evaluative experiences are sensory and cognitive, but they are also emotional. Emotions are what make the difference between seeing something neutrally and seeing it as having value, either good or bad.

Join Jesse Prinz on his stunning tour through these essential aspects in the philosophy of mind and learn how research is leading to a deeper understanding of emotions informing experience. In a conversation with Jule Specht, Prinz will explain how emotions contribute to moral judgements and form aesthetic perception. The talk will also investigate the implications on these effects. How do, for example, social factors influence emotions, giving rise to cultural differences in moral and aesthetic values?

An event by Einstein Foundation Berlin

Doors: 6.30pm
Start: 7pm
Please register
Entrance free