Communication and Emotions

1. Communication and Emotions • The focus of this chapter is the relationship between communication and emotions. • More specially and stated as a question, “What is the relationship between language and emotions? • First, what are emotions? How can we define them? • What about, physiological changes in the body? • How many are there? • Some say four: temperature, eyes dilate, blood pressure, and heart rate.

2. Knowing Our Emotions • Second, let me introduce you to Gorgias. • Gorgias—a little background • -Ancient Greek rhetor • -His Philosophy • -Nothing Exists. • -If anything did exist, we could not know it. • -And even if we could know it, we could not communicate it.

3. Knowing Our Emotions • Third, let me introduce Kenneth Burke • *The Story of the Child, the Parent and the Stove • Fourth, lets return to emotions with the insights of Gorgias and Burke before us as a communication perspective on emotions: • How many emotions are their? Click here to see a list and then scroll down to “Some Emotions” and click again. • How did you learn these emotions? • Do women have more emotions then men? Why or why not? • How about that pain I feel? What is it? The Doctor can tell you for a price. • For example, Dan’s recent trips to the Doctor. They don’t know either, but what a language they have developed.

4. Putting it Communication (Language) and Emotions Together The Story of Bob and Sally as told by Dan So, what do you think? Are emotions dependent on communication or on nothing but physiological changes in the body? Or, like other communication matters, do our emotions have a negotiated or transacted existence? “What do I think,” you ask?—They are made up and dependent on communication just like Gorgias asserts.