Comments from a philosopher

Abstract

The relation between psychology and philosophy is like one with a close relative and a distant relative. They have the same research object, i.e. mind, but their methodologies differ in kind. Emotion is a suitable subject for philosophy to dialogue with psychology. This essay puts forth the comment rather critically on three articles from a philosophical viewpoint. First, Ogihara’s article criticizes the prejudice that the reason is superior to the emotion in western philosophical tradition. Although I agree with his intention, I would like to point out some defects in his arguments. Secondly, related to Kido’s article about Kant’s conception of “common sense,” a query is raised that the double aspect of common sense amounts to a strange concept of “empirical a priori.” Thirdly, Murayama’s article represents an attempt to define the concept of “love” by way of “happiness,” but this definition might fall into a vicious circle. Lastly, joint research is proposed between psychology and philosophy to transcend the concept of causal relations in the mind–brain problem.