Attunement and Perspectival Truth

Once we have rejected the notion of a subject-independent objectivity, we lack any basis for assuming that our emotional responses project value onto a neutral world. Love’s vision must give us unique, unequalled access to the sort of truth that it reveals. Each person’s emotional point of view, his or her attunement to the world, makes possible a distinct form of knowledge, revealing a particular truth. Our moods, temperaments, and idiosyncratic affective outlooks must fit into this book’s account of emotions as felt recognitions of significance. Each attunement involves selective attention and focus—not distortion. An observer who is not attuned in any way would not notice anything. Each person’s affective vantage point illustrates the perspectival character of existence. Because our affective outlook is a condition of apprehending axiological reality, becoming appreciative of another person’s attunement enables us to know other sides of the truth and other significant truths.