Caring about things is by definition an emotive act.
I strongly disagree (about “by definition”; it’s of course a popular sense of the word). Operationalization of caring is value, preference. It’s channeled by decision making, and deliberative thought is capable of taking over decision making. As such, it may pursue an arbitrary purpose that a person can imagine. A purpose not derived from emotion in any way might be thought to be an incorrect idealization of preference, but even a preference ultimately grounded in emotion will be expressed by decisions that emotions are occasionally incapable of keeping up with.
I strongly disagree (about “by definition”; it’s of course a popular sense of the word). Operationalization of caring is value, preference. It’s channeled by decision making, and deliberative thought is capable of taking over decision making. As such, it may pursue an arbitrary purpose that a person can imagine. A purpose not derived from emotion in any way might be thought to be an incorrect idealization of preference, but even a preference ultimately grounded in emotion will be expressed by decisions that emotions are occasionally incapable of keeping up with.
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