Alina Kravchenko

Emotion vs. Reason

Is emotion or reason more useful for making decisions?
Ren Descartes (1596 1650)
Things can feel real when they are not; we need to reason to know the truth
I can doubt that I have a body (assuming that minds can exist without bodies)
Theres no doubt that I have a mind (as I am thinking about this right now)
Therefore, I can be certain that I exist (at least as a thinking thing)
Descartes wants to only trust what he can reason

Dualist body and mind are separate

Passions (emotion) interfere with rationality Cogito ergo sum
I am thinking, therefore I am

Antonio Damasio (1944 present)

Prominent neuroscientist who mainly studies emotion and consciousness
Saw patients with frontal lobe damage who cannot feel emotions as they did before
The mind and the body are not separate
Lack of emotions has horrible effects on patients decision-making
Emotions are integral to reasoning for real-life decisions
Emotions summarise a large amount of information
Conscious reasoning cannot process tons of information at once

Jennifer Talarico and David Rubin

Psychologists mainly studying long-term memory
Flashbulb memories long-term memories of unusual and emotional events
Accuracy of flashbulb and mundane/everyday memories degrade at the same rate
Ones confidence in flashbulb memories stays constant while accuracy degrades
However, confidence in everyday memories degrades with time
Relying solely on emotion to determine the accuracy of its source is ineffective

Unreasonable assumption that tattoos cannot be false | Example of a false flashbulb memory (vivid, emotional)
 What makes life worth living emotion, reason, or a combination?
Jeremy Bentham (1748 1832)
The best life is that which has the most pleasures
Happiness is the ultimate good
Emotions such as happiness give purpose to living
Hedonist pleasure and pain are measures of quality of life

Should society be built on a system justified by emotion or reason?

Thomas Hobbes (1588 1679)
Human judgement is unreliable, needs to be informed by science
Judgements are distorted by emotions
People have different emotions; what is good to one, may not be good to another
Authorities rules should apply equally to everyone, not favouring anyone
However, rulers should be rationally chosen to rule fairly

Which movie made you most afraid or sad, and why do we watch such movies?
Aristotle (384 322 B.C.)
A tragedy is a work that elicits pity or fear
Tragic catharsis purging of bottled-up feelings
We can purge fear or sadness from our everyday lives
Leaves us feeling cleansed and relieved
Can purge the desire to feel afraid or thrilled
Potentially addictive cycle of recurring desire

If you could get rid of an emotion, would you? If so, which one?
Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677)
Nature and God are the same thing
The highest virtue (goal of life) is to understand nature/God through reason
Bad reasoning causes the mind to be driven by passions (emotion)
Passions are unreliable paths to truth
Reasoning + emotions = incomplete virtue; need 100% reason for perfect virtue