Unit 5 reading

1. You are going to read an article about feelings and emotions. Look through the article. Choose the best suitable heading from the list (A-F) to each part (0-4) of the article. There is one extra heading which you don’t need to use.

A	Homo Sensibilis
B	We are what we feel
C	His Majesty the Feeling
D	Emotions versus Feelings
E	Long Live the Pleasure!
F	Save Our Souls!

FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS

0. One day you feel good and the next you feel bad, and between those two poles are compressed all the joys of heaven and the agony of hell. The events that provoke feelings, the reason for the feelings, even the reality of the perception that lead to them are all unimportant. It is the feeling that matters.

0

Headline:

Despite its importance, there is much confusion about feelings and emotions in both the minds of the public and the attention of the ‘experts’. ‘Emotion’ is the general term which includes the feeling tone, the biophysiological state, and even the chemical changes we are beginning to understand underline the sensations we experience; ‘feeling’ is our subjective understanding of our own emotional state. It is that which we experience; that which we know about our current emotional condition.

1

Headline:

Feelings, particularly the complex and subtle range of feelings in human beings, are proof of our capacity for choice and learning. Feelings are the instruments of rationality, not – as some would think – alternatives to it. Because we are intelligent creatures, we are capable of, and dependent on, using rational choice to decide our futures. Feelings become guides to that choice. We are not just passive responders (as some lower forms are) to that which the environment offers us. We can avoid certain conditions, select out others, and anticipate both and, moreover, via anticipation we can even modify the nature of the environment. Feelings are fine tunings directing the ways in which we will meet and manipulate our environment.

2

Headline:

Feelings of anxiety, boredom, tension and agitation inform us about the sense of something wrong, and more importantly, by the subtle distinction of their messages they indicate some approaching danger and direct us to specific kinds of adaptive manoeuvres to avoid, prevent, or change the beginning threat. Feelings of guilt allow us to model our behaviour against certain ideals and show when we have moved away from these ideals, or have not yet achieved them.

3

Headline:

If there is a common element to the various sources and forms of pleasure, the only one that can be identified is that they all seem to contribute to a better self-esteem. Pleasant events intensify our sense of ourselves or enlarge our view of ourselves. Joy arises from an altered self-esteem and, in turn, alters our view of our world and the way we are viewed.

4

Headline: