part of what is known to be human nature is our ability to understand emotion, remarkably even in complex topics. Yet, emotion is often attributed to be the cause of our mistakes and fallacies, due to its unreliability. Therefore, emotion alone cannot give us knowledge though it may act as an incentive. Without reason, sense perception, and language, emotion would be meaningless and serve no purpose, especially in regards to knowledge. Even so, emotion is connected to the other ways of knowing, which is exemplified through the rationality of emotion, the effect of emotion on perception, and how humans use language to express emotion.
By first appearance, emotion and reason seem rather on different sides of the scales, with reason offering a much more certain purpose. However,
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In AP literature, I studied a British poet named Philip Larkin who transformed his thoughts and emotions into crafty works of words. From my research, I could connect the importance of language to expression. Larkin’s fear of the inevitable death was commonly expressed through his powerful diction, exemplifying how emotion and written language, specifically, are linked together. Poetry is intended to create mood with words within a certain structure and often times, connotation correlating to the expressed feelings. Without language, Larkin, and other poets for that matter, would be unable to communicate their emotions and views of their subjects. The discussion of emotions would be impossible and meaningless without a method to convey it. In addition, the same can be said about verbal language, for example, when Larkin gave a college lecture. In order to vocalize his beliefs clearly, he depends on using a specific verbal tone that will reinforce the emotion and ideas that he is attempting to communicate. Thus, it is evident that the presenting of emotive ideas is reliant on different forms of
What is an emotion? William James and Jean-Paul Sartre present two different arguments regarding what constitutes an emotion. This paper will explore William James' analysis of emotion as set out in his 1884 essay . It will attempt to discover the main points of his view, and then present Sartre's rebuttal of this view taken from his essay on emotions . Concluding with an explanation regarding why Sartre's account is flawed and James's argument is the stronger of the two, it will use outside examples to demonstrate the various weaknesses and strengths within the two perspectives.
Amy Tan talks of the English she grew up with. Tan describes an English her mother uses and an English she shares with her husband. Tan sprinkles in the emotional intricacies of a personalized language that is burdened by misconceptions and apprehensively describes this language as “broken,” but expression through the use of a “broken language doesn’t invalidate what is being said, it doesn’t devoid passion, intention or imagination it simply differs from a normality. Envisage expression as ubiquitous. The differences rest in the vessels used to express. Here, I am using the English language, a grandiose entangling of words and a structured system, to indite my thoughts.
This paper will examine Robert C. Solomon's Emotions and Choices article, to best identify what anger is, and to what extent a rational human being is responsible for their anger. Firstly, Solomon's argument must be described. A quick summation of Solomon's argument can be found in the following four points: Emotions are judgements, emotions are chosen, emotions serve a purpose, and emotions are rational.1 To quote Solomon, he explains that “Emotions are not occurrences, and do not happen to us. They ... may be chosen like an action.”2
Whether it’s what you write or what you read, it always brings forward emotions. Sherman Alexie felt desperate and determined to keep on reading after he learned to because he knew the importance of reading and he let those emotions drive him to continue. Amy Tan felt embarrassed by her mother 's literacy but later came to love it and think of it as their own private language. While Malcolm X 's life, mind, and emotions were altered by everything he read. Literacy will always have an influence on people 's
Toni Morrison makes a good point when, in her acceptance speech upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, she says, “Narrative . . . is . . . one of the principal ways in which we absorb knowledge” (7). The words we use and the way in which we use them is how we, as humans, communicate to each other our thoughts, feelings, and actions and therefore our knowledge of the world and its peoples. Knowledge is power. In this way, our language, too, is powerful.
Physiologically emotions are closely related to arousal in the nervous system. They are a kind of complex feeling which affects our behavior by changes in the psychological as well as physical surroundings. The explanation of different events is done by the process of cognition; an important feature of emotion.
It has long been thought that reason was what moral judgment was based off of. As time changed, emotions have become influential, causally sufficient, and necessary when it comes to forming moral judgments. The authors find that both are present when forming moral judgments (Polzler). This source is credible as it was found in an academic peer-reviewed journal, and on a college sponsored database.
Hamilton, L.W. (2012). The Brain and Our Emotional Future: Foundations of Emotions [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences Online Course site: rutgersonline.net.
Emotion and cognition are intricately intertwined and hard to tell which is influencing us in our everyday lives. While the former are sometimes referred to as feelings and affects (this term would be used interchangeably with emotion in this article) or “hot cognition”, the latter is often thought as our reasoning, or “cold cognition” (Zajonc, 1980). However, it is quite evident from our day-to-day account of events that it’s always the emotional parts of life that catch our attention - especially the bad ones. For one thing, as a general phenomenon, bad news is considered more newsworthy and can easily attract more reader attention (Baumeister,
Discuss the "cognition versus biology" debate in the study of emotion. Outline first the cognitive position and then the biological position. Discuss one possible, satisfying resolution to the cognition versus biology debate, using an original example to illustrate this
Language has always been the key to how humankind has interacted with each other, so it is only fitting that one of the oldest forms of expression is making written language an art form. Poetry is known to conjure images within our minds and speak to our soul in a profound way. The best poets can use a few lines to make one think and feel something inside on anything such as a political statement, or of the beauty of nature. An excellent example of a poet who made art out of written word is Poṉmuṭiyār in his A Young Warrior. The poem uses its content and form to provide the overall meaning that one should live in peace because life is short.
Emotion is the “feeling” aspect of consciousness that includes physical, behavioral, and subjective (cognitive) elements. Emotion also contains three elements which are physical arousal, a certain behavior that can reveal outer feelings and inner feelings. One key part in the brain, the amygdala which is located within the limbic system on each side of the brain, plays a key role in emotional processing which causes emotions such as fear and pleasure to be involved with the human facial expressions.The common-sense theory of emotion states that an emotion is experienced first, leading to a physical reaction and then to a behavioral reaction.The James-Lange theory states that a stimulus creates a physiological response that then leads to the labeling of the emotion. The Cannon-Bard theory states that the physiological reaction and the emotion both use the thalamus to send sensory information to both the cortex of the brain and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system. The facial feedback hypothesis states that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain about the emotion being expressed on the face, increasing all the emotions. In Schachter and Singer’s cognitive arousal theory, also known as the two-factor theory, states both the physiological arousal and the actual arousal must occur before the emotion itself is experienced, based on cues from the environment. Lastly, in the cognitive-mediational theory
One scientist, Damasio, provided an explanation how emotions can be felt in humans biologically. Damasio suggested, “Various brain structures map both the organism and external objects to create what he calls a second order representation. This mapping of the organism and the object most likely occurs in the thalamus and cingulate cortices. A sense of self in the act of knowing is created, and the individual knows “to whom this is happening.” The “seer” and the “seen,” the “thought” and the “thinker” are one in the same.” By mapping the brain scientists can have a better understandi...
The ability to experience and express emotions can be a long process. Everyone starts experiencing emotions pretty much from the day of birth; as a person grows up with their family every single day they become more experienced and have more emotions that can help create and form their lifestyle. The decisions a person makes is always influenced by the emotions they have at the current time and the emotions they have experienced before. Experiencing emotions are easier than expressing them. Emotions may be easier to express at a younger age, but as anyone grows older it becomes more difficult. Both experiencing and expressing emotions are different for everyone. The ability to express emotions can be influenced by a person 's culture, personality,
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).