Emotion+and+Reason

The short film below takes a very traditional view of the relationship between Emotion and Reason. It presents a dichotomy of the nature of each and suggests that emotion is weak and problematic and it must be subjected to the dictates of reason. As you watch the film note the following questions:
 * **How is the relation between reason and emotion depicted?**
 * **Which examples are used?**
 * **What’s the political purpose of this film?**

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For discussion:

 * ====Do you agree with this films assessment of emotion?====
 * ====Are there any problems with the depictions of emotion and/or reason?====
 * ====Do you know other examples of political agitation?====
 * ====Can you think of any positive effects of emotions in politics?====

**Where would you generally place yourself as a person on the continuum?**


=Emotion as a Way of Knowing exercises=

For discussion:

 * 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?
 * What Ways of knowing besides emotion do you use to understand this painting?
 * How does emotion relate to reason in understanding the meaning of this image?
 * Do you think that you could “read” or understand a painting like this using only reason?

“I didn’t think,” he faltered, “that I would ever see you again.”
For discussion:
 * Which information do you get?
 * What do you understand?
 * How do you understand?
 * Could this be performed to project different emotions?
 * Would your understanding be different?

=== You come to a foreign country in which all the political and economic power is held by women. Men have no right to vote. They are not allowed to drive cars, and they have to stay at home all day to do the housework. Eventually, one of them gets killed as he attempts to change the situation. Most men, upon being asked, tell you they feel perfectly happy in their situation. ===

For discussion:
 * How would your react in this situation?
 * Would you intervene? Why? Why not?
 * Was your decision more influenced by reason or by emotion?

= Snow Day!!!!!!! = = “Emotions are the foundations of reason,” says David Brooks in the TED talk below, “because they tell us what to value.” =

media type="custom" key="12810962" = Summary Notes = Brooks says: “For centuries, we have inherited a view of human nature based on the notion that we are divided selves. Reason is separated from the emotions, and society progresses to the extent that reason can suppress the passions…This has produced a great amputation, a shallow view of human nature. We’re really good at talking about material things, but we’re really bad at talking about emotions.”

The larger problem, according to Brooks is that we have a view of human nature that is divided because our models for human behavior and knowing are not accurate.


 * Brooks list three key insights that he claims current brain research leads us to:**


 * 1) The conscious mind “writes the autobiography of our species, but the unconscious mind does most of the work.” Emotions are at the center of our thinking. People with damage to emotional centers of the brain are often helpless and incapable of dealing with decision making. (Where does this leave reason then?)
 * 2) We are not self contained individuals. We are social animals and not //just// rational animals. We emerge out of relationships and understanding of this way of knowing is critical to real world success.
 * 3) Reason is often weak. Our sentiments are often strong. The effective application of reason in the human sphere requires emotion to decide what is important.


 * Brooks lists six basic constructs for creating a successful social animal**
 * Mindsight: “the ability to enter into other people’s minds and learn what they have to offer.”
 * Equipoise: “the ability to have the serenity to read the biases and failures in your own mind.” “Epistemological modesty.”
 * Metis: “street smarts…a sensitivity to the physical environment.”
 * Sympathy: “the ability to work within groups.”
 * Blending: the ability to integrate disparate concepts.
 * Limerence: A drive and a motivation to find those “moments of transcendence when the skull line disappears and we are lost in a challenge or a task.”

= **Task (the main task should be completed today)** =

David Brooks claims that we are social and emotional animals and that emotion is a primary Way of Knowing other people, their nature, feelings and thoughts and arguably really understanding their beliefs. He also claims that emotions are necessary to the function of reason (Does this work in the way Aristotle identified rational and irrational emotions as you read in the text book?)


 * 1. Watch the Brooks’ TED Talk in class. Read the Summary notes above. Write a //personal, informed, well-supported// response to the the talk. You //may// consider the any/all following prompts.**
 * To what extent does emotion reside in the realm of private knowledge in the sense that it cannot be verified by others?
 * Can we learn more about our values and morals by paying attention to our emotions rather than by listening to the more abstract deliberations of "practical reason"?
 * Is the separation of Emotion from the other WoKs in ToK arbitrary? Incorrect?
 * Discuss/question any other point of the talk that you like


 * 2. Post your response to your class discussion page. **

**Homework (due before the next class)**: Respond in a thoughtful way to at least two other postings (you can //respond// to our comrades in any of the discussion pages).