RATCLIFFE, MATTHEW orcid.org/0000-0003-4519-4833 (Accepted: 2025) Feeling Haunted by One's Past. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements. ISSN: 1358-2461 (In Press)
Abstract
Talk of being emotionally haunted is commonplace in everyday life and also in literature. However, the associated experiences have been neglected by philosophers working on emotion. In this paper, I focus specifically on what it is to be haunted by one’s past. In many instances, I suggest, this is a matter of feeling unsettled by the indeterminate significance of something in the past. One senses that whatever happened or might have happened retains the potential to take on a different or more determinate significance that would undermine and disrupt the current organization of one’s life. I conclude by sketching how emotional haunting can be situated within a larger conception of human emotional life, emphasizing the themes of pre-reflective anticipation, indeterminacy, and self-coherence.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Authors/Creators: |
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| Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy. |
| Dates: |
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| Institution: | The University of York |
| Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Philosophy (York) |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Oct 2025 09:30 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Oct 2025 09:30 |
| Status: | In Press |
| Refereed: | No |
| Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:233835 |
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