Simon Blackurn – Feelings and Judgments

Some writers (Parfit, Nussbaum) have denied that there can be reasons for feelings, or even that feelings can themselves be reasons for intentions, other mental states, or actions. They ignore a long tradition of thinking otherwise, by philosophers including not only the Scottish sentimentalists, but Brentano and Ryle, amongst others. In my paper I shall explore some of the issues surrounding this difference of opinion.