Bu makalenin amacı Aristoteles'in temel eserleri kapsamında duygu kuramının genel çerçevesini ortaya çıkarmaktır. Birçok yorumcu, Aristoteles'in bir duygu kuramının olup olmadığı konusunda ciddi tereddütleri olduklarını belirtmiştir. Bu tereddütleri kısmen paylaşmakla birlikte, bu makalede Aristoteles'in tutarlı ve iyi temellendirilmiş bir duygu kuramı olduğunu göstermeye çalışacağım. Aristoteles'in duygu kuramı ne Stoa duygu kuramı gibi salt bir bilişselci kuram, ne de bir fizikalist duygu kuramıdır. Aristoteles'in duygu kuramının farklı yönlerini ortaya koyarak onun duygu kuramında bilişsel ve duyuşsal boyutlar arasında mantıksal ve kavramsal bir ilişki olduğunu, bu iki unsurun duyguda birlikte yer aldığını temellendirmeye çalışacağım. Makalenin birinci ve ikinci kısımlarında Aristoteles'in duygu kuramının metafiziksel ve psikolojik yönleri ele alınmaktadır. Üçüncü kısımda ise duyguların fiziksel yönü gösterilmeye çalışılmaktadır ki, Aristoteles bunu duygular için özsel bir yön olarak görür. Bilişsel boyutun ele alındığı dördüncü kısımda duygular inanç, yönelimsellik ve yargıları değiştirme açısından incelenmektedir. Makaleyi Aristoteles'te duyguların eylem ile olan ilişkisi bakımından ele alındığı tartışma kısmıyla sonlandırıyorum.

Introduction This paper reconstruct a general picture of Aristotle’s theory of emotion developed in his major works. Most commentators express hesitation about whether it is possible to reconstruct such a theory of emotion in Aristotle’s philosophy. Though I agree with much of the concern they raise, I still believe that there exists a coherent, somehow well-grounded, theory of emotion in Aristotle’s philosophy. I argue that Aristotle’s account of emotion cannot be interpreted as a pure cognitivism, like the Stoic’s theory of emotion, or as a strong physicalism. Identifying different aspects of Aristotle’s account of emotion, I have tried to demonstrate that there is a logical and conceptual connection between these different aspects such that both cognitive and affective aspects co-exist in his theory of emotions. Section one and two provide the metaphysical and psychological bases of Aristotle’s theory of emotion. Section three is an attempt to identify the physical aspect of emotions in Aristotle, the aspect which he takes as essential to emotions. The cognitive aspect, in section four, deals with emotions in terms of beliefs, intentionality, and having the power of changing judgments. I conclude the paper with a discussion on the relationship between action and emotion in Aristotle. 1. The Metaphysical Basis of Emotions In the Metaphysics Aristotle offers four different senses of “pathos,” with a larger metaphysical concern. In Aristotle, “pathos” does not refer to what we call “emotion,” though it has a close conceptual connection with it, but rather to “affection,” “experience” or “alteration.”In the Categories a quality, Aristotle says, is something in virtue of which both things and people are qualified. While Aristotle explicitly points out that there are different kinds of quality in respect of which people and things can be qualified, he thinks that these can be grouped and discussed under four major headings or kinds: (i) states and conditions, (ii) natural capacities and incapacities, (iii) external form of a thing, (iv) affections (pathe) and affective qualities. According to Aristotle, a complete account of what a particular thing is given can be achieved by looking for (1) that from which it is made (the material cause), (2) the structure or form in terms of which the matter comes to be something determinate (the formal cause), (3) the agent responsible for a quantity of matter’s coming to be informed (the efficient cause), and (4) the purpose or goal of the compound of form and matter (the final cause). This is also the case in his theory of emotion. Therefore the inclusion of cognition, belief, intentionality and the bodily aspects to emotions can be explained within the context of his general teleological-functionalist theory of causation and explanation. 2. The Psychological Basis of Emotions To provide a more clear understanding of Aristotle’s theory of emotion, it is also necessary to look at his views on human psychology and soul, which are characteristically found in the On the Soul. The main focus of Aristotle’s inquiry in this work is to discover the nature and the essence of soul, which is not limited to the human-soul. According to Aristotle, the soul is “the principle of animal life,” whose knowledge contributes to the advance of truth in general and our understanding of nature. Since there are different kinds of living things forming an ascending scale –plants, animals, human beings, Aristotle suggests, we should ask the question ‘What is its soul?’ in each case or order of living things. Our inquiry on the metaphysical and psychological bases of emotions implies that Aristotle’s theory includes several complementary parts. Indeed, for Aristotle, emotions are complex phenomenon involving mainly cognitive, desiderative and affective aspects, aspects which are irreducible to each other. It is for this reason that his conception of emotions does not allow any reductionist project.