An academic, a man named David Goodall, has lived to 104 and wishes to pursue assisted dying, also

referred toas euthanasia in the scientific commmunity. He is supported by his own reasoned argments, as
well as family & friend's emotional acceptance for these reasons. However, the Australian Medical
Association (AMA) and Australian Government (AG) does not permitt him to do so, as this is thought to
be a medical misuse, and concern for his well-being. David is faced with many supporters as well as
opposition which piqued the interest in exploring the relibilty of knowledge and its elements.

To what extent does emotion and reasoning influence the production of shared knowledge?

The first knowledge claim I extracted from my real life situation is "Shared scientifc knowledge is more
likely to be accepted when produced by reason (inductive and deductive)". However, this prompted me
to question what the types of reasoning are, such as inductive and deductive reasoning, and prompted
me to question the validity of using reasoning to draw conclusions within scientific knowledge. The
validity of share knowledge can also be challenged by emotion, as emotion produces a personal intake to
shared knowledge. Assessing the validity of both sides eventually formed our opinion on the great
influence it has on producing shared knowledge. It lead me to generally question, "How is it that some
knowledge is more reliable others, specficially in science". Because there are many different perspectives
of approaching conclusions, just like scientific methods, other factors have to be considered (emotion
etc). David's shared knowledge of euthanasia, conflicts with shared knowledge of the government, and
their approach towards this ethical issue. With the second claim I derived, it explores further the
possbilities of contributing to shared knowledge, and its limitations such as the border between personal
and shared, and how it progresses from one to another. It is that both emotion and reasoning contribute
not equally but to some exent, just like the government, who deduced their own reasoning based on
their position, whilst David produced his reasoned arguments according to external factors such as
emotion. This lead to a more generalised question, "To what extent does the the influence of emotion
and reasoning have in the production of shared knowledge?"

1. REAL LIFE SITUATION

- A man who wishes to pursue euthanasia, not permitted
- Has own reasoned arguments, conflicts with contributing knowledge from government (shared
knowledge)
2. KNOWLEDGE QUESTION
- "To what extent does the influence of emotion and reasoning have in the production of shared
knowledge?"
- History/historical knowledge is present in both emotion and reason as a form of concluding the validity
and reliability on types of knowledge (shared and personal)
- Natural science produces scope of logical reasoning, progressing from personal to shared knowledge
- From RLS, identified that both emotion and reasoning have influence in eventual outcome of shared
knowledge.
3. KNOWLEDGE CLAIM AND COUNTERCLAIMS + EXAMPLES/SUPPORT
- "Personal knowledge which is based upon one's past experiences, contributes to production of shared
knowledge"
-> Belief in God/Greater force in comparision to scientific research/studies that support evolution
- "Shared scientific knowledge is more likely to be accepted when supported reason (inductive &
deductive)
-> Historical accounts of slavery within America, progressing to anti-slavery laws which were inftroduced
by Lincoln
4. CONCLUSION + OTHER RLS
- Both reasoning and emotion have influence in shared knowledge, largely dependent on external factors
including context and situation
- personal knowledge is affected by emotion and reasoning and its progression into shared outcome
- Can be related to Bill Cosby scandal, where the considerations of external factors (emotion, past
knowledge of his contributions etc.)
Our conclusion of initial knowledge question is that both emotion and reason greatly influences
production of shared knowledge, however it largely depends on the context surrounding the situation.
Although there is no definitive answer in asnwering the knowledge question, it is discussed that
knowledge varies with context of person, as well as their past & current personal knowledge influenced
by emotion and reasoning. As I have come to see, there are no specific ways in which ways of knowing
such as emotion and reasoning have in the production of shared knowledge, but rather how we
individually and personally approach this based on the context of situation and our past experiences.
Fundamentally, everything is based upon personal knowledge and reliability of our emotions and
reasoning. When looking back at my real life situtation, David's contributions to the shared knowledge is
his reasoned arguments and emotional wish to pursue euthanasia. However, he is challenged externall by
the government and their own personal knowledge, of which do not believe in validity of his reasons and
his intended medical use. Relating to other real life situations, this conclusion can also be applied to the
factors taken into consideration for persecution of Bill Cosby.