How do we know what emotions are?

Question

What qualifies as an emotion? How can we tell when we are experiencing or encountering emotions?

It is a philosophical question. There is plenty of philosophical literature that deals with this question.

Answer 1

True, there is plenty of philosophical literature that deals with this question, but most of it is either mistaken or has no direct relationship to life in the real world.

Emotions are spontaneous. They tend to be related to response to our environment. They are usually not under conscious control. Some theorize that we can only be aware of our emotions after they have been processed and become feelings.

Check out the reference below for a good review and the accepted philosophical characteristics of emotions.

There is no universally accepted definition of what human emotions are, their source, their effect upon the consciousness or their expression. Emotions have little to do with consciously controlled thoughts, but can be and often are associated with thought patterns and memories.

Most humans have no control over their emotions. There is no research done which proves that enlightened humans have more or less or the same amount of emotions as other people. There does seem to be some evidence that enlightened humans process emotions into feelings and express these feelings differently.

Answer 2

Carriage sopranos. Whenever you feel or seem to be in a situation like from the sopranos, you're experiencing an emotion.

Answer 3

emotions are a part of our existance at any point of our day we are going thru emotion , we wake up maybe we are tired or energntic as the day goes on you may be pissed at the driver who cut you of on the way to work you get to work your boss is in a bad mood so he takes it out on staff now your mad, emotions are the basic structure of the mind they are the things we enjoy the most about life( ie an orgasm) or they are the things we dread ie( guilt fear pain),

Answer 4

Is this a philosophical question? It sounds like one, but there's enough sociopaths that I felt I should clarify.

Answer 5

We don't. When we are emotional the reason for being that way doesn't come into it. Our logic has been replaced with emotion which is overpowering , preventing us from being level headed..

Answer 6

Point to your emotions.

Answer 7

you can feel it its wierd