Repository | Book | Chapter

In this second part of the book we explored human affectivity. Most importantly, we looked closer at the fundamental dimensions of it. We learned that there is a fundamental type of affectivity that can be called "existential feelings". Ratcliffe's theory of existential feelings, complemented with Stephan and Slaby's work, provides rich insight in how to understand this fundamental level of our affective lives. We have seen that affectivity is at the core of our being in the world. We are in the world in an essentially affective way. This is much in line with the pointers of the Heidelberg School discussed in chapter "The Affective Turn" in Part I of this book. For example, the theory of existential feelings can be understood as rich and detailed exploration of the notion of sense in Pothast's much broader and at times vague account. Our fundamental affects, namely existential feelings, are bodily feelings that shape all our experience and thought. They permeate how we perceive the world and our social environment, how we act in it, and the way we are aware of ourselves. This last aspect is most relevant for the project of this book. In some way, existential feelings seem to constitute our self-consciousness. Somehow we feel who and how we are in this world. Thus, it seems promising to address some of the problems of self-consciousness (as discussed in Part I) with the help of the theory of existential feelings.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-30789-9_8

Full citation: