Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
self-pride, i.e., feeling proud of oneself, is a deontological emotion because it
involves the person normatively appraising themselves for acting or being in a
certain way. Since the opposite of self-reproach – namely, self-pride – is a
deontological emotion, it seems reasonable to infer that self-reproach is also a
deontological emotion.
Contrast this with regret. The opposite of regretting a decision is being glad
for it. Consider the following example. Imagine that I partied late into the night,
forgot to set my alarm clock, and missed my early morning flight. Later that day, I
learned from the news that my flight crashed and everybody on board died. In this
case, I would be extremely glad if I missed my flight regardless of the fact that I
acted irresponsibly. I would simply be happy to still be alive. This suggests that
gladness is a consequentialist emotion because it focuses solely on the outcome
(i.e., that I am still alive), and not on the causal pathways (i.e., that I acted
irresponsibly). Since the opposite of regret – namely, gladness – is a
consequentialist emotion, it seems reasonable to infer that regret is also a
consequentialist emotion. Notice, in this example, it’s still fitting for me to feel
self-reproach. I am normatively criticizable because I acted in an irresponsible way
by partying so much that I forgot to set my alarm clock. This self-reproach can
motivate future policy change, since I have learned that if I want to catch an early
morning flight, I cannot party the night before. However, it’s still fitting for me to
feel glad that I missed my flight, since it saved my life. This shows that gladness –
the opposite of regret – and self-reproach – the opposite of self-pride – are
compatible since they are fundamentally different types of emotions. From this, it
seems reasonable to infer that regret and gladness go together as consequentialist
emotions, and self-reproach and self-pride go together as deontological emotions.
The Essence of Regret and Self-Reproach
Let us return to our analysis of the essence of regret. If you recall, Luigi showed
us that bad deliberation is not sufficient for regret. Although Luigi deliberated
Volume VI (2023)
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