language & emotion workshop

The workshop aims at providing a forum to discuss philosophical and theoretical developments on the relation between language and emotion. Language is relevant for the study of emotion in several aspects. One of them is the possible influence of the linguistic expression of emotional states on those states themselves. Is language a mere expressive device of independently formed states, or is it constitutive of at least some emotion-types? Related to this point is the issue that many emotions seem to demand an intentional object –in many cases a propositional object articulated as a judgment. There is considerable debate whether conceptual judgments are a necessary component of certain emotions. If one holds the view that emotions themselves must be understood as propositional attitudes and, at the same time, thinks that propositional attitudes bear a strong relation to public language sentences, then language will reveal much about the nature of emotion. Alternatively, one may conceive of each major emotion as an affect program –perhaps a sort independent module. But even if one rejects the propositionalist view, language can return to center stage in trying to understand the relation between such affective processing and the rest of the cognitive life, particularly when questions about intermodular integration are addressed. Does language play, as some suggest, a relevant integrative role, and if so, does it shape emotions themselves? On the other hand, to the extent that figurative language is said to be involved in the conceptualization of emotion, its metaphoric expressions will disclose much of its structure. Must the theories of emotion abide by our ordinary language intuitions? What consequences would it have for the theses of the universality/diversity of emotions? Relations between language and emotion thus provide a fascinating meeting point for questions pertaining to the philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, cognitive science, or linguistics.

Call for papers:

There will be room for a limited number of 30-minute papers. We welcome submissions of 500-word abstracts that address any philosophical aspect of the relation between language and emotion. We also welcome papers from disciplines other than philosophy, provided they are concerned with theoretical standpoints rather than presentations of specific empirical research. Possible topics to be addressed include, among others: linguistic expression of emotion; the role of language in the conceptualization of emotion; metaphor and emotion; propositionalist theories of emotion; linguistic individuation and linguistic divergence of emotions; the relevance of philosophical linguistic analysis for understanding emotions; the interplay of modularist visions of language and emotion; the semantics and pragmatics of emotion language; the role of emotion in the emergence/acquisition of language.

Abstracts should be submitted by email to: fmmanriq@ugr.es (please include the keyword ‘WORKSHOP’ as the first word of the message’s subject). The official language of the workshop is English.

Deadlines:

- Deadline for the admission of abstracts: June 10th 2008.

- Acceptance of the paper will be notified before June 30th 2008.

Further information:

Updates about the workshop, as well as additional information on accommodation and travel, will be posted at this website

More information about the workshop can be requested from the contact person:

- by post:

Fernando Martínez Manrique

Departamento de Filosofía I, Edificio Psicología

18071 Granada, Spain

- by fax: (+34) 958248981

- by e-mail: fmmanriq@ugr.es