ABSTRACT
Emotions are central to human existence. Emotions colour our lives, to use a hackneyed phrase; without them life would at best be dull, but even dull experiences are arguably emotional, which makes it hard to imagine what living a truly non-emotional life would be like. In fact, human life (and the life of many other animals) would not be possible without emotions; they help us avoid dangers and take advantage of opportunities, to form and manage social relations, in ways that can make a difference to survival and reproductive success. Emotions are also intimately bound up with memory and learning and likely ground our everyday reasoning and decision-making, our values and morality. The study of emotions is therefore central to the psychological sciences and thus to the philosophy of psychology. What follows is a brief tour of the main contemporary positions on the nature of emotions.
