Philosophy follows a course of logical justifications, but always leaves itself open to being wrong. The majority of philosophical inquires tend to follow certain guidelines ragarding small-t truths, but even then there are some strong counter-arguments. Big-T Truth, which is everyone's goal, is a much cloudier area.
As for "not really"...
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emotions are not reactions to a stimuli they are factors or motivators in determining or choosing a reaction to a stimuli.
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I don't think you're applying enough abstract thought into this. I agree with you that "yes, emotions are motivators in determing a reaction to a stimuli..." but you're missing the point. The point is that you have feelings/emotions regarding the stimuli at hand. Every empirical observation made has an effect, and how you "feel" about it is in itself a reaction to that empirical observation. Whether or not the emotion itself is an example of inner-based knowledge is a deeper issue altogether. For now, the premises remain: empirical observation (stimuli) leads to a feeling (reaction) which thereby causes you to react accordingly. And again, even if your emotion is predeterminate in your reaction to the stimuli, it's nonetheless brought forth by said stimuli. For example, you hate nazis (predetermined). You're having a good day and have been happy all day. You see a nazi. You now feel a sense of hate, which was brought forth by the empirical observation (seeing the nazi).
And it's not just a psych question. Modern philosophy has a lot to do with "questions concerning the mind." And in fact, seeing how philosophy has always lead the way to science (with the exception of analytical philosophy), philosophy of the mind very much so paved the way for psychology. Philosophers have generally always thought of it first. And if you didn't know, back in yesteryear they didn't even consider the term "science" like they do today. Newton's publishing of his three laws itself was titled: Natural Philosophy.
Philosophy is science. It's just not as THIS IS THE WAY IT IS! It always leaves the door open for attacks, because afterall, absolute knowledge isn't something we have acquired yet (if it's possible at all).