ABSTRACT
Emotions, are ‘spontaneous’ or ‘uniquely personal’ responses to the world, and are somehow ‘degraded’ if made subject to rational control, or modified as the consequence of conscious introspection. If one states baldly to the average person that part of a teacher’s job is to ‘educate the emotions’ the usual response is one of indignation or hostility. It is accepted that teachers are supposed to foster greater physical or mental skills - and few people would use pejorative terms such as ‘manipulate’ or ‘interfere with’ in relation to such activities as teaching people to swim or to do quadratic equations. In the case of the Indian villager, however, it seems entirely appropriate that he is afraid, especially if he already knows of local incidents of other villagers being killed by a lion which is still on the prowl. ‘Death’ is an ‘object’ of fear, but not, ultimately, an object which can be eliminated or avoided.
