The Problem of Emotion Categorisation

ABSTRACT: The problem of emotion categorisation, as the name suggests, has to do with how best to categorise our emotions. Rigid emotion taxonomies, such as those inspired by empirical approaches to emotion, are said to be too reductive: they arguably misrepresent the diversity of our emotional repertoire. However, explanations also require categorisation, so to eschew emotion taxonomies completely is to risk explanatory inadequacy. In this paper, I explain how a developmental approach to emotion, one that focuses on ontogenetic instead of phylogenetic development, can help us categorise emotions in a way that respects their diversity. 

Bio: Raamy Majeed is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Auckland. He works primarily in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, but has also published on topics in metaphysics, aesthetics and philosophy of race.