Watch a PERFECT TOK Presentation about Ethics and Emotion; Includes the Transcript and Bonus Tips!
Hello everyone, today I am going to be investigating the role of emotions in the development of knowledge in ethics.
Development of Knowledge in Ethics
Knowledge in ethics can be developed through varying approaches and with different sources of guidance. The utilitarianism approach, the deontological approach, and the relativism approach would all shape how we interpret this real-life situation.- the same goes for possible ethical authorities. Some ethical authorities include religion, the majority view, the government, and ourselves. Our personal feelings and experiences are important and taken into consideration- therefore, our emotions will determine our choice of ethical authority.
The Treatment of Uyghurs in China
I will begin this presentation by talking about my real-life situation, which is the treatment of Uyghurs in China. In 2018 China began creating "re-education camps" in China for Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group that primarily follow Islam. This came in response to violent terrorist attacks in 2014; China claimed to create these camps to combat "violent religious extremism". China has maintained that these "vocational training centres" protect the customs of religious groups and are meant to enhance their lives with free education. However, Western reports regarding these centres have painted them as areas where Uyghurs are forcibly indoctrinated, restricting their freedoms and erasing their ethnic identity
Applications of the RLS
In this instance, multiple ethical authorities involved have different perspectives on this issue; the Chinese government maintains that this behaviour is ethical- however, the Golden Rule would suggest otherwise. As a result, this causes us to question which ethical authority we should trust. It is extremely easy to get emotional when reading about all that the Uyghurs have gone through since their plight is very sad- emotion can affect judgements. Therefore, this brings to mind a knowledge question regarding the influence of emotion when choosing an ethical authority.
Knowledge Question
The knowledge question that is created through careful analysis of the real-life situation is "To what extent does emotion influence what we choose as our ethical authority?". This question is important as the choice of ethical authority will determine how clearly our knowledge is formed. Further applications of this understanding will be discussed later on.
Knowledge Claims
From the Knowledge Question, I have drawn two Knowledge Claims. The first claim states that emotions compel us to intelligently narrow down ethical authorities. As a result, through using emotions as a WOK we can develop clear knowledge. The second Knowledge Claim argues that emotions cause us to irrationally and reactively choose an ethical authority. Therefore, emotions as a WOK give us distorted knowledge of ethics.
Analysis of the Knowledge Claims
To determine the validity of the knowledge claims, I have carefully analyzed each one. First, I will explain the claim which states that emotions can carefully narrow down ethical authorities for clear knowledge.
Claim
Martha Nussbaum, a philosopher at the University of Chicago, claims that emotions are "suffused with intelligence". Emotions are of great value and should therefore not be sidelined. This is demonstrated in the usage of empathy to form a good moral framework. Stoics advocate for making decisions without emotion- however, many atrocities have been committed without empathy since a perpetrator would be unable to understand the feelings of the victim. With empathy we can remember our personal experiences and relate them to the situation that other people are going through- as a result, we would be inclined to use the golden rule and personal experiences as ethical authorities.
Emotions can lead to the right actions very smoothly by narrowing down ethical authorities, this paves the way for clear knowledge to be created. Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist, claims that emotions give us personal knowledge to help narrow down options so that people have a manageable number of choices; this extends to having a manageable number of ethical authorities. In the second train situation, we feel fearful and worried about the man, we do not want to push him onto the tracks- as a result, we quickly form the gut feeling not to push him rather than pondering about it like we would with the first situation which is more impersonal.
The two-factory theory of emotion created by Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer, states that to arrive at an emotional state there must be physiological arousal and a cognitive label for that arousal. As a result, the reasoning is involved in the usage of emotion, emotions can be rational! Emotion can also motivate people to use sense perception & reasoning to make a discovery- using multiple WOK allows people to carefully decide on an ethical authority for clear knowledge.
Counter-Claim
In contrast to Martha Nussbaum's idea that emotions are intertwined with intelligence, Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist, has the theory that moral convictions are rooted in feelings and not in reasoning. He believes that the biological gut feelings of "right" and "wrong" are of evolutionary design. Those gut feelings are known as the "organs of moral emotion". As a result of moral convictions being firmly planted in feelings, we may deeply condemn something without justification. This extends to how we will examine ethical authorities- our feelings will cause us to oppose certain ethical authorities without reason. One real-life situation that this is related to is the issue of religious hatred: if someone has extremely strong and negative feelings towards a certain religion, even if there is no explanation, that will cause them to forgo considering religion as an ethical authority. Therefore, using emotions as a WOK in ethics results in irrational behaviour.
Emotions can also result in rationalism, which is when generalizations are made based on limited personal experience. Emotive language leads to the rationalization of prejudice to suit justify certain actions. This causes ethical authorities to be chosen in a biased manner and for knowledge to be warped. Compared to the claim which states that emotions motivate people to use other WOK, this counterclaim states that other WOKs are distorted by emotion. Passionate emotions can distort reasoning and create a closed mind. Emotions can also affect sensory perception, people with strong emotions can be blind to certain aspects. Therefore, emotions can cause an ethical authority to be reactively and unreasonably chosen; distorted knowledge is formed. Emotions are also claimed to be instinctive by Plato and David Hume- therefore, they are unreasonable.
Conclusion
Emotions can be suffused with intelligence, this causes people to quickly narrow down ethical authorities for clearer knowledge; however, emotions can also irrationally act upon people to reactively choose an ethical authority- this causes knowledge to become distorted. As a result, it is optimal to reflect on your emotions to use them in the best way possible. Reflection allows us to take a step back and determine if they truly are justified, ensuring that we do not act reactively. After careful reflection it is best to choose an ethical authority to evaluate a decision with- this technique would allow us to develop knowledge clearly. Other WOK can be used to supplement emotions when developing knowledge in ethics, and we should be aware that emotions can manipulate our WOK- this makes reflection essential.
Significance of Conclusion concerning the RLS
When determining our ethical authority in our RLS it is essential that though we recognize that emotion can be a valuable source of information, we also reflect on our emotions to determine whether or not they are justified. It is extremely easy to get emotional about our RLS so this message is important. Possible ethical authorities in this situation include personal knowledge, the government, and the Golden Rule. From hearing about racism and Islamophobia and having possibly experienced it ourselves, we have developed the personal knowledge and empathy in knowing that treating others in such a manner only causes pain and sorrow. However, if we believe the Chinese government, we would insist that this behaviour was ethical- however, we must also reflect on the fact that Chinese citizens are unable to choose their leaders such as in a democratic system. Therefore, the will of the government leaders does not reflect the desires of their citizens. Whom we choose as our ethical authority after careful reflection will determine how we interpret this situation and the actions we take to address it.
Applications in RLS
This lesson can be applied to people who are part of juries as they will be deciding the fate of those being tried. The juries may use their emotions if they help them intelligently narrow down their options, they may perhaps have to overcome their emotions and biases if they are unreasonable, or they may need to use other WOK to help them decide an ethical authority when determining the fate of a case as fairly as possible. However, it must also be noted that reflection is easier in certain situations than others, it would be more difficult to do this in situations which are dependent on split-second decisions. This lesson can also be applied to teachers and psychologists as their beliefs may determine how they judge the misdemeanors of their students and how severe they are depending on which ethical authority they choose. To do this, teachers must keep their emotions in check.
This conclusion also raises further knowledge questions about using more than 1 WOK to develop knowledge and the influence of reasoning on the choice of ethical authority.
- I know that this presentation can be extremely overwhelming- it's essential to read the rubric and build off your presentation from there. You'll be able to establish a format based on the outlined requirements- now that you know what exactly to do, all that's left is to find the appropriate information! Reading the rubric may feeling tiring, especially since you have to scroll through the many pages of fluff before you find the critical information. However, you should be doing this for any assignment that you have- whether it is an IA, presentation, or your EE, rubrics are a must-have.
- Make sure to include connections to plenty of real life scenarios to support each of your arguments and take care to mention theories! Those extra tidbits will demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of your TOK topic and can apply your knowledge. For instance, I didn't just support my counter-claim through providing evidence in the form of Steven Pinker's theory- I also gave the example of religious hatred and Islamphobia, showing that Pinker's theory truly is valid and would thus support my counter-claim. In short, ALL evidence and conclusions should tie back to a real-life situation.
- Most importantly, don't forget to stay confident and ensure that your delivery is strong. It can be helpful to write out cue-cards to guide your presentation; however, practicing is the most important step. Make sure to emphasize the similarities and differences between your claims- that'll demonstrate a thorough understanding of the knowledge that you've accumulated.
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