dogs
Matt Kozusko (mkozusko@parallel.park.uga.edu)
Wed, 20 Oct 1999 12:35:00 -0500
Elizabeth writes:
> Okay, I'm following you. What if the dog inspires an emotion? What is
> that? I don't mean what we call the emotion, (happy, misty-eyed, scared,
> etc.) but the feeling itself, before we categorize it?
Once you recognize an emotion, you necessarily categorize it. It
would seem you can't both experience emotions and be aware of the
experience without invoking the structure that precipates language
(boring old "language" being no longer a useful term in this thread).
So I don't believe, as Jim suggests, that emotions precede the
structure required for understanding them. I find it difficult to
imagine that infants aren't happy or sad at some point before Lacan's
mirror stage, but I also believe once we start to differentiate
between happy and sad--presumably a necessary activity for
"experiencing" one or the other emotion--we've done it. Difference.
Could, then, the first act of differentiation actually precede the
"me/not me" moment?
--
Matt Kozusko mkozusko@parallel.park.uga.edu