Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 3

Megan Eisele

Eisele 1

Philosophy of Religion
Dr. Kurt Smith
12-9-13
Schelers Four Levels of Feeling
Scheler distinguishes four levels of human feeling: A.) Sensory feeling B.) Bodily
or vital feeling C.) Pure mental feeling and D.) Spiritual feeling. He explains that each
level of feeling makes reference to the I because they are, by nature, directed to it.
Sensory feelings as compared to the other three levels of feeling can be confined to a
particular part of the body. Given circumstance, sensory feelings can change its location
and both expand or decrease in sensibility. These feelings are subjective conditions, and
they exist as neither a function nor act. Sensory feelings occur without any relation to the
person, and we do not encounter these feelings as occurring directly to the I like a purely
mental feeling would.
Sensory feelings only occur within the present moment and unlike other levels of
feeling, is not attached to a particular experience or memory. There is no sense of a
shared feeling in terms of sensory feeling; they only exist in the time and place of the
occurrence on the body. Sensory feelings have no continuity of meaning, require nothing,
but never serves any emotional function. Compared to all other feeling, sensory feeling
goes the most unchanged when attention is paid to it. In fact, the level of sensory feeling
will increase given the conscious stamina. All vital feeling in contrast, goes slightly
disturbed once the conscious gives it attention. Purely mental feelings are completely
destroyed once attention is paid to their

Eisele 2
existence. Vital feelings are subject to change and choice, mental feeling is less subject
and the spiritual feeling of a particular person is not subject to change or choice at all.
Vital feelings are associated with the commonplace feelings of our every day: the feeling
of discomfort, hunger, sickness, etc. These feelings in particular could not be centralized
to a particular place on the body or organ.
The purpose vital feelings may serve is that of a sign system, they provide the
exposure of possible dangers and possible advantages. The value of a phenomenon is
given to us before the phenomenon actually occurs, so we may subconsciously decide our
direction. They announce the value of the future rather than present. In terms of vital
feelings, there are memories of feeling contrasting the memories of remembering
associated with sensory feeling.
Purely mental feelings are dependent on the level of a persons momentary
consciousness, and are much less subjected to voluntary direction than that of vital
feeling. Purely mental feelings can be disturbed however they cannot be altered in any
way. Mental feeling is, by nature, a quality of the I. Spiritual feeling is distinguishable
from pure mental feeling due to the fact that they can never be subjective conditions.
These feelings exist from the spiritual acts and experiences themselves and are absolute
feelings. Thus explaining how they are primarily related to religious feeling, because it is
when we give ourselves wholly that this type of feeling appears to us.
Given the understanding of these two phenomena, we acquire a greater
understanding of the concept of bliks. Spiritual feeling is the only type of feeling out of
the four that cannot be reproduced; they cannot even be earned through our physical

Eisele 3
efforts. They cloud both the inner and outer world of the person, and they are either never
experienced or they completely possessed the person who has experienced them.

Вам также может понравиться