Not every emotion is a judgement
Startle, mood and bodily affect may arise before or without the propositional evaluations the theory emphasises.
Contemporary philosophy · 1942–2007
Robert C. Solomon
Solomon treats emotions as intelligent, evaluative ways of engaging with the world rather than forces that simply happen to a passive self.
Robert Solomon was an American philosopher and teacher whose work connected existentialism, emotion, ethics and business life. He defended the view that emotions involve judgements and strategies through which people interpret their situations and take responsibility for a life.
MindEthicsAgency
The question he enters
The question Robert C. Solomon enters
What if anger is not a burst that overtakes judgement, but a judgement about insult, responsibility and your place in a relationship?
The central move
Give emotions their intelligence back
Solomon rejects a hydraulic picture in which passions erupt against reason. Emotions are structured by evaluations of what matters, by concepts and by social roles. Because those judgements can be examined and revised, emotional life is connected with responsibility without being reduced to voluntary choice at every moment.
Key ideas
Terms that carry the argument.
- Emotions as judgements
- Emotions disclose evaluative interpretations of a situation rather than standing apart from thought.
- Myth of the passions
- The misleading picture of emotions as alien forces that overwhelm an otherwise rational and passive self.
- Emotional responsibility
- The claim that people can cultivate, criticise and sometimes be answerable for patterns of emotional interpretation.
- Existential self-making
- Character and meaning are formed through situated commitments, interpretations and passions rather than discovered as fixed essences.
Where the view strains
Objections and limits.
Responsibility can become unfair
Trauma, illness and social conditioning constrain emotional patterns, so treating emotion as chosen can slide into blame for what is not readily controllable.
Sources and routes
Read the work. Follow the argument.
Primary texts
Where to meet the position.
- Open LibraryThe PassionsWebThe judgement-based theory of emotion and its relation to meaning and responsibility.Work-level library catalogue record for The passions; select a listed edition on the record. · Bibliographic record with edition, library-location, borrowing or preview links where available; this row is bibliographic or sample-only unless the selected edition states otherwise. Checked Aug 2026.
- Open LibraryNot Passion's SlaveWebEssays developing a philosophical account of emotion, rationality and character.Work-level library catalogue record for Not Passion's Slave; select a listed edition on the record. · Bibliographic record with edition, library-location, borrowing or preview links where available; this row is bibliographic or sample-only unless the selected edition states otherwise. Checked Aug 2026.
- Oxford AcademicSpirituality for the Skeptic: The Thoughtful Love of LifeWebA secular account of spirituality through reflective passion, gratitude and engagement with life.Oxford University Press, 2002. · Publisher book record with online chapter access subject to purchase or subscription. Checked Aug 2026.
- Open LibraryEthics and ExcellenceWebA virtue-centred approach to business ethics, corporate character and human practice.Work-level library catalogue record for Ethics and Excellence; select a listed edition on the record. · Bibliographic record with edition, library-location, borrowing or preview links where available; this row is bibliographic or sample-only unless the selected edition states otherwise. Checked Aug 2026.