ABSTRACT
In this chapter, an attempt is made at showing that the expression ‘being moved’ refers to a specific affective phenomenon that deserves a place in the taxonomy of emotions alongside more readily recognized emotions. To that effect, five criteria are introduced to determine whether an affective phenomenon qualifies as an emotion, which respectively concern intentionality, a distinctive evaluative profile, phenomenology, function and action tendency. Being moved, it is argued, meets these criteria. According to the resulting picture, this emotion is an unsettling yet soothing form of pleasureless contentment occasioned by the contemplation of a positive value making a stand. In light of its concern with positive values, being moved serves the function of reminding the subject of the values she holds dear, making salient some of the most fundamental aspects of our engagement with the world. It concludes by emphasizing that the study of being moved raises intriguing questions regarding its links to other emotions such as joy, sadness, awe and elevation, to aesthetic experience, to sentimentality and to happiness.
