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Theory of Knowledge Diagram. Mathematics. Ways of Knowing. Natural Sciences. Sense Perception. Ethics. Reason. Knower(s). Emotion. Areas of Knowledge. Human Sciences. Language. Arts. History. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Emotion’ ?. TaK - Emotion.
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Theory of Knowledge Diagram Mathematics Ways of Knowing Natural Sciences Sense Perception Ethics Reason Knower(s) Emotion Areas of Knowledge Human Sciences Language Arts History
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Emotion’? TaK - Emotion
Do you think that Emotion is often looked at with suspicion? If so, why? TaK - Emotion
Emotion (noun) • A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; • a feeling • “movere” Latin – to move TaK - Emotion
How are you feeling now, at this moment? How do you know? Why do you think you are feeling this way? TaK - Emotion
TaK - Emotion What are emotions for?
What role does emotion play in producing knowledge? • Knowledge: • Knowing that (theoretical) …. • Knowing how (practical) …. • Knowing someone (familiarity) …. • Knowing what is right (moral) …. TaK - Emotion
To what extent are we able to control our emotions? Which emotion is the hardest to control? TaK - Emotion
TaK - Emotion • You are walking down a dark alley ... • there are footsteps behind you …
TaK - Emotion Emotion Reason Opposition?
TaK - Emotion Reason and Emotion Walt Disney animation from 1943 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JStrcfHr8AY
TaK - Emotion Emotion Reason Charioteer: Reason Opposition? Horses: Boldness & Desire
New York Times columnist David Brooks – author of ‘The Social Animal’ on the relationship between Emotion and Reason http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7MRleoVFRU
An enemy of reason? or An important precondition for knowledge? TaK - Emotion
TaK - Emotion "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions" David Hume (1711-1776)
“Nothing great is accomplished in the world without passion” Hegel (1770-1831) TaK - Emotion
TaK - Emotion Without emotion … We would feel neither approval nor disapproval; attraction or repulsion; like or dislike… Everything would be of equal value No part of the world would be more important than any another… There could be no interest in any human relationship, in any work, in any play… With no emotions, can there be goals?
TaK - Emotion Emotion Reason Balance?
TaK - Emotion Emotion Reason Balance?
TaK - Emotion Emotion and Reason Emotion Reason Furious Getting annoyed Solving a maths problem Not ‘either – or’, but ‘more - or – less’
TaK - Emotion Why are we attracted to some human faces but not to others?
Knowing emotion through perception TaK - Emotion • How does she feel? • How do you know? • The title is ‘Absinthe’ • Does that affect your interpretation of the picture?
TaK - Emotion Primary or Universal Emotions Happiness Sadness Fear Anger Surprise Disgust
TaK - Emotion Secondary or Social Emotions (Socially conditioned) Embarrassment Jealousy Guilt Pride
TaK - Emotion Secondary or Social Emotions (Socially conditioned)
TaK - Emotion Background Emotions (frequently not conscious) • Well-being / Malaise • Calm / Tension • Fatigue / Energy • Anticipation / Dread
Rationalisations TaK - Emotion 3. Biased Perception 4. Fallacious Reasoning 2. Powerful Emotions 1.Experiences 5. Emotive Language • 1. Bill sees some people he assumes are immigrants standing on the street corner… • 2. He feels irritated and angry … • 3. He notices only lazy immigrants and overlooks hard-working ones … • 4. He makes hasty generalisations from his own experience… • 5. He concludes that immigrants ‘are idle’ and ‘don’t know the meaning of hard work!’ … • The above factors reinforce the original prejudice and • make it difficult for Bill to be objective.
TaK - Emotion How do we decide what to notice and therefore what to value?
What role does Emotion play in shaping knowledge? TaK - Emotion
Emotions as a source of knowledge Have you ever been in a situation where you had to choose between two equally attractive options? How did you come to a decision? ToK - Emotion
TaK - Emotion What role do you think is usually played by emotion when people decide which universities to apply to?
TaK - Emotion Paul has arranged to meet Tom at 3pm. Tom arrives at 3.02pm and apologises for being late. Rather than accept the apology, Paul starts screaming and shouting about Tom’s lack of consideration and completely loses his self-control.
TaK - Emotion The hospital phones Jane with terrible news. Her husband has been assaulted and is lying unconscious in Intensive Care. “Oh dear”, she says, “that is annoying! I was hoping to play tennis this afternoon, but I suppose I had better come and visit him.” Showing too little emotion is, perhaps, as irrational as showing too much
TaK - Emotion “Anyone can be angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way – that is not easy.” Aristotle What does he mean?
TaK - Emotion • Intuition
TaK - Emotion • Intuition
TaK - Emotion • Intuition • Core intuitions - our most fundamental intuitions about life the universe and everything. • All human beings are created equal • My friends are not aliens • Murder is wrong • Life is not a dream • The laws of Physics will not break down tomorrow • Things we consider to be ‘obvious’
TaK - Emotion • Intuition • We sometimes appeal to intuition to justify our knowledge claims in various areas of knowledge about which we perhaps know little, but research suggests that such ‘uneducated’ intuitions should be treated with caution….
TaK - Emotion Intuition ‘Uneducated intuitions’ should be treated with caution…. Imagine you are standing on a flat plain holding a bullet in one hand, and a loaded gun in the other. If you fire the gun horizontally, and drop the bullet at exactly the same time which of the two bullets will hit the ground first?
TaK - Emotion • Intuition • Educated Intuition • ‘Eureka!’ moments
TaK - Emotion • Intuition • Subject-specific intuitions – the intuitions we have in various areas of knowledge such as science and ethics
TaK - Emotion • Intuition • Social intuitions – our intuitions about other people, what they are like, whether or not they can be trusted etc Web site about intuition: http://www.davidmyers.org/Brix?pageID=19
TaK - Emotion Imagine that you are presented with a special gift: a machine - the “Happiness Machine” – that can give you wonderfully positive emotions. All you have to do is hook yourself up ... and switch it on. But there’s a price: once the machine is switched on, you will not remember anything that happened before switching on the machine. Ever again. Do you want to switch the machine on? Why?
Some key points: • The emotions are relevant to the search for knowledge because they provide us with energy, affect our thinking and are sometimes used to justify our beliefs • The six primary emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust are found in all cultures • Emotions are sometimes an obstacle to knowledge. Strong emotions can color our perception, distort our thinking and inflame our language • Rather than think of reason and emotion as opposites, it may make more sense to say that our emotions can themselves be more or less rational • Intuition is an immediate insight into something – sometimes valuable, sometimes to be treated with caution. TaK - Emotion
TaK - Emotion Questions… • How might it be said that all decisions and therefore actions are based on emotion? Why is it we rely on these feelings as a higher form of certainty than raw, objective empirical data? • What are the flaws in relying solely on emotion as a way of knowing? • Despite these flaws, how do we integrate emotion to create justified true belief? • In what areas of knowledge is emotion important?