Emotion and Knowledge

1.) "Ice cream is good." Using emotion, I know that ice cream is good because of the happy and satisfied feeling I get from eating ice cream.

2.) "Women in burqa are suspicious and untrustworthy." Burqas are clothing that cover a woman entirely leaving only slits in the front for the eyes. Burqas are used by Islamic women. Islam has come under suspicion and mistrust in the last few years due to Muslim jihadists. The knowledge construct would be that since women in burqas are Muslim and Muslisms are "terrorists" then out of fear and ignorance, people would deduce that women in burqa must be suspicious and untrustworthy, since they cannot know who exactly is underneath the burqa or their intentions.

3 & 4.) Yes, there can be correct and appropriate emotional responses. But they will depend on the cultural traditions, historical and religious backgrounds. Thus, the correctedness of emotional responses will vary by where the person is from. For example, if I heard about a woman who was circumcised, I would be absolutely apalled and a feeling of complete disgust would come over me, an appropriate emotional response based on my culture. However, if an Ethiopian heard the same thing, he would not think too much about it. If he did feel something it would be an appreciation of the continuation of his tradition and possibly a feeling of satisfaction that the woman did her role in society and prevented herself from any sexual or immoral feelings. Both responses are correct in their societies. However if the Ethiopian man responded to the same statement here in the US, his response would be considered incorrect and inappropriate and if I was in Ethiopia and had my response, I would be considered incorrect and inappropriate. In further response to question 4, patriotism and racism are emotional products of culture. During WWII American were taught to hate on Germans, so the sight of a German or anything German, strong opposing emotional responses were manifested in Americans .This concept can be applied to patriotism. Americans have been taught to love, fight and die for their country. So when an American soldier loses his life in war, Americans would consider him a hero.