This chapter describes brain mechanisms that constitute emotional feelings and thereby make possible valued experiences, wisdom about what matters, and meaningful lives. Basic emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise can all be understood as brain processes, as can more complex social emotions such as shame, guilt, contempt, envy, pride, and gratitude. Psychologists and philosophers have long debated whether emotions should be understood as (1) cognitive appraisals that people make about the degree of satisfaction of their goals, or (2) perceptions of their physiological states. We will see how the brain can accomplish such appraisals and perceptions simultaneously, dynamically integrating them with cognitive representations like concepts and beliefs. Such integration is crucial for the accounts presented in subsequent chapters about decision and action, what makes life worth living, and moral judgments.