causality – Empathy

The Psycho-Physical Individual – Physical (Part 5 of 5)

The individual, for Edith Stein, is a psycho-physical individual. It is composed of the psychic, which is the unifying principle, making the individual a separate being. And it is also composed of the physical. In the individual, both are intrinsically tied to each other. Stein says, “[T]he soul is always necessarily a soul in a body (p. 41).”

The first part of the series tackled the givenness of the living body. The second part tackled the living body and feelings. The third part tackled the soul and living body, psycho-physical causality. The fourth part tackled the phenomenon of expression. The fifth, and the last post, will tackle the will and the living body.

Will and Living Body

In this last analysis of the psycho-physical individual in the lens of inner perception, Stein would first differentiate bodily expressions coming from feeling and bodily expressions coming from the will. So far, Stein explored how feelings play a vital role in the constitution of the psycho-physical individual. But here, she explores the will as also a vital element of the constitution of the psycho-physical individual. For Stein, an action that is merely due to a feeling is not a “volitional decision.”

Stein says, “[L]ike feeling, neither is it [will] isolated in itself, having to work itself out. Just as feeling releases or motivates volition from itself… so will externalizes itself in action. To act is always to produce what is not present (p. 54-55).” The will, then, is not complete in itself. Rather, it fulfills itself in action. Similar to the relationship between feelings and expression, the will “terminates” in an action. And action is something that tries to realize something that is not yet the case.

The will, thus, is creative (p. 56). In this sense, the will does a “special effect” in the individual, that is, it intervenes in the causal connection of things (p. 56). This happens when the individual just decides something (i.e., have a conviction) for himself or herself and acts on it. The will is the “yes” of the individual. When he decides to change himself to have a better character and do it, that is the will. When she decides to accept her maternal responsibility and do it, that is the will. When he decides to propose to his girlfriend and do it, that is the will. The will, thus, fulfills itself in action.

For Stein, the will is the master of the soul (p. 55). Yes, it may be causally influenced. When the living body is tired, for example, the individual may not have the will to do some things. But it is precisely within the power of the will that the individual may still do the thing despite the tiredness. This makes the will truly creative. Stein says, “Every creative act in the true sense is a volitional action (p. 56).”

*All of the above is based on Edith Stein’s On the Problem of Empathy.

The Psycho-Physical Individual – Physical (Part 4 of 5)

The Phenomenon of Expression

Stein here differentiates the phenomenon of expression from a mere physical accompaniment coming from a feeling. Physical accompaniment happens due to the psycho-physical causality (i.e., the soul causally affecting the body). As to expression, she explains, “[A]s I live through the feeling, I feel it terminate in an expression or release expression out of itself. Feeling in its pure essence is not something complete in itself. As it were, it is loaded with an energy which must be unloaded (p. 51).” In other words, an expression is a feeling externalized or actualized. It is a feeling fulfilled.

Stein gives examples of how this “unloading” works. The first is about volition and actions. For Stein, feelings motivate an individual to decide or take action. Because of a feeling, the individual may decide something or act in a certain way. The second case would be when an individual imagines certain scenarios, which he or she cannot do in real life due to moral grounds. But even in this restraint, the feeling is unloaded in the act of imagination. The third case is when there is a reflection about a feeling, that is, making the feeling objective. When an individual feels, sometimes it motivates him or her to reflect his or her feeling (i.e., be conscious of the feeling). The last case would be about bodily expression. A smile, for example, might be an expression of joy. In all these cases, a feeling is fulfilled by this unloading, making an expression, for a “feeling by its nature demands expression (p. 53).”

What is also crucial is Stein’s observation that expressions reveal the individual’s feelings. She says, “Since phenomena of expression appear as the outpouring of feelings, they are simultaneously the expression of the psychic characteristics they announce. For example, the furious glance reveals a vehement state of mind (p. 54).” I think this is so because expressions are simply feelings that are externalized. And therefore, if there is an expression, there is a feeling behind it. Of course, Stein acknowledges that not all physical manifestations are expressions. Some are just simulated action (e.g., a genuine smile vs. stretching of the lips). But the point is that feelings manifest through expressions.

*All of the above is based on Edith Stein’s On the Problem of Empathy.

The Psycho-Physical Individual – Physical (Part 3 of 5)

The first part of the series tackled the givenness of the living body. The second part tackled the living body and feelings. This post will tackle the Soul and Living Body, Psycho-Physical Causality.

Soul and Living Body, Psycho-Physical Causality

First off, Edith Stein reiterates that the “soul together with the living body forms the ‘psycho-physical’ individual (p. 50).” Because of this inherent connection between the two, she would say that “everything psychic is body-bound consciousness (p.49).” This simply means that anything that relates to the psychic happens within the limits of the body, for the individual is necessarily a psycho-physical individual.

Stein, then, explores the idea about spiritual feelings, another type of feeling in addition to the other types of feelings. According to Stein, spiritual feelings in their purity are “accidentally psychic and not body-bound (p. 50).” She brings an argument that states that feelings cannot be phenomenally separated from the physical, believing that all feelings are body-bound. As a counter-argument, however, she would say that spiritual feelings are separate despite that they may be accompanied by physical changes as part of psycho-physical causality. She says, “When we think the living body away, these phenomena disappear, though the spiritual act remains (p.50).” When one is frightened, for example, there would be a rush of adrenaline in the body, which would result in one’s alertness. But this does not mean that adrenaline rush is part of being frightened. Rather, the spiritual feeling of fright caused the adrenaline rush. Spiritual feelings may be found in the psycho-physical bounds, but they essentially operate in a non-somatic way.

Stein proceeds that physical experiences have a causal influence on the psychic or the soul. She would explain this with human capacities being strengthened by training or weakened by inaction (p. 51). One example she gives is when someone works on natural science, his or her “power of observation” develops. Another example of this is when a person practices his or her singing talent. But when a person stops practicing, the capacity weakens. Stein, then, contends that physical events affect the soul.

Stein, however, gives sophistication by also mentioning that there will come a time in developing the capacities that the opposite effect happens. She calls this a consequence of “habituation,” that is, when a practice becomes a habit. And when this happens, boredom or other feeling strikes, which makes the person disinterested. So instead of an increase, the training might just weaken the capacity. Stein concludes, then, that “the physical is phenomenally having an effect on the psychic (p.51).”

*All of the above is based on Edith Stein’s On the Problem of Empathy.

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