As A Way of KnowingEmotion
By Shani Ma and Logan McFann
Key Concepts of Emotion in TOK
• The issues of emotion vs. reason• Emotions as a way of knowing• Rationalization• Intuition• James-Lange Theory and empathy
Emotion vs. Reason• Emotion and reason are the two
primary thought processes used by the human mind to make a decision.
• The picture to the right defines the differences between the thought processes.
• Emotion governs our ability to decide which course of action to take based off our biased preconceptions.
• Reason gives us the ability to analyze perceptive evidence to determine the possible effects of our actions.
Emotion vs. Reason (cont.)• The age old debate of emotion vs. reason asks
which process brings the best results.
• Many ancient philosophers and stoics believed that reason brought far better results than emotion and therefore attempted to block emotional thinking from their thought process.
• Modern studies have shown that in order for the brain to decide an appropriate course of action both processes need to be functional and involved.
• The processes work simultaneously and without both decision making becomes over-analytical or impulsive.
Emotions as a Way of Knowing
• Emotions are governed by physical movements, expressions, and visuals.
• These perceptions can influence our emotions and based on predetermined biases alter the way we understand the subject in our minds.
• The human mind works on more than a primal level like most animals. Our biases and decisions are based off of the emotional outcome of actions.
• Our minds can also credit or discredit logical information based on its emotional connection to us.
Rationalization• A famished fox saw a cluster of ripe black
grapes hanging from a vine. She tried all her tricks to get them, but she couldn't reach. Finally she turned away and said, "the grapes are sour, and not ripe as I thought"
• Getting fired is an example of an emotional issue that we sometimes rationalize
• Another example: when someone is losing badly in a game, they say it's a "stupid game".
• Imagine an angry Mr. Guy that has an emotional prejudice against immigrants.
• Biased perception - he sees a landscaping team working, but he only notices the 2 immigrant-looking men drinking water. He overlooks the several others that are hard at work
• Fallacious reasoning - he makes a hasty generalization from his own limited experience and thinks to himself, "Look at those lazy Mexicans."
• Emotive language - then he makes a conclusion that immigrants are "good-for-nothing" who come to America to take jobs, yet they don't know the meaning of "hard work".
• Our emotions can not only distort our beliefs but also lead us to make poor decisions
• Some emotions are urgent and short-sighted, and they can easily blind us to the long-term consequences of our actions
• Example: saying something in a moment of anger and immediately regretting it.
Intuition• It can be a source of knowledge
• There are three types of intuition:
• Core intuition: our most fundamental intuitions about life, the universe and everything
• Subject-specific intuitions: the intuitions we have in various areas of knowledge such as science and ethics
• Social intuitions: our intuitions about other people, what they like, wether or not they can be trusted, etc.
Core intuition• Reason and perception ultimately depend on
intuition
• Reason: the laws of logic are the starting point for all our reasoning
• Perception: this is an important source of knowledge. We have an overwhelmingly strong intuition that the dream hypothesis is far and that what we are experiencing is reality
• Playing the Why? Game
Subject specific intuition
• We sometimes appeal to intuition to justify our knowledge claims in various areas of knowledge
• Research says this should be treated with caution
• Our uneducated intuitions in subjects such as logic, mathematics, physics, biology, history, economics, and ethics are at best confused and at worst false.
Social intuition• One program with intuition as a source of
knowledge: it's fallible, but also we tend to be over-confident about our own intuitions
• Especially with social intuitions
• We put a lot of trust in our intuitions about people and we pride ourselves as being good judges of character
The James-Lange Theory & Empathy
• The fact that primary emotions have a typical facial expression associated with them suggests that there is a close connection between our emotions and our bodies.
• Emotions are essentially physical in nature, and bodily changes come before, and cause, emotional changes.
• If you remove the physical symptoms the corresponding emotion disappears.
• Holds true for all emotions
• Also suggests a mechanism through which we can come to know and emphasize with other people's feelings.
• In other words, you can tell what someone's mood is by observing the way they're acting.
Controversy of the James-Lange
Theory• The James-Lange theory now has been discredited because physical stimulus has been determined to influence emotions
• This means his theory couldn't be more opposite of the truth. People's emotions are influenced by the physical response they perceive.
