There can be no knowledge without emotion…

ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.

until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

“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.

In accordance to Bennett’s claim, emotions are indispensable as they play

an essential role in inspiring thoughts, shaping behaviors and more importantly

maneuvering the quest for knowledge. Knowing something, that is to have

knowledge, and having emotion towards the knowledge distinguish us from the

machines as machines embedded with artificial intelligence -thus having

knowledge- posses no emotions towards the knowledge. Only if we feel the force

of knowledge - that is having emotional reactions as a result to knowing

something - then it belongs to us, since the force (emotional reaction) often

occurred in consequence of knowing something. Bennett’s assertion illustrates

that emotions and knowledge are related to each other. Hence, presupposing

Bennett’s claim to be true, one should ponder on these queries – “How do

knowledge and emotion associated to each other?“, “Will Bennett’s claim hold

true for all cases?” and “Could knowledge be gained with no emotional

attachment to it?” –.

“How do knowledge and emotion associated to each other?“

There are no doubts that arts and emotions are related to each other but

the question is how is it connected? There would be no art without emotions. And

awareness towards emotions – in other words, comprehending with one’s own

emotion - helps to produce great art. However, does knowledge in arts such as
There can be no knowledge without emotion…
ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.
until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

composing symphonies empower the piece of art thus capable of evoking a

particular emotion or does insight in emotion drive artist to produce powerful art

thus providing us with knowledge? To classify as to whether emotion plays a

dominant role in the relationship or as to whether knowledge dominates the

correlation between knowledge and emotion, let us dive into culture to see

whether culture will give us an unambiguous explanation.

Death. Death is the center of many traditions and organizations, and is a

feature of every culture around the world1. In Kadazan culture, the rituals when

death occurs revolve around the care of the dead and such rituals are usually

accompanied by grief and mourning. The knowledge that we possess about

deaths tells us that we should feel lugubrious and doleful when death occurs and

this is understood and accepted in most cultures. For the Kadazans, when death

occurs, they will play the dunsai, a type of rhythmic gong music, at funerals 2. The

gongs are made of brass or bronze and they produce a muffled sound of a deep

tone. The muffled sound of deep tone, in my experience, caused my heart to beat

to a rhythm that tallied the dunsai, and as a result, fabricating an emotion of

sadness. The ‘faster heart beat rate’ state that I experienced may be related to

the vibration of the wave particles in air – maybe– and as a result, my body

reacted in accordance to the ‘new heart beat’. Maybe the change in the state of

my heart beat triggered and fabricated such an emotion in me -maybe -. Those

phenomena are not important. The important matters are “Do the Kadazans play

the dunsai to fabricate such an emotion?” and “Do the Kadazans compose the

dunsai because of emotions?”.

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death
2
http://www.sabahtravelguide.com/culture/default.ASP?page=musical_instruments
There can be no knowledge without emotion…
ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.
until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

If the first question is to be answered, my answer, based on my own logic

and the knowledge that I have, is with the knowledge in the arts of playing the

gongs and about deaths – that is when death occurs, they should possess a feel a

certain emotion –, the Kadazans play the dunsai at funerals to create an

atmosphere that corresponds to the emotions that they are feeling or should feel.

In tackling the second question -“Do the Kadazans compose the dunsai because

of emotions?”-, I am tempted to take Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 as an example.

Shakespeare’s sentiment towards his lover inspired him to engrave his love in

such a touching poem – So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long

lives this and this gives life to thee3 –. As a result of his emotion, Shakespeare

contributed knowledge in the area of arts. Not only have we expanded our

knowledge in poetry and in love through Shakespeare’s contribution, we have

also felt an emotion, to a certain extent, that Shakespeare felt – however true it

may be –, an emotion that was felt by almost 400 years ago.

Hence, in my opinion, just like Shakepeare, there is a possibility that the

Kadazans compose dunsai as a result to their sadness, and to this day, just like

Shakepere’s pieces of arts are passed on, dunsai is inherited to most Kadazans

3
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18.html
There can be no knowledge without emotion…
ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.
until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

and is played at almost every Kadazans’ funerals. Therefore, Bennett’s claim

holds true – for the moment – that correlation exists between area of knowledge

arts and emotions regardless of which dominates which and knowledge does

exist with and due to emotion or vice versa.

Another area of knowledge that is commonly associated with emotion is

that of the area of knowledge history. “History is the interpretation of these facts,

the processing of them into a narrative with causes and effects”4. Though some

of the facts represented by the historians may be true, the historians’ emotions

and backgrounds may have influenced the way the history – the facts – was

narrated thus provoking different emotional reactions in different individuals if

the individuals are to read the history.

For example, Martin Luther King made history for standing up for and

trying to stop discrimination against his race. If we are to compare the history

about Martin Luther King written by an African historian with the history recorded

by the authority, we would be able to detect that the language used by the

African historian in giving the description on Martin Luther’s efforts to be more

intense and passionate compared to that of the authority’s. Undoubtedly the way

the history is being presented is influenced by the historians’ emotional

4
TOK handbook
There can be no knowledge without emotion…
ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.
until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

attachment towards those particular facts concerning the history. Consequently,

the readers will be more likely to possess an emotion that is similar to that of felt

by the historian which book was read by the readers. In this sense, connection

can be seen exist between emotion and knowledge.

“Will Bennett’s claim hold true for all cases?”

“Could knowledge be gained with no emotional attachment to it?”

One plus one equals two. Globally accepted – be it one came from a

different background, brought up in dissimilar lifestyle, educated in distinctive

learning system –, this man made axiom when added will always give the same

answer. The fact that we would not get any different answers when one is added

with one may awe someone, a certain special someone, but for the rest of us who

do not put any type of emotional attachment to this knowledge, does it mean

that we do not possess this knowledge? No, we absolutely do. Another example is

that of the golden ratio. In his tour de force, The Sacrament of the Last Supper,

Salvador Dalí unambiguously used the golden ratio and even the dimensions of

the canvas are a golden rectangle.5 The golden ratio is also evident in

5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio - Painting
There can be no knowledge without emotion…
ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.
until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

Debussy's Image, Reflections in Water, in which the major climax sits at the phi

position and the succession of keys is defined by the intervals 34, 21, 13 and 8 6.

These two sources of knowledge are based on the golden ratio, but would they

trigger an equivalent force - emotional reaction - to the same extent to

individuals of diverse cultures?

Artists and musicians will be more likely to feel astonished with these

pieces and thus having some sort of emotional attachment towards them. Does

this signify that those who are less affected or not affected at all by this

knowledge are less knowledgeable or not knowledgeable respectively? In

reference to the examples given, one will have emotion towards the knowledge if

it is significant to him or her and this tallies with Bennett’s statement. However, it

should not be ignored that one can still have knowledge albeit he or she does not

connect with the knowledge emotionally. Therefore, where does Bennett’s

assertion stand if knowledge can be obtained without emotion? Given scale 1 to

10 (1 – very true, 10 – very false), Bennett’s claim may be placed by different

individuals at different scale, depending on how they justify their perception. In

my judgment though, it can be placed at any scale, depending on which

argument is on discussion but if generalization is to be made, Arnold Bennett’s

assertion may range from 4 to 6, which means it will not always be true and

neither will it always be wrong – again, it’s only my opinion-.

6
Smith, Peter F. The Dynamics of Delight: Architecture and Aesthetics (New York:
Routledge, 2003) pp 83
There can be no knowledge without emotion…
ANTUNI, ARYANORE NAFARINE.
until we have felt the force of the knowledge,
it is not ours” (adapted from Arnold Bennett).
MAY 2009 000592 057
Discuss this vision of the relationship between
knowledge and emotion.

In conclusion, Bennett’s first part of claim - there is no knowledge without

emotion - is acceptable but only to a certain extent. One should contemplate as

to whether it will always be true. As to his second part of claim, it is acceptable

that there is a connection between knowledge and emotion and that relationship

drives us to further understand our emotion by pursuing knowledge or to have

knowledge by comprehending our emotion. When emotion and knowledge

intersect with each other, we can be sure that the knowledge and the emotion we

have will be embedded in our core being - thus the knowledge belongs to us -.

http://www.readingschool.ca/topted_view.php?eid=1590