For subject K, the parts of the picture of the _Horse Fair_ remained.
The feeling of seriousness and quietness, foreign to it itself, was
projected into it. Solemnity and the feeling of strength and power was
accentuated. The gaiety originally present was very much lessened, and
finally not noticed at all.
For subject C, a sacred feeling was aroused. Wars of the Bible were
recalled. There was a fusion of the imagery. He saw the church on a
battlefield near a cavalry fight. The feeling of active earnestness and
the sacred moral character was reported as due to the retained feeling
first brought about by the _Angelus_. The influence of the other
starting-point is clear.
Subject B found the incongruity between the two feelings very strong.
The _Angelus_ was the stronger in influence. The other caused one to
stress the lighter, more trivial character of the former. Meadows,
streams, pools, and enchanted regions typified the fanciful mood thus
brought about.
It is not a question as to whether such trains of thought would have
occurred if only one starting-point had been used. It is rather that,
in such cases as the above, two distinct feeling-tones were actually
detected as playing their part in the resulting complex experiences.
It is with some effort that both feeling-tones can be thus at first
retained. The resulting undertone or general mood, however brought
about, colors and determines to a certain extent the associations which
follow. The feeling is more deeply seated than the image, and here also
it is retained longer.
The above recorded account of the behavior of simple feelings fairly
represents the accumulated data at our disposal. How they can be
adjusted to modern theories of the relation of consciousness to
movement may be briefly suggested. Yet the rudimentary state both of
the psychology and of the physiology of feeling makes the present
task a hazardous one. Psychologists are not agreed as to the best way
to conceive of the relation of feelings to sensations. Feeling-tone
is in some ways dependent upon sensations; and at the same time,
in comparison with other sensation attributes, it is relatively
independent. Physiologists are still farther from agreement with regard
to the nervous processes involved.
But the _deeply organic seat_ of feelings is unquestioned. However the
concept of feeling itself may differ, all are looking for corresponding
bodily processes by means of which to classify these affective states.
Clearly, to say that feeling is of such a nature that one need never
hope to be able to predict it from psycho-physical conditions, is
no more justified than to say that we can never predict exactly the
intensity nor the vividness of any stimulation. Feeling-tone is here
simply on a par with other attributes ascribed to sensation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account