How to Design An Emotion

Emotional Constructivism: Agentic Redesign of the Architecture of Emotional Meaning

Emotional Constructivism: Agentic Redesign of the Architecture of Emotional Meaning

If agents construct their emotions, can they construct different ones on purpose? I present Emotional Constructivism (EC): rational agents construct emotional meaning rather than discover it in bodily states, and they can intentionally challenge their automatic emotional constructions by redesigning the evaluative and interpretive architecture under which they construct emotions. EC builds on the Constructivist Semiotic Model of Emotions, which separates physiological affect, feeling, and emotion and locates emotional meaning in an agent’s interpretive commitment under a goal.

I set out two architectures. The Emotional Constructivism Prototype models the intrapersonal case: an Observer State in which the agent suspends commitment and calibrates her evaluative architecture, interventions that modify the conditions of construction without producing emotion, and a first-person binding resolution through which the agent alone commits to an emotion concept and marks it with an identifier. The Emotional Constructivism Stereotype models the interpersonal case: a consented cooperation under a shared goal and reciprocal value, in which another agent can assist but never commit for the individual.

A worked case of bereavement runs through both. I place Emotional Granularity, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy inside the architecture as constraints on interpretation, and I answer the objections the book anticipates. Working paper 6 of 8 in the series on the frameworks of How to Design an Emotion: The Deconstruction and Computation of Emotional Meaning from First Principles (Universal Moral Concepts III, New Intellectual LLC, 2026; ISBN 979-8-9898135-9-9 paperback, 979-8-9898135-3-7 Kindle).

The book is the full treatment. Book page: https://newintellectual.com/how-to-design-an-emotion ; related: Part IV . Buy on Amazon .