Differences between feeling and emotion
Feeling and emotion, although they are different concepts, are often used as synonyms, which I also often do to simplify what I write.
From what I have learned, criteria such as the following can be used to distinguish emotions from feelings:
- Emotions are externally visible, public, while feelings are internal, private.
- Emotions are short-lived, while feelings last much longer.
- Emotions are generally variable, feelings more stable.
- Feelings are subjective experiences of emotions.
- The main characteristic of feelings is affect, a term by which is meant awareness of pleasure or pain, or of the pleasant or unpleasant character of the object of the emotion.
- Feelings are conscious representations of past (memories of emotions), present (current emotions) or future (expectations of emotions) emotions.
- Feelings are weak emotional experiences, devoid of impulse to action and physical upset.
In this regard, the Treccani Encyclopedia states:
“Emotions and feelings manifest as states of psychological and physiological activation in response to a change in one’s physical, social or mental environment. According to neuroscientists, emotions can be described as the set of publicly observable responses as a result of the activation of a certain bodily state related to certain mental images; feelings, on the other hand, refer to the individual’s experience of such changes, thus the private experience of emotions. Moreover, emotions, as “public” manifestations are short-lived and transient states, while feelings can remain active for a longer period.”
From the above I infer that emotions and feelings are made of the same substance that manifests in different forms, durations and intensities. In other words, an emotion is a rather strong, evident and lasting feeling.
Therefore I use the terms feeling and emotion as synonyms, leaving it up to the reader, depending on the context, to assess whether they are emotions or feelings proper.
Activation of feelings
Feelings are not felt randomly, but are activated by particular perceptions from outside or inside. For example, witnessing a scene of violence may elicit feelings of fear or aggression. On the other hand, thinking about a certain past or impending pleasant or unpleasant event may elicit equally pleasant or unpleasant feelings.
Since witnessing the same event or remembering it can elicit different feelings from person to person, we must assume that the activation of feelings depends on the particular relationship between the perceived event and something associated with that particular type of event in the subject’s memory.
In this regard, I hypothesize the existence of a “cognitive-emotional map” that the mind uses to recognize the type of event and elicit feelings associated with that type, as well as any particular motivations, i.e., certain demands for action.
A special chapter in this book is devoted to the “cognitive-emotional map.”
Feelings as forms of pleasure and pain
In my opinion, feelings are always expressions of pleasure and/or pain, that is, they always have a connotation (overt, implied or hidden) of pleasant or unpleasant pathos.
Take, for example, the following list of common feelings (or emotions): joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, sympathy, empathy, attraction, repulsion, security, insecurity, love, submission, confusion, admiration, disapproval, remorse, disdain, aggression, optimism, pessimism, trust, distrust, interest, disinterest, ecstasy, worry, loneliness, bewilderment, excitement, fatigue, disappointment, etc.
It is not difficult to associate each of the above terms with a more or less strong connotation of pleasure or pain. In other words, in my opinion, feelings are the forms by which pleasure and pain are manifested, in association with some satisfied or unsatisfied need or rejection .
What feelings are for – Needs and feelings
Feelings presumably emerged by chance during the evolution of the human species (and perhaps other animal species as well) and have remained in our DNA because they have an adaptive function, that is, they promote the survival of the individual and the reproduction of his or her species. In my opinion, the appearance of feelings is related to the appearance of consciousness. In fact, I would say that feelings are a component of consciousness itself. For what good would consciousness be if it were not linked to feelings?
Feelings are indicators of what is good or bad for us and, if we are empathic, also of what is good or bad for others. It is precisely on the basis of such indicators that the remaining functions of consciousness (the cognitive and the motivational) can perform their functions, which are, respectively, to learn about the causes of pain and those of pleasure, and to motivate the person to avoid the former and seek the latter. In other words, I believe that if there were no feelings, there would be no cognition or motivation either.
As I have said elsewhere, in my view pleasure and pain are associated with the satisfaction and frustration of needs, respectively. To be more precise, there are needs that cause pleasure when they are satisfied and others that cause pain if they are not satisfied. In other words, the satisfaction of a need can cause pleasure or the cessation of pain.
Without the above correlation between feelings and needs, I could not explain the existence, that is, the raison d’être, of both. In fact, if there were no correlation between feelings and needs, the former would not help us satisfy the latter and our species would already be extinct. Therefore, I believe that, excluding religious narratives, the definition of good and evil, and thus morality and ethics, can only be based on the satisfaction or frustration of needs and the resulting pleasure and pain.
Consequently, we can assume that feelings are the messages by which the body informs us about the satisfaction or frustration of our needs, so that we can understand what satisfies and what frustrates them, so that we can adapt our behavior to the needs of our bodies and thus safeguard our physical and mental health, as well as the preservation of our species.
Thus, it could be said that nature uses pleasure and pain to compel us to do what she desires of us.
Pleasure of perception
Between the root cause of pleasure, which is the satisfaction of a need, and pleasure itself are endorphins, which, in addition to making us feel pleasure itself, are neurotransmitters, that is, they facilitate communication between neurons.
Well, I hypothesize that, in addition to the fact that neurotransmitters facilitate communication between neurons, an inverse process may also take place, that is, that continuous stimulation of communication between neurons achieved through appropriate perceptions may increase the secretion of the neurotransmitters themselves, including endorphins, in that case giving rise to feelings of pleasure or euphoria. This would explain the pleasure that can be caused by the perception of particular configurations of images, texts and sounds.
The effect could be long-lasting, analogous to the development of muscles by training them. Thus, it would be a matter of training the communications between neurons through reading, seeing and listening to particular objects, shapes and information in order to make neural interconnections more effective and efficient (with positive effects on creativity and intelligence), and to enjoy the pleasure associated with the resulting secretion of endorphins.
Reality and importance of feelings– SentimentalPragmatism
Although they are neither tangible nor measurable, and despite their subjectivity, feelings are perhaps the most real thing that exists in the world from the point of view of a human being. I mean that although one may have unwarranted, irrational or morbid feelings, they are always real insofar as they are felt.
In other words, the cause of a feeling may be unreal, that is, it may be imaginary and unfounded, it may even be just an idea, but the feeling that idea arouses is always real and important insofar as it causes pain or pleasure.
Therefore, we can say that feelings (i.e., pleasure and pain in their various forms) are the measure of all value, and that the purpose of all human action is to avoid pain and to seek our own or others’ pleasure.
Feelings are mysterious in the sense that we cannot understand what they are in themselves, but only what causes them and what they provoke, and through such knowledge we can influence them if we can act on their causes.
However, humans often err in identifying the causes of feelings, and as a result do not behave optimally in order to avoid pain and seek pleasure.
In fact, when asked “why do you do what you do and don’t do what you don’t do,” almost no one answers “to suffer as little as possible and enjoy as much as possible.” Instead, we get answers like “because it’s right,” “because it feels good,” “because it’s my duty,” “because I feel like it,” “because everyone does it,” “because God wants it,” etc.
I think that human relationships would be simplified and mutual satisfaction could be achieved more easily if we accepted the fact that the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure are the fundamental criteria for evaluating good and evil, right and wrong, useful and useless.
My philosophy, which I like to call sentimental pragmatism, corresponds quite well to Greco-Roman Epicureanism. But it is not hedonism, for three reasons.
The first is that we should attend not only to our own pleasure and pain, but also to the pleasure and pain of others, given the interdependence of all of us human beings.
The second is that we should understand pleasure and pain in all their forms, that is, not only the physical, but also the immaterial and sublime, that is, related to knowledge, contemplation, imagination, logic, beauty, that is, the world of ideas and forms.
The third reason is that we should be more concerned with avoiding or reducing pain than with seeking unlimited pleasures. Also because any pleasure, in the long run, not only tires, but also carries a price to pay in moral terms.
Next chapter: Mental agents.