Emotion as a Way of Knowing

- van de Lagemaat

"An emotion that is sensitive to the real nature of a situation is more rational than one that is not.”

- Einstein.

"Laws are only reached by non-logical methods.  To make a law one has to have an intellectual love of the subject.” 

- Aristotle

"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.”                                                              

What are emotions?

Can be activated by external causes (chased by a hungry lion causes fear)

Can be activated by internal causes (wake up feeling sad but not sure why)

Emotions are reactions or responses related to sense perceptions, internal states, thoughts or beliefs about things or people

Emotions prompt us to reflect more than other WOK.

Primary Emotions (universal expressions)- physical reactions (pulse / heart rate)

joy/happiness

fear

surprise

disgust

anger

sadness

James-Lange Theory

….discusses the relations between facial expressions and emotions - holds that our emotions are physical in nature, if you removed the physical symptoms then the emotion itself would cease.   The flip side is also held to be true under this theory - if one mimic's the physical symptom (smile or frown) then the emotion will be created. 

Do actors need emotions to act their part?

Critics of James-Lange

 The theory ignores the mental aspect of our emotions. 

Our emotions are also affected by our beliefs and ideas. 

Previous experience can lead one to feel fear in some situations.

Feelings (Social Emotions)

culturally and environmentally developed responses to circumstances. These arise not just from immediate stimuli but also from future and past event.  Read the handout Emotions and Learning

Worry anticipation

Frustration optimism

Cynicism envy Ambition

Embarrassment Gratitude jealousy

Pride sympathy

Emotional Energy

- emotions can provide us with the energy and focus to engage and stay focused on intellectual activities.   Think of this as the "passion" one brings to one's work (academic or otherwise).

“emotions shape the landscape of our mental and social lives”

Martha Nussbaum, author of Upheavals of Thought: the intelligence of emotions

• Our emotions accompany us throughout our lives

• When thinking of experiences and memories it may be difficult to consider sense perceptions and ideas without the inter-threaded emotions

How do we know our emotions?

On your own write on a piece of paper the answer to the following three questions:

1. How are you feeling right now, at this moment?2. How do you know?3. Why do you think you are feeling this way?

Find a partner (emotion pairs activity)

Write on a piece of paper the answer to the following questions:

1. What do you think your partner is feeling?2. How do you know?

Compare answers: To what extent do you think knowing your own feelings depend on knowing the feelings of others, and the feeling of others depends on knowing your own?

So how do you know your own emotions?

Because you feel them

Just as only you know your own sense perception of the world, so too only you know your own emotions directly “from inside”

Your direct experience and personal familiarity with yourself leads you to this conclusion

Question - Can you be wrong when you identify your own feelings? Are there times when someone else can identify what you are feeling better than you?

Emotional Intelligence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJhfKYzKc0s&feature=related

The importance of emotional Intelligence – Daniel Coleman. What are interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences?

Interpersonal Intelligence is:

Intrapersonal Intelligence is:

Understanding other people and their motivations and therefore able to work well in co-operation and collaborationUnderstanding yourself and what makes you motivated

Knowing emotion through perception

we perceive someone else’s emotions through: Sight – body language, actions, slight facial

expressions, shuffling of feet Hearing – tone of voice, pause of silence, sigh Touch – sudden squeezing of someone’s hand,

clammy, “hairs on the back of your neck” Smell – it is suggested that dogs can smell fear? Taste – what is meant by “it leaves a bitter

taste in your mouth?”

Problems of knowing an emotion based on sense perception

Misinterpretation

If we do not know the person well enough

If a person is from a different culture

People can choose to hide their emotions

Game 1: guess the emotion. A volunteer acts out the emotion and the rest of the class have to guess. Are some emotions easier to read than others?

Game 2: Chinese whispers with body language. What can go wrong?

Knowing emotion through language

Our ability to name emotions and speak of them allow us to share our emotions

Language and perception together contribute to our understanding

We learn the word by linking the observable behaviour to describe something that is invisible

Problems of knowing an emotion through language

•How can we be sure that the emotion we experience is the same as what someone else experiences?•Emotions can shift or blend with each other e.g. love and hatred can become jealousy, someone can feel happy and sad at a wedding•Words can be ambiguous•Difference in opinions on naming and classifying emotional responses. Ekman said there are 4: fear, anger, sadness and enjoyment; Weiner and Tomkins said there are 2: sadness and happiness; whereas Tomkins says 9: anger, interest, content, disgust, distress, fear, joy, shame and surprise

Problems of knowing an emotion through language

• Differences across cultures and languages e.g. Schadenfreude (German – delighting in other’s misfortune) itoshii (Japanese – longing for an absent loved one

• Metaphors for emotion e.g. black for mourning in Europe, white for mourning in India.

reliefWondergriefEnergeticempathyDisgustSympathystupidcoldashamedhungryhappyhelplesshopefulmercifullucky

contentPityguiltyhatredsleepyangerboredcertaintytiredirritateddizzylongingrelaxedembarrassedsurprisedAmused

excitedannoyedproudnervousjoylovesadnessanxiousafraidlustEnvygratitudejealousconfidentcompassionawe

2. Choose three emotions/feelings from the list. Write a description of them. Your partner has to guess which ones you have described. What problems do you encounter?

1. Are all these words emotions?

Edgar Degas, l’Absinthe, 1875-1876

What do you “read” the woman’s body language to be?

How does the structural composition of the painting heighten the emotional impact?

How does the title of the painting affect the interpretation?

Emotion and the Arts