hi walid!
i see no prblm in calling it as allow instead of emphasis.
yes some active filters do provide some gain to the signals as is the case with butterworth filters of high pass or low pass kinds.
filters are an integral part of signal processing circuits where we want some frequencies to be passed with high and some with low attenuation.
they also find appliocations in detectors of all kinds.all your FM ,AM receivers ,TVs computers would not have been possible without the use of filters......