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. This post will tackle the phenomenon of expression.
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.
Empathy 