Emotions – basically affective or socially constructed?

There is something of an ongoing dispute in emotion theory as to what it is that essentially constitutes an emotion. The physiological-reductionist position prioritises understanding emotion in terms of affect and behavioural expression, and this is at the heart of ‘Basic Emotion’ theories. A more nuanced approach looks to understand emotions as manifestations of interpersonal activity, socially located and with cognitive/strategic aspects playing an important role. This ‘constructionist’ stance to emotion has recently been given neurophysiological support from the work of Lisa Feldman Barrett. My aim is to take a philosophical overview of what is at stake here and to explore whether this has to be an either/or disjunction, or whether a more reconciliatory attitude promotes a better understanding of this key aspect of being human.