Abreaction

The term abreaction was first thought up by ancient Greek dramatists to describe the purging or cathartic effect that the release of emotion gives. Abreaction is actually a flow of different emotions, and it takes several forms. The overall effect is to release anxiety from the subconscious mind.

For the sake of brevity I write of the abreactions of guilt and pride, whereas, in fact it is the anxiety attached to these emotions that is abreacted.

The abreaction of Guilt is the sequence:
Narcissism leads to Jealousy ; then Jealousy leads to Guilt ; then Guilt leads to Resentment.

The abreaction of Pride is the sequence:
Jealousy leads to Narcissism ; then Narcissism leads to Pride ; then Pride leads to Bitterness.

Antithetical Thoughts

Antithetical thoughts are thoughts that are opposed to, or the antithesis of, other thoughts which the person prefers or which he or she intends to manifest in action.
If a person is contemplating the good things in life, then antithetical thoughts may arise and evoke ideas about the nastiness of life.

Aura

The astral bodies of a person radiate energy which can be observed by extra-sensory perception. This energy field of a person can freely interact with the energy field of another person when they are close enough together, allowing the direct transmission of emotion from each to the other. The most important situation where this occurs, from the psychological perspective, is that between parent and infant – whilst being nursed the infant is constantly absorbing the parent’s emotions (both conscious and subconscious ones).

Binary

This term is my name for emotions that can be grouped into complementary pairs. This pairing is not arbitrary but is based on the opposite natures of the two major feelings. An emotion is an unconscious idea powered by feeling. The negative feeling turns the unconscious idea into a particular emotion, and the positive feeling turns the same unconscious idea into the complementary emotion.
For example, vanity and self-pity form a binary.

When an emotion is a compound one, then each of its factors can form a binary with the factors of other compound emotions. For example,

Guilt = self-pity + self-hate.
Pride = vanity + hatred of other people.
Jealousy = love + self-pity.
Narcissism = love + vanity.

Guilt consists of the two simpler emotions self-pity and self-hate.
The self-pity factor can form a binary with the vanity factor of pride, thus allowing guilt to switch to pride and pride to switch to guilt. And the self-hate factor can form a binary with the love factor of jealousy, thereby allowing guilt to switch to jealousy and jealousy to switch to guilt.

I use "switch" to mean the replacement of an emotion by its binary opposite. Hence when guilt switches to pride, this means that when guilt fades away it is replaced by pride.

Consciousness

The psychological model of consciousness that I use most of the time is a static one. This has three levels of activity: conscious, subconscious, and unconscious. However, when I need to describe agency I use a dynamic model.

Static model : consciousness is a state of being that has three modes, those of will, mind and feeling. Therefore, for me, consciousness is not the same as mind (and neither is mind identical to the brain). This model is for understanding how the various factors of consciousness relate together, in ways that are independent of agency.

Dynamic model : consciousness is a state of being that can act as a channel for agency. This model is for understanding the purpose of consciousness. Consciousness contains an agent, the ego, that can make choices.

Self-consciousness implies that agency is internal to the state of being, as in people and some of the higher animals. When consciousness has no aspect of self, as in insects and plants, then agency is external and utilises instinct (for example, such agency may be a group mind, and so consciousness would be a group consciousness).

Functional model : consciousness is a state of being that constructs a paradigm of reality from the results of awareness. This model describes what consciousness does. Awareness is that aspect of mind by which the agent develops consciousness.

The mechanism of this construction is thought. Thought is a sequence of awareness states, or thought is the activity of awareness. The content of thought can be images or words. Images are either images of something or an image of nothing (mental silence). Attention or concentration is the means of emphasising some states of awareness rather than other ones.

Definitions

I use the term ‘subconscious mind’ for what is personal to the individual,
and the term ‘unconscious mind’ for what is general to humanity.

Desire is the activity of will directed into a mental concept.
Emotion is the activity of feeling directed into a mental concept.

An emotion is an unconscious idea powered by either a pleasant or an unpleasant feeling.

Some emotions have an additional complexity : they are compound and consist of two simpler emotions. Each of the separate emotions within a compound emotion I call a ‘mode’ of that compound emotion.

A psycho-analysis is the method of intentionally removing anxiety from the subconscious mind.

Determinism

When anxiety is attached to a memory it helps to create determinism.

Such determinism is predominantly learned in childhood. If a child finds itself in a situation that causes a problem for it, then it will experience confusion and anxiety. Now if it can work through that problem and the anxiety it feels about that problem, then it can assimilate the lesson to be learned and move on to other problems. If it cannot handle that anxiety, then it becomes motivated to avoid and deny that problem ; the memory becomes repressed. Now the problem remains permanently in the subconscious mind, even when the child has grown up. The problem causes the person to behave in deterministic ways, ways that limit his freedom of choice - he prefers to avoid situations that cause him anxiety. In effect, an unpleasant experience in childhood becomes, in a similar social situation, an unpleasant experience for the adult. Why?  Because the adult replays the anxiety that the child generated in that situation. The adult is still utilising avoidance and denial (though he /she no longer knows why, since the memory is repressed).

The deterministic behaviour is the attempt to avoid re-experiencing that anxiety. The forcefulness of the determinism depends upon the intensity of the anxiety.

Dialectics

I use the term ‘dialectical ’ in the Hegelian sense. It represents a movement of thought through three stages. First there is the opening idea, the thesis ; then thought switches to the opposite conception, the antithesis. Finally both stages are blended together in the third stage, the synthesis. In moral ideas, if the thesis is a concept of goodness then the antithesis is a concept of badness. If the thesis represents some badness, the antithesis is that of some goodness. The synthesis is the resolution of the conflict.

Ego

This is the personality ; it is the conscious aspect of the person, and excludes the subconscious and unconscious minds. It is agency, or the agent of consciousness. The ego has to make choices, and these produce effects. So the realm of the ego is the realm of cause and effect. See also Consciousness.

Emotional dynamics

A person can either act on his desires, using his will, or else follow his emotional responses. When he is focusing on his emotions, then his current state of consciousness has two main factors to it : a particular belief about some aspect of life, together with an emotional mood that is generated as the response to that belief. When the belief is not a conscious one, I call it an unconscious idea, whilst the mood is the activity of one or more particular emotions that maintain the physical symptoms. This activity I call the emotional dynamism, or the emotional dynamics, of the person's state of consciousness. The intensity of the state of consciousness depends upon the intensity of the mood.

I put this view another way. Any emotion is always a feeling (either positive or negative) that energises a mental concept associated with it. The mental concept is normally unconscious, so I call it an unconscious idea. Emotional dynamics are the principal unconscious ideas and their associated emotions that drive any particular state of consciousness.

When the mood is active, then the particular belief (whether conscious or unconscious) is active as well. When a different mood becomes active, so the belief changes to a different one, corresponding to the new mood. If the person no longer attaches any importance to a particular belief, then the corresponding emotional mood ceases to have any power over him. The mood loses its intensity.

Emotions

Some emotions are compound ones and consist of two simpler emotions (these two emotions are factors of the compound emotion). The factors do not exert their influence simultaneously ; only one is dominant at any particular time. I use the term 'mode' to indicate which factor is being dominant at that time, that is, to indicate the manner in which the compound emotion is being experienced. 

The hallmark of a compound emotion is that it produces ambiguous responses ; the ambiguity indicates that two factors are present and need to be separated.

A summary of the factors of some important emotions is :

Guilt = self-pity + self-hate.
Pride = vanity + hatred of other people.
Narcissism = love + vanity.
Jealousy = love + self-pity.

Anxiety = fear + vanity.
Paranoia = fear + pride (mode of vanity).
Resentment = guilt + idealism.
Bitterness = pride + idealism

Empiricism

Empiricism is the attempt to detect the basis of physical existence. In psychology it means the detection and identification of our states of mind, such as emotions, beliefs and desires. To identify our subconscious states of mind requires that we deepen our degree of self-awareness till we can first of all detect them, and then observe their effects on us. By cultivating an intuitive familiarity with them, we can deduce their characteristics and label them. A good way to begin psychological empiricism is to study and practice the Buddhist method of mindfulness.

Equanimity

The process of making value judgements depends upon the psychological mechanisms of projection and introjection. Equanimity is the state of mind attained when the person ceases to make value judgements, and hence ceases to use projection and introjection. However, equanimity is extremely difficult to attain. The most effective way of stopping projection and introjection, at least temporarily, is to step outside of all value systems. The traditional Buddhist method of doing this is to practise mindfulness.

Ethics and Morals

A distinction needs to be made between moral rules that are adhered to because of the person’s social conditioning and moral rules that are accepted through free personal choice. I call ‘morality’ those rules that are a part of a person’s social conditioning ; these rules are subject to erosion from stress during periods of social change or in times of sorrow. ‘Ethics’ is the term that I use for the acceptance of rules through free choice and understanding. Another way to put this difference is:

Morality implies ideas of right and wrong based on social conditioning.
Ethics implies ideas of right and wrong based on critical reflection.

Ethics and Truth

G.E. Moore summarised a certain perspective in philosophy derived from Immanuel Kant.

.. . just as, by reflection on our perceptual and sensory experience, we become aware of the distinction between truth and falsehood,

so it is by reflection on our experience of feeling and willing that we become aware of ethical distinctions.

From "Principia Ethica". Cambridge, 1903. (sections 78-79).

Existentialism and Psychology

Existentialism takes the person as he is now, ignoring how he came to be. It is the way of exploring  the meaning of relationships as the person experiences them now, without regard to past or future. What opportunities do they offer him?  What kinds of freedom can he express within them?  What forms of equality can be explored?  The person explores relationships from a perspective centred on his own individuality. The states of mind that the person prefers to respond to are those of free will and choice.

Psychology takes the person as he has become, since it is his own history that is important for determining how he is now. The history of the person has helped to produce his present reality. And, in general, his relationships make up a large part of his history. Psychology is a way of exploring  the value of relationships to the person. He explores relationships from a perspective centred on his social orientation. What needs do they satisfy?  The states of mind that have the greatest effects on him are those of determinism and social conditioning.

An existential perspective means how relationships are understood now. A psychological perspective means why such relationships are as they are.

Another way of looking at these differences is to bring in the concept of two identities, by which I mean a person's focus on being either socially-orientated or orientated to being an individual :--

Psychological beliefs are concerned with values, the values that relationships have for the person. He explores
what he gains and loses from his relationships. These beliefs provide a person with his sense of social identity.

Existential beliefs are concerned with meaning (and purpose), the meaning (and purpose) that relationships have
for the person. He explores why he needs, or does not need, relationships. These beliefs provide a person with his sense of individual identity.

Insight

See Intuition and Insight.

Intellect

This has two parts : rationality and intuition. Rationality is left-brain thinking, whilst intuition is right-brain thinking.

These two parts work together in conceptual analysis, that is, when we try to analyse something, when we think about concepts and their meanings. Conceptual analysis can be split into three modes:

• Logical thinking – uses reason alone.

• Dialectical thinking – uses both reason and intuition.

• Relativistic thinking – uses both reason and intuition.

Intelligence and Intellect

Intelligence expresses the activity of the mind, whilst intellect is an indication of the degree of maturity of the mind.

One way of defining intelligence is that it is the ability to learn from experience, the ability to apply logical thought to experience. Whereas intellectuality is a mental trait that is cultivated by applying that intelligence to problems in order to generalise the answers. Intellectual capability is the intelligent application of theory, the ability to see beyond the immediate problem, the ability to think at the level of abstraction.

Intuition and Insight

In the articles on this site I treat these two terms as being equivalent. However, I separate them in my philosophy articles on my website A Modern Thinker. The difference is :

Insight is an inference that is validated by reason.
Intuition is an inference that is validated by the thinker’s belief systems.

Karma

There are several forms of determinism : some are rigid (such as the social class that a person is born into), whilst others can be more variable (such as the effects of childhood conditioning). The Indian term ‘karma’ is ideal as a general-purpose term.

Overall, karma is the effects of a person's behaviours, actions, and thinking. The most important way to understand the concept of karma is that it is the effects of the fixed ideas, beliefs and attitudes that the person carries with him through life (and lifetimes!) : these aspects of character help to generate a person’s actions and behaviours.

Karma has two forms, causal and dialectical .
One form relates to the person's behaviour and fixed beliefs (that is, beliefs which have formed his character) ; whatever the person does produces an effect. This form is a causal one, and includes everything that is not caused by abreaction.

The other form relates to the mental processes, particularly to the subconscious mind ; when this is active, the person's mental states oscillate in a dialectical way. Abreaction is the source of this dialectical form of karma.

Mind

I use this term partly to denote intellect, and partly to denote the way that it helps to give rise to desires and emotions. It is not the same as consciousness.

Mindfulness

This is a technique derived from Buddhist meditation that can be used to neutralise the power of desires and emotions. It is an essential component of the practice of self-awareness. It consists in watching states of mind instead of evaluating them or acting on them. Perception is switched into neutral mode, so that no values are projected or introjected. See equanimity. The cessation of judgement means that any state of mind, including madness, can be entered and experienced, without becoming engulfed by that state of mind.

The standard way of formulating mindfulness in a concise manner is :

in the seeing, only the seen,
in the hearing, only the heard,
in the touching, only the touch,
in the smelling, only the smell,
in the tasting, only the taste.

Hence no evaluation is made of sensory impressions.

Mode

A compound emotion consists of two simpler emotions (these two emotions are factors of the compound emotion). The factors do not exert their influence simultaneously ; only one is dominant at any particular time. I use the term "mode" to indicate which factor is being dominant at that time, that is, to indicate the manner in which the compound emotion is being experienced.

For example, guilt comprises the two simpler emotions of self-pity and self-hate. So when the self-pity factor is being dominant, I describe this as experiencing guilt (in the mode of self-pity). Similarly, when the self-hate factor is being dominant, this is guilt (in the mode of self-hate).

For a list of emotions and their modes, see Emotions

Morals

See Ethics and Morals.

Projection and Introjection

Projection means that we imagine that our own virtues and vices and attitudes are embodied in other people. We see in other people what is in ourself. This psychological stratagem is particularly noticeable with regard to our vices. We try to escape from our faults by denying them ; we see them only as aspects of other people – it is always other people that are the source of conflict.

Introjection is the complementary process. We emulate the virtues (and vices) in the people that we admire. We incorporate into ourself the attitudes of people that are significant to us. Our own idealised image of ourself can also act as a source for introjection : we can use such an image as an object from which we can introject virtues that we need. It is through introjection that a child absorbs the values of the parents.
For a more in-depth analysis, see Appendix 2, Projection and Introjection.

Soul

My use of ‘soul ’ is equivalent to the term ‘higher self ’. Soul is the source of spiritual idealisms, and it is ‘the silent watcher ’. Another common name is ‘the witness’. The soul is a ‘higher self ’ to the ego (this should not be confused with the creation by an ego of an idealised ‘self ’). The soul acts as a guide to the ego, trying to steer it through the confusion of a human life. The ego reincarnates (though in a complicated manner), but the soul does not.

Spirituality

For me, spirituality does not necessarily equate to religiosity. A religious person can also be spiritual, but a spiritual person does not have to be religious. A religious perspective is a self-sufficient belief system containing all acceptable values and meanings within it. It is a belief system that has boundaries around it, since the world of the subconscious mind is excluded from it. A spiritual perspective can be more open and flexible. I view spirituality as the attempt to live in harmony with life. This view entails the necessity to aim for harmony in all of one’s personal relationships and situations.

Unconscious Ideas

Emotions are partly derived from ideas or mental concepts that influence us below the level of normal consciousness. The mental concept that is associated with an emotion actually creates the boundaries of that emotion. If the mental concept changes, the emotion does not change ; instead, it fades away and a different emotion arises, one that fits the current mental concept. To work out the underlying concept, the overall theme or motif of the emotion needs to be considered, that is, what the emotion is trying to express.

Emotions are not unique to any particular individual, so the ideas or concepts that underlie them come from the unconscious mind. Since the concepts are unconscious they are extremely difficult to identify. The concept is normally unconscious, so I call it an unconscious concept or an unconscious idea. For a list of some important unconscious ideas and their associated emotions, see article Unconscious Ideas.

Copyright @2002  Ian Heath
All Rights Reserved

The copyright is mine and the articles are free to use. They can be reproduced anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.