Classifying The Emotions And Feelings

Year 13 TOK Classifying Emotions Classifying The Emotions And Feelings

A - Here is a list of things you can feel. Add some others. joy relief hungry certainty love wonder happy tired sadness wonderful helpless irritated anxious grief hopeful dizzy afraid energetic merciful longing lust dread lucky relaxed envy empathy content embarrassed rapture disgust pity surprised angst apathy vulnerable amused gratitude sympathy guilty horrified jealous sweaty hatred excited confident stupid sleepy annoyed compassion cold anger proud awe ashamed bored nervous ______

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B – How many different kinds of “love” can you think of? What does this tell you about the list?

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C – Are there different types of feeling? Clearly the list above contains different types of feelings. Some of the feelings are purely “physical” (e.g. hunger) and, although they may give rise to an emotional reaction, are not really emotions in themselves. Cross them off the list as these are not useful as Ways of Knowing. Now consider what’s left. How would you categorise these emotions?

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D – What is an Emotion? If it is a “Way of Knowing”, we should first understand what it is – just as we looked at what “Perception” actually is.

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______Year 13 TOK Classifying Emotions Here are two suggestions that have been made for classifying the emotions:  The instinctive emotions, such as anger or love  The social emotions , such as guilt or shame We can also distinguish between:  The inward-looking emotions, such as fear, where we are “drawn into ourselves”  The outward-looking emotions, such as wonder, where we are “drawn out of ourselves”

Try plotting the emotions in the list (and any others you care to name) on the axes below:

INSTINCTIVE

INWARD- OUTWARD- LOOKING LOOKING

SOCIAL