Three Varieties of Affective Artifacts: Feeling, Evaluative and Motivational Artifacts

Abstract

Inspired by the literature on extended/scaffolded mind, a debate concerning the contribution of extra- bodily resources to our (extended) emotions is recently gaining traction. Within this debate, inspired by the literature on cognitive artifacts introduces the notion of “affective artifacts”, indicating those objects that exert persistent effects on our feelings, possibly altering our self. However, by focusing on feelings, this notion neglects other facets of emotional episodes. Following Scarnatino’s tripartition between feeling, appraisal, and motivational theories of emotion, I present three varieties of affective artifacts: Feeling, Evaluative and Motivational Artifacts.