Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T04:27:16.940Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rationalization of emotion is also rational

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

Peter Railton Open the ORCID record for Peter Railton [Opens in a new window]
Peter Railton*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109-1003. prailton@umich.eduhttps://lsa.umich.edu/philosophy/people/faculty/prailton.html
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cushman seeks to explain rationalization in terms of fundamental mental processes, and he hypotheses a selected-for function: information exchange between “rational” and “non-rational” processes in the brain. While this is plausible, his account overlooks the importance – and information value – of rationalizing the emotions of ourselves and others. Incorporating such rationalization would help explain the effectiveness of rationalization and its connection with valuation, as well as raise a challenge to his way of bifurcating “rational” and “non-rational” processes.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e43
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dayan, P. & Berridge, K. C. (2014) Model-based and model-free Pavlovian learning: Revaluation, revision, and revelation. Cognitive and Affective Behavioral Neuroscience 14:473–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hume, D. (1738/1978) A treatise of human nature. Edited by Selby-Bigge, L.A. & Nidditch, P. H.. Oxford University Press. (Original work published in 1738)Google Scholar
Nesse, R. M. & Ellsworth, P. C. (2009) Evolution, emotions, and emotional disorders. American Psychologist 64:129–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pessoa, L. (2008) On the relationship between emotion and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9:148–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, K. S. & Graybiel, A. M. (2016) Habit formation coincides with shifts in reinforcement representations in sensorimotor striatum. Journal of Neurophysiology 115:1487–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stauffer, W. R., Lak, A. & Schultz, W. (2014) Dopamine reward prediction error responses reflect marginal utility. Current Biology 24:2419–2500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornton, M. A. & Tamir, D. I. (2017) Mental models accurately predict emotion transitions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 114:5982–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, T. D. & Gilbert, D. T. (2003) Affective forecasting. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 35:345–411.Google Scholar