Emotions

In theory of knowledge the emotions are treated as one of the four ways of knowing, together with language, reason and perception.

The word emotion is derived from de Latin verb movere, meaning “to move”. An emotion usually consists of various internal feelings and external forms of behaviour.

The word “passion” is usually reserved for a strong emotion.
A mood is an emotion which continues for a period of time.

There are six basic emotions, according to psychologists, common to all cultures:
-Happiness
-Sadness
-Fear
-Anger
-Surprise
-Disgust

The James-Lange theory

This theory says that the emotions are essentially physical in nature, and bodily changes come before, and cause, emotional changes.

It supposes that when you remove all the physical symptoms of and emotion, the emotion itself disappears. Interestingly the theory also suggests that if you mimic the appropriate physical symptoms you can generate the corresponding emotion. For example, if you smile you will feel happy, and if you scowl you will feel angry.

It also suggests a mechanism through which we can come to know and empathise with other people’s feelings. The idea is that when you talk to someone, you unconsciously mimic some of the physical expressions of his mood.

Which of the following words do you naturally associate with reason and which do you naturally associate with emotion?

Hot- Reason
Cool- Emotion
Voluntary- Emotion
Reflective- Reason
Powerful- Reason
Blind- Emotion
Weak- Emotion
Impulsive- Emotion
Subjective- Reason
Wisdom- Reason
Controlled- Emotion
Objective- Reason
Instinctive- Emotion