13 - Blaming the emotions

Summary

In this chapter I shall discuss when, if ever, one may blame a person for his emotions. Prima facie it might seem that emotions come upon us like gusts of wind and blow us about in one direction and then in another without our having any say in the matter, and that it would be as absurd to blame a person for having emotions as to blame him for being blown about by the wind. But I want to argue that this view of the matter is only superficial for, while it may be useful in some respects to view emotions as gusts of wind over which we have no control, it can also lead us badly astray. For, if we look more closely, we will find that there are a number of ways in which we can control our emotions and so a number of ways in which we can be blamed in respect of our emotions. In the course of this closer look, I will discuss:

1. (1) The notion of blame which I employ;

2. (2) The ways in which one can be said to control the emotions;

and (3), with (2) above in mind: The ways in which a person could be blamed in regard to his emotions.

Blame

Without being drawn into a protracted discussion as to what blame is, I think that it will help to avoid ambiguities if I declare in what sense I am using the term ‘blame’.