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Getting Emotional Theory of Knowledge AISS 2011 Lecture 2

Getting Emotional Theory of Knowledge AISS 2011 Lecture 2. Emotion as an Obstacle to Knowledge. Emotion can distort the other three ways of knowing Sense Perception - - if you love someone you might be blind to their faults, whereas if you dislike them, you may only see faults.

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Getting Emotional Theory of Knowledge AISS 2011 Lecture 2

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  1. Getting Emotional Theory of Knowledge AISS 2011 Lecture 2

  2. Emotion as an Obstacle to Knowledge • Emotion can distort the other three ways of knowing • Sense Perception--if you love someone you might be blind to their faults, whereas if you dislike them, you may only see faults. • Reason--If you hold your beliefs too dear you may not be open-minded or able to listen to reason. • Language--Language has emotional connotations which may color your ability to communicate.

  3. Dangers When our emotions are aroused, it is all too easy to stop listening to the person we are arguing with, and start trading insults.

  4. To What Extent Do Our Emotions Play a Part in How We View Sports, or Politics?

  5. Rationalisations • When we are in the grip of strong emotions, we tend not to reason in an objective way, but to rationalizeour pre-existing prejudices. • Consider the story of the fox and the grapes from Aesop’s Fables • A fox saw a cluster of ripe grapes hanging • from a vine. She resorted to all her tricks to • get them, but failed, for they were simply too high. • Finally she turned away and said, • “Those grapes are sour and not as ripe as they look.”

  6. If We have Emotional Attitudes About Something, We May Manufacture Justification for Them. • Have you ever said “It’s just a STUPID game”, when you were winning? • Is the test unfair if you got an A, or an F?

  7. Self-Confirming Belief System Steve has an emotional prejudice against illegal aliens. Biased Sense Perception-- He only notices lazy aliens and overlooks hardworking ones. Fallacious Reasoning--He makes hasty generalizations from his own limited experiences Emotive Language--He concludes that aliens are “lazy” and “shifty”.

  8. How to be Objective? • Only by being willing to question his prejudiced assumptions and actively consider other ways of looking at things, can Steve escape from his vicious cycle of circular reasoning and begin to view illegal aliens as productive members of society.

  9. IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR • “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” Ambrose Bierce • Have you given in to a temptation when it would have been better to exhibit self control?

  10. Would it be Better to be Emotionless? • The Stoics (Philosophers who originated in the Hellenistic period. Their founder was Zeno who lived 335-263 BC) They believed that the ideal situation would be to have no emotions at all, a state known as apathy. • What problems might arise from this lack of emotion?

  11. Emotions as a Source of Knowledge • Studies of brain-damaged people suggest that without emotions, peoples’ lives would quickly disintegrate because they would be unable to make decisions. • To what extent does your knowers profile force/guide you to use Emotions to make rational decisions by narrowing down our options so that we can choose. • Example: The use of positive and negative chartsWhat role is played by reason and emotion when students decide which colleges and universities to apply to? • What role do you think each of these should play?

  12. How Do We Choose a Partner? Peter has decided that he should marry Heloise. He came to his decision by weighing all of her good points and bad points and comparing them to his other potential life partners. Heloise was the most rational choice. What are the pros and cons of deciding this way? How would you feel if you were Heloise? Why?

  13. The Relationship Between Emotion and Reason • Although we tend to think of reason and emotion as two different things, in practice they are closely related and it is often difficult to make a distinction between them. • It might make more sense to think of reason and emotion as a continuum of mental activity. Math at one end, Screaming temper tantrum at the other. • Most of the time you are probably somewhere in the middle.

  14. Our Emotions Can Themselves be More or Less Rational • An emotion that is sensitive to the real nature of the situation is more rational than one that is not. • Or, as Aristotle (Who is he?) said, “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.”

  15. Consider These Two Scenarios. • Paul has arranged to meet Susan at 3:00 pm. She arrives at 3:02 and apologizes for being later. Rather than accept her apology, Tom starts screaming about Susan’s lack of consideration. • The hospital phones Carrie with some terrible news. Her husband has been assaulted by hooligans and is lying unconscious in the hospital. “Oh dear”, she says. “That is annoying. I had been hoping to play tennis this afternoon, but I suppose I should come and visit him.”

  16. Our Emotions are Irrational When They Don’t Match the Situation

  17. Since you are much more likely to die in a car on the way to the airport than you are in a plane, would you agree that fear of flying is an irrational fear? How would you explain it?

  18. What is Emotional Intelligence? • The term was coined in 1990 • Emotional Intelligence is now used to describe the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others claim it is an inborn characteristic.

  19. Intuition The word “intuition” is typically associated with the aha moment of insight when you suddenly see the solution to a problem without having to go through the conscious process of reasoning.

  20. Sixth Sense • You may have an intuition that someone right behind you is staring at you, and when you turn around you discover that you are right. • But how often do you discover that you are wrong?

  21. 3 Types of Intuition • Core Intuitions--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 are like, whether or not they can be trusted, etc.

  22. References • Textbook: Dombrowski et al (2007) Theory of Knowledge: Course Companion, OUP, Oxford • R Van de Lagemaat (2005) Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, CUP, Cambridge • N Alchin (2006) Theory of Knowledge (2nd Ed), Hodder, London • M Woolman (2006) Ways of Knowing: An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (2nd Ed), IBID Press, Victoria • / • http://alleydog.com/topics/emotion.php#ixzz1E5dFmWnd

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