| This dissertation challenges longstanding philosophical assumptions that emotions cannot be chosen and are blind to value, and offers solutions to some entrenched philosophical problems concerning emotional-ethical life, such as the proper roles for impartiality, partiality and passion. Drawing on the work of the Tibetan Buddhist thinker Patrul Rinpoche (1808--1887) and his student and commentator Khenpo ("Abbot") Ngawang Pelzang (1879--1941), I present an account of emotional-ethical life in which a wide range of emotional experiences---from passionate emotions to feelings of equanimity---are valuable because they contain important moral insights.;Historically, many Western philosophical views have emphasized the irrationality of emotions and the limits of human psychology with regard to emotional experience. A flurry of recent scholarship has countered this traditional view by pointing to the intelligence of emotions and the irreplaceable roles they play in ethical life. The view that I defend, inspired by Patrul Rinpoche and Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, draws on this scholarship but goes well beyond it. Specifically, I argue that certain moral emotions can and should be extended through intentional training to (eventually) encompass the entire moral community. These emotions, which are composed of cognitive and non-cognitive elements, offer a privileged position from which to gain wisdom.;In Chapter 1, I explain and defend the views implicit in the work of Patrul Rinpoche (and other Buddhist thinkers) that emotions are, to a great extent, under our control; that emotional dispositions are malleable; and that certain emotions, such as love and equanimity, can and should be cultivated without limits because they give us moral insight. In Chapter 2, I argue for a conception of a passionate life, inspired by Patrul Rinpoche and the 18 th century Tibetan yogin Shabkar, in which we use passionate experiences to connect with others and understand ourselves and the world. Chapter 3 presents an account of equanimity in emotional-ethical life and examines the ways that cultivating equanimity works to eliminate biases. In Chapter 4, I argue that boundless love is both psychologically possible and morally desirable, because it gives one direct experience of the fundamental equality of members of the moral community. |
