The Emotional Unconscious of the Intentional Agents

Rocco Mennella presents his research project The Emotional Unconscious of the Intentional Agents at the weekly internal seminar of the Paris IAS.

The presentation will be discussed by Elisabeth Pacherie, research director at the CNRS and researcher in philosophy at the Jean Nicod Institute (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), attached to the Department of Cognitive Studies at the Ecole Normale Supérieure.

This project focuses on the assumption that most of our unconscious responses to emotionally charged situations reflect our inner goals and are based on implicit anticipation of future consequences. This position contrasts with a long tradition of modern psychology which postulates that intentionality is the determining characteristic of a conscious mind, whereas unconscious responses would consist mainly of innate reflexes and acquired habits. The main objective of this project is to find a synthesis of the different theoretical positions regarding unconscious emotional responses and intentionality.

Rocco Mennella holds the Gretty Mirdal Junior Chair in ’Brain, Culture and Society’, which aims to support young researchers working at the interface between neuroscience and SHS.