End of Unit Questions (Continued...)

·      -Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?

       I certainly believe that it is possible to experience a sensation that is inexpressible through language. For this same reason, we often hear people make statements such as "I don't know how to explain what I am feeling." That being said, I disagree with the latter part of the question, as I actually believe in quite the opposite. Whilst I do not think that emotion itself is shaped by language, I do on the other hand think that language can be shaped by emotion. It was emotion that came first and then methodologies to label these emotions followed suit. Thus, I feel like language was molded to adapt to communicating a certain emotion and not vice versa.

·      -Is the knowledge gained from emotional responses influenced by culture? Are concepts such as patriotism and racism examples of collective emotions? What does it mean to be responsible for our emotions? Can emotions be classified as ‘good’ or ‘bad’? Do emotional responses emanate from cultural influences?

       In my opinion, concepts like patriotism and racism are very much embedded in a societal mindset and are thus emotions heavily influenced by one's cultural background and upbringing in general. That being said, I also believe that an individual himself is responsible for the emotions they exhibit and the entire cause of how one feels cannot be attributed to a group/culture. For example, for the large part in my culture, inter-religion marriages are not necessarily appreciated, however, I still do not have a particular stance on this notion due to the fact that I have never been someone who blindly abides by societal norms. I do not think that emotions can broadly be classified into 'good' and 'bad' however what I do know is that displaying an extremity of any emotion is not healthy. Yes emotional responses do to a great extent emanate from cultural influences and the dynamic exposure an individual has encountered in life. For example, in most cultures the slaughtering of cows for beef is deemed acceptable however in my culture, a Cow is considered as a sacred animal and consequently the consumption of beef itself is not a part of my culture. Our cultures accordingly play a pivotal role in shaping who we are. 

·     -Does emotion reside in the realm of private knowledge in the sense that it cannot be verified by others? Is all private knowledge necessarily some form of emotion? Is physical pain or hunger an emotion? Can people be wrong about their own emotions? Do people have, in some sense, exclusive access to their emotions or can others lead them to recognize previously unknown emotions?

       I think that whether emotion resides in the realm of private knowledge or not is very much a personal choice. For many individuals, their internal emotions are not something they try to hide and these are easily identifiable in their reactions to certain things. On the other hand, for some people they like to keep their emotions to themselves and what is shown to the world externally is merely a facade masking what is hiding in the depths of their emotions. I do not agree with all private knowledge being a form of emotion as much as I believe that emotion can, by choice, be a part of private knowledge. I do not think physical pain and hunger are emotions as emotions are sentiments/feelings that are not really physically more perhaps more cognitively experienced. I think people can only be wrong about their emotions if they do not really know themselves and have not explored and established who they really are. I am convinced that other people can certainly lead an individual to experience unknown feelings. One does not know how jealousy, love, sympathy, empathy or even hate feels like before they encounter another individual who makes them acquainted with these unfamiliar emotions. 

·     -Is there any kind of knowledge which can be attained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?

       Knowledge in terms of social interaction between two individuals can certainly be attained through emotions, if they are explicitly expressed. However, besides that, I am unsure of any kind of knowledge that can be attained solely through emotion. The factors listed above definitely play a role in this notion as these outlines essentially paint a picture of generalized groups that have distinct characteristics and hence their perception of the world can influence the amount of knowledge that can be gained through emotion. 

·    -Is emotion an essential ingredient of scientific or artistic knowledge? Can there be creativity without emotion?

       While I do think that emotion is an essential ingredient in artistic knowledge, according to me, scientific knowledge has always been very distant or independent of emotion. Artistic knowledge in my view is very much linked to emotion, as it is one's internal emotive state that propels art. I do not thus think that creativity can exist without emotion as these elements are inextricably intertwined. Art is often called a form of expression, a medium for one to communicate how they feel and hence to think that creativity itself can exist without any emotion to stimulate it seems unreasonable.