Meaning of proto-emotion | Babel Free

Definitions

An impression that could evolve into an emotion in the course of personality development.

countable, uncountable

Examples

“Wiley argues that cognitive and emotional theories of the self are partially correct and complementary, that “the self is constituted in a cognitively reflexive manner, but in addition it is powered by a kind of emotion, itself also reflexive” (1994, p. 114). In this regard, he contends that “the James-Cooley self-feeling, particularly at its core, is not an emotion in the ordinary sense but rather an energy or force (or ‘proto-emotion’), similar to Durkheim’s semiotic solidarity.”

“Emotions and feelings, on Scrutton’s account, are represented by a plethora of words in Latin, none of which convey what modern accounts of emotion seek to convey. However, Augustine’s account of the nature of feelings (what can generally be described as emotions), is important for moving forward in the philosophy of love and emotions. Love, for Augustine, is not an emotion at all, and neither is it a proto-emotion.”

“For clients they can often be quite alarmed if they are experiencing these emotions and will compare themselves to other people and say: “there’s something wrong with me, why are my emotions like this, when other people report their emotions like this, they’re amazing,” so you know I will have them pump the brakes and say like you're experiencing proto-emotion and we have to go through those steps before it can feel more handleable.”

CEFR level