"There can be no knowledge without emotion…until we have felt the force of the knowledge, it is not ours" (adapted from Arnold Bennett). Discuss this vision of the relationship between knowledge and emotion.
Defining rather abstract concepts such as knowledge and emotion can prove to be a rather burdensome activity. If we define knowledge simply as something we know, it covers too broad a spectrum. For example, where would we draw the line between knowledge and morality? If a friend lends you something, and passes away or moves out of the country before you can return it, is it right to keep it or return it. Furthermore do we make these decisions based on our morality, knowledge, emotion or a combination of these? It could be argued that emotions are simply a higher application of reasoning and knowledge. For example when you are crossing the road, you see a car coming very fast toward you. You feel a sense of fear following which you move out of the way. We could conclude that because of previously acquired knowledge that tells you that getting run over by a car is not very pleasant(!), and can cause you harm, you feel a sense of fear; emotion as a result of knowledge. However a counter argument could be that a new born baby will also draw back if it sees something coming toward it. From this it could be concluded that emotions act independently of knowledge. In the case of the infant, it is more of a case of instinct leading to emotions like happiness, sadness or fear.
Therefore a reasonable conclusion would be that knowledge cannot exist independent of emotion.
To have knowledge is one thing, but to experience it something totally different. As mentioned before, knowledge as a concept is a bit tricky to define, and therefore understanding what is meant by ‘experiencing it’ can also be a bit tough to get your head around. We could make it a bit more clearly in concept by saying that experiencing the knowledge is to actually feel the force of...