One theory to fit them all: The search hypothesis of emotion revisited

In a recent paper, Dylan Evans proposed that emotions could help solve what has been known as ‘the frame problem’. In the process, he first questioned the utility of using the frame problem as a framework. After tackling this issue, he provided an alternative terminology to the frame problem—termed ‘the search hypothesis of emotion’—in order to re-examine how emotions aid rational agents. His new terminology, however, opens itself to other critiques. While accepting the basic tenets of his analysis, I question (i) whether a single search theory of emotion is adequate, and (ii) whether his theory would have been better termed ‘the search hypothesis of feeling’. Finally, I extend some of the ideas developed in Evans' paper.