CFP: Issue of Philosophical Topics: “Emotion Regulation”

CFP: Issue of Philosophical Topics: “Emotion Regulation”

Volume Editor: Trip Glazer (Dayton)

Deadline: December 1st, 2019.

You begin to feel angry, but after closing your eyes and counting to ten, you find that your anger has abated.  You are having trouble enjoying a bad movie, but after suspending your disbelief, you find that you can enjoy the movie much more.  You are irritated by the man snoring loudly on an airplane, but after imagining that he is dreaming that he is a blobfish, you find that you are more amused than irritated.  

In each of these examples you have engaged in emotion regulation—the conscious or unconscious attempt to influence your emotions in real time (Gross 1999).  Methods of emotion regulation include the refocusing of attention, the reappraisal of a situation, and the management of emotional expression.  We may not have complete control over our emotions, but we have some control over the course that our emotions take.

Psychologists, sociologists, and historians have contributed to a rich literature on emotion regulation.  Psychologists have investigated which methods of emotion regulation are most effective (e.g. Webb, Miles, & Sheeran 2012).  Sociologists have investigated the social dynamics of “emotional labor,” or the use of emotion regulation in the workplace (e.g. Hochschild 1983).  Historians have investigated the cultural history of “emotionology,” or the changing ideas and norms concerning the regulation of emotion (e.g. Stearns 1994). 

Philosophers have much to offer this growing research topic, as the concept of emotion regulation raises questions in the philosophy of mind, moral psychology, ethics, and social and political philosophy, among other subdisciplines. 

The aim of this issue is to promote, showcase, and connect distinctively philosophical perspectives on emotion regulation.  The journal will include both invited papers and papers solicited through this call.  As such, we invite submissions on the following topics:

• (How) can we regulate our emotions and expressions? 
• What responsibility (if any) do we have to regulate our emotions and expressions? 
• What are the benefits and costs of emotion regulation? 
• (How) can emotion regulation support or undermine rational thought?
• (How) can demands to regulate emotions enact or reinforce social injustices? 
• How have philosophers in the past conceived emotion regulation?
• Etc.

Contributions that engage philosophically with work in other disciplines are welcomed.

For more information, please contact the guest editor Trip Glazer at [email protected].

Submissions may not be previously published or under consideration for publication elsewhere.  Please remove all identifying information prior to submission.  Submit your paper as a .pdf to [email protected].  Please include the words “Emotion Regulation” in the subject line.   Submissions will be accepted until December 1st, 2019.