Philosophers and the heart: introduction to the translation of Heart: the idea itself, by Stephen Darwall

Abstract

The aim of this presentation is to introduce the original Portuguese translation of Chapter 1 from The Heart and Its Attitudes, by the American philosopher Stephen Darwall. In this presentation, the translator contextualizes Darwall’s thought within the analytic tradition of moral philosophy, highlighting his proposal to expand the theory of second-person reactive attitudes beyond the deontic domain. The chapter draws a distinction between attitudes of the will, such as respect, guilt, and indignation, and attitudes of the heart, such as love, remorse, and gratitude, emphasizing that both share a second-person relational structure. The presentation underscores the conceptual relevance of the notion of “heartfelt competence,” introduced by Darwall, according to which the capacity to establish deep affective connections depends on mutual openness between hearts. By interpreting love and other heartfelt emotions (such as trust, gratitude, and anger) as normatively significant attitudes- even if not morally required- Darwall offers an original contribution to moral philosophy, proposing that the heart, like the moral will, is intrinsically relational and normatively structured.