Discuss whether powerful emotions, such as anger and hate are biologically or socially determined.
             "This is what we know now and we are reasonably certain that we're right. However, as we gather more information or learn new ways to interpret these phenomena, things could change and so it's best not to become to attached to our theories."(Unknown)
             When in 1884, William James asked his famous question "What is an emotion?", he implied that the answer was not obvious. Almost 150 years later, in the year 2001, his implication is still valid, because scientists still did not agree on a clear definition to emotions. This essay will not try to come up with a clear and correct definition of what an emotion is, however it will give a most general definition, but discuss, or at least try to do so, whether emotions are biologically or socially determined.
             Emotion, as it is defined in a Dictionary of Psychology, is "an umbrella term for any of a number of subjectively experienced, affect-laden states, the ontological status of each being established by a label whose meaning is arrived at by simple consensus. It is what we mean when we say that love, fear, anger, hope are emotions". (Reber, 1995) However the most agreed definition of emotion, which does not really explain it, is that emotion is a milticomponential phenomenon. It may be suggested that trying to discuss the issue that does not even have a clear definition is senseless, however the step to do so will be done.
             Cornelius suggested that there are four perspectives to understanding of emotions: Darwinian, Jamesian, cognitive and socio-constructivist. Firstly lets look closer at first two perspectives because both of them can be seen as ones that support biological determination of emotions.
             Charles Darwin is probably the most famous biologist that history ever knew. He believed that emotions are biologically determined. His observation ...