Hi Kirk,

Emotions are a double-edge sword: they make us feel things that we can’t feel with reason and they can blur our reason. Emotions can be a rich source of learning if tinged with some degree of regulation.

Thanks so much for your insight, Sajid!

Not sure what you mean by 'supply' knowledge... but I'll at least note this about emotive predicates: phrases like 'regrets that', 'surprised that', 'grateful that', 'angry that', etc., are all factive. That is, assertions of "I regret that p" entail the truth of p; one arguably doesn't assert it properly unless one knows what one regrets (namely, p); it licenses inferences to p, the speaker would retract their statement (and their regret would vanish!) if they discovered that not-p, etc. 

Robert Gordon has a nice paper on this from 1969 in Journal of Philosophy on this, called "Knowledge and Emotions"; her later developed some of this into his 1986 book, *The Structure of Emotions* (Cambridge UP).

I have a paper discussing some of this in a paper draft I have on knowledge and hope... happy to send it to you if you're interested.

In that draft, I argue at length that knowledge whether p is incompatible with hope that p... so that addresses your final question at least.

Well Prof , my emotions are pretty intuitive , strong and 90% accurate (yep my knowledge)   only catch I don't show it on my face neither talk unless  ....

Although I try my  "understanding" not be subjective , I do take it into account most of the times .... I am allowed to do it right ???

Thanks so much for your help, Matthew and Aparna!

Dear Kirk MacGregor

To what extent does emotion provide knowledge?

• I do not know if I do not learn and I do not learn if what I want to know does not motivate me and excites me to the degree of wanting more and more to know what I do not know.
• For me the emotion is the force and what drives me to quench the thirst for knowledge.
• Therefore I do not conceive of learning, knowledge and emotion, separately, because for me they make an indissoluble whole

regards

Jose Luis

Estimado Kirk MacGregor

¿En que medida la emoción proporciona conocimiento?

• Yo no conozco si no aprendo y no aprendo si lo que quiero conocer no me motiva y me emociona al grado de querer cada vez más conocer aquello que desconozco. 
• Para mi la emoción es la fuerza y lo que me impulsa a saciar la sed de conocimiento.
• Por tanto no concibo el aprendizaje, conocimiento y emoción, en forma separada, pues para mi hacen un todo indisoluble

Saludos

José Luis

I'm not a specialist in the field of the present question. However, I have found the following passage in the abstract of the paper at the link below and think that emotion might provide knowledge to some extent.

"Central to cognitive–emotional interactions are brain areas with a high degree of connectivity, called hubs, which are critical for regulating the flow and integration of information between regions."

http://www.lce.umd.edu/publications_files/Pessoa_NRN_2008.pdf

Emotions provide the knowledge of level of one's sincerity

Emotions provide the knowledge of level of one's sincerity however the extent is some thing to be determined by the observer

Dear Colleagues,

Good Day,

"How far should we rely on our emotions and feelings as a source of knowledge?

It is tempting to assume that reason is better than emotion as a source of knowledge. After all, the use of deductive logic gives us certain knowledge if the axioms or premises are true and the argument is valid. Mathematics which uses deductive logic lays claim to more certain knowledge than say the arts.

This would be to make the mistake of stereotyping reason and emotion. In fact assuming that reason and emotion are alternatives at opposite ends of a spectrum set up a false dilemma. In IB TOK, it is important to make connections between the different ways of knowing. There may be degrees of rationality to our emotional response, and there may be emotional aspects to the rational choices we make. In the following quotation, Aristotle implies that responding emotionally with anger can be appropriate and rational even if it is difficult:“Anyone can be angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way – that is not easy.” Aristotle (384-322BCE)

Let’s consider the idea of emotion as a source of knowledge; it could be the key to unlocking an understanding of who we are. Our feelings govern many of the choices we make. Who our friends are is often based on how they make us feel. The food we eat is often linked to comfort. The university course we choose may be based on how we feel about the experience of going on an open day visit. The school subjects we enjoy may be based on our feelings; does the teacher make you feel confident or inspired? These things are not rational calculations.

So the relevant knowledge issue here is, how do we know if emotion could be a source of knowledge? Edward de Bono identifies six styles of thinking; ‘red hat’ thinking involves feelings, intuition, and emotions. You may be unaware of why you like or dislike something but your feelings exist nevertheless and the red hat gives you permission to articulate those preferences.

Our emotions may complement the rational choices we make. The psychologist Antonio Damasio mentions a patient, Elliot who has lost the ability to make decisions following damage to the emotional centre of his brain.  The implication of Damasio’s ideas is this is that our emotions function to narrow down our options so that we can make rational decisions. So here our emotions make rational choices possible by limiting the possible number of options available to us.

So if we want to find the knowledge of who we are, we cannot ignore our emotions and assume that reason is superior. For example, the feeling that life is meaningless is best summed up in Shakespeare’s words: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Shakespeare (1564- 1616) Alternatively Paul of Tarsus’ observation that our actions are not always in tune with our feelings: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Paul of Tarsus (5 BCE – c.67 CE)

This points to the idea that often our rational choices defy our feelings; there is an assumption that the two are in conflict. Therefore the complexity of human nature can only be grasped by due consideration of our feelings and the relationship they have with rationality. But this also raises more questions about the nature of our freedom and the sense in which we have free will; is our feeling of free will an illusion? If it is how would we know?"

Please, go to the attached website link for the original article...

http://theoryofknowledgestudent.com/how-far-should-we-rely-on-our-emotions-and-feelings-as-a-source-of-knowledge

It is well known that “all roads lead to Rome”.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

See the links,

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/all-roads-lead-to-rome

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1020792.Antoine_de_Saint_Exup_ry

Dear Colleagues, Good Day,

"Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge."

----- Plato

Here's a new paper of mine, now forthcoming, which I mentioned earlier on this thread:

Article Knowledge, Hope, and Fallibilism

Emotion effect the knowledge a lot. when you spent a lot of energy working with anxiety and other emotions, you got tired easily. but on the other hand if you win the award or achieve some success, you get motivated and feel energetic.