ABSTRACT
In the existential perspective, emotions are recognised as a valuable source of information. They tell us something about how we find ourselves in the situation, in the world.
Heidegger (1993) proposes that we are always ‘attuned’ in some way with respect to our context. Polt comments:
I am always attuned in some way to my overall situation. This is how I am there-or, better, how I am my ‘there’ . . . moods are disclosive . . . For example, fear does not cut us off from thingsto the contrary, it reveals something as a threat. (Polt 1999, p. 66)
Heidegger states that moods give us a more essential understanding than do factual statements (1993); one may have a great deal of factual information about an event or a situation but fail to appreciate the overall mood or emotional timbre. Our emotional experience is one way we both understand and participate in the situation.
