Honors College Art & Science of Emotions Fall 2017 (1:20 p.m.) Happiness Group Journal | Page 3

Honors College 2010
In the Fall 2017 semester we
attempted to connect the current
scientific findings about emotions
with the philosophy of emotions in
an Honors course named The Art
and Science of Emotions.
During the semester we studied
five specific emotions one at a
time: Love, Hate, Happiness,
Sadness, and Fear. With each
emotion we began by reading
about the philosophy behind the
emotion followed by the
physiological findings that have
been studied by science.
The philosophy of Love
included learning that the English
word for love is imprecise in its
meaning and resolved somewhat
by using the Greek terms eros,
philia, and agape. Our philosophy
of Love readings included Plato
and Kristina Wasa. In our
physiological readings on Love we
read about the hormones and
brain chemistry that are
activated by feelings of lust,
attraction, and attachment.
Philosophy behind Hate was
analyzed with Santideva’s severe
warnings concerning the karmic
consequences of anger and what
Lucius Annaeus Seneca had to say
about the Stoic’s view of anger.
Surprisingly we found out that
neurobiologists have found some
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