Eudaimonic emotions and the (meta)philosophy of well-being, UNIGE
PRESENTATION
Is happiness the same as well-being?
Philosophers have argued that it is not, since well-being requires one's life not only to be happy, but also to be meaningful. However, little is known about our conception of meaningfulness and its psychological roots, which gets in the way of an adequate account of well-being. In this project, we will approach meaningfulness through the study of emotions. Indeed, one particular class of emotions, eudaimonic emotions, have a distinct connection to our experience and intuitions about meaningfulness.
The project will combine the theoretical tools of philosophy with the empirical methods of psychology, opening the possibility for an experimental philosophy of meaningfulness and well-being.
It will begin with (i) an examination of the nature, motivational role, and diversity of such eudaimonic emotions. We will then (ii) investigate how these emotions shape our intuitions and judgments about meaningfulness and well-being.
Finally, we will (iii) use this newly acquired insight to put forward a novel account of well-being that integrates the notion of eudaimonic emotions and makes room for meaningfulness without losing the link between happiness and well-being.
DIRECTOR
Florian Cova is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Geneva and member of the Centre Interfacultaire en Sciences Affectives (CISA). His research on happiness and the meaning of life is funded by an Eccellenza grant from the Swiss National Fund (2019-2024).
Her research lies at the intersection of philosophy and cognitive science and covers areas as diverse as philosophy of action, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of mind, psychology of emotions, and moral psychology. His research has been published in leading scientific journals in philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and linguistics.
In addition to his research project Eccellenza, he is also the coordinator of a research project on the role of positive emotions in philanthropic behavior, in collaboration with the Center in Philanthropy of the University of Geneva (2019-2020).
In addition to research and teaching, he has a strong interest in scientific popularization and knowledge dissemination. Some of his interventions in the Swiss media (RTS) can be heard here.
Publications