The Heart and its Attitudes

Stephen Darwall's The Heart and Its Attitudes explores the emotional capacities—such as love, grief, trust, and remorse—that enable heartfelt moral connections between persons.

Drawing on analytic moral philosophy and personal reflection, Darwall distinguishes deontic attitudes (duty-based) from heartfelt attitudes and examines how hearts can be cultivated or damaged.

He investigates phenomena like remorse, forgiveness, and vulnerability through the lens of a 'second-person' ethical standpoint.

The book argues that these heartfelt attitudes are essential to a full understanding of morality, complementing rational, obligation-centered accounts.

Darwall situates his account within both contemporary philosophy and broader cultural and religious traditions that privilege the heart's moral epistemology.