Part A:
In class, we started reading an article on the Moral Emotions (Links to an external site.). For this Reading Response, choose ONE specific moral emotion in the reading (e.g., disgust, anger, contempt, compassion, etc.) and answer the following questions.
- What emotion did you choose for this assignment? Why did you choose this emotion?
- In your own words, how would you define / explain the “disinterested elicitors” of this emotion?
- In your own words, how would you define / explain the “prosocial action tendencies” of this emotion?
- How could you relate something about this emotion (either an elciitor or action tendency) to some REAL-LIFE example? (For example, where do you see anger as a moral emotion in the news, or in an advertisement, or in a movie you watched, etc.)
- What was something you thought was interesting about this emotion? Why did you find this interesting?
- What was something you were confused about this emotion? If everything made 100% sense, then what’s a NEW QUESTION that you have, or something else you would want to know about this emotion?
PART B:
For this short online assignment, please complete the following (both POST and REPLY to another student’s post).
YOUR POST :
- Describe a situation in the world that you care about. This could be something that affects the entire world (e.g., climate change), our country (e.g., cell-phone addiction), the Bay Area (e.g., homelessness), or even your family or school (e.g., ). Make sure to (A) describe the situation in enough detail so that others can understand what’s going on, (B) describe the emotions that you feel, and (C) try to write about this in a way that evokes emotions in other people. Please note : your opinions or beliefs about this situation may differ from other students’ in the class. That’s okay! But make sure to write about this topic using respectful language, and avoid any kind of dehumanization or hostile language toward other groups, regardless of who they are.
- According to the definition we reviewed in class, would you consider this event to be a “disinterested elicitor” of your emotions or not? (That is, ). Why / why not?
- According to the definition we reviewed in class, have these emotions led to any “prosocial action tendencies”? How so / why not?
YOUR REPLY : what’s one concept that we’ve discussed in this class (so far) that seems relevant to this topic? Why?
Peer’s post ( should reply to him:
- One issue that I significantly care about that is going on in the world currently is the the fires currently happening that are occurring on purpose. One of the biggest ones that I feel most hurt by is the Amazon Forest, because of how much land is being destroyed, and how many animals and people that are currently loosing their homes. This is really impacting lives, because many animals are dying, because their natural habitat is being destroyed. The fires have significantly impacted Brazil, as the smoke has traveled into one of the most popular cities, and is sending many people to the hospital due to respiratory issues. Farmers are the ones who are burning down this land, because they think the land would be better used if it were to crop on, than serve purpose for people’s lives. This situation makes me extremely angry, because no one has done a whole lot to put an end to this diasster. The hardest and saddest part is that the amazon forest provides a large amount of the worlds oxygen, and if this continues we are not going to survive as long, and neither are these animals. I feel sort of hopeless knowing that there is not a whole lot I can do to make a change, because it has been going on for so long, and yet no one is stepping up.
- According tot he definition we reviewed in class, I would consider this event to be a “disinterested elictior” of my emotions, because all though I feel hopeless about what is currently going on, I am far away from Brazil, and the fires so I am not being directly impacted. I am not being affected like the people who are currently losing their homes, or put in hospitals due respiratory issues.
- According to the definition we reviewed in class, I would say these emotions have not led to any “prosocial action tendencies”. This is because I am super far away, so I have not been able to think of anything I can do to fix these issues, especially because I am not being directly impacted.