The Collected Works of EDITH STEIN ON THE PROBLEM OF EMPATHY

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100 Edith Stein
objecti{ication is necessarily lbrthcoming if we want to say something
about the attributes. 'fhese objectitying acts are, again,
giving acts (considering them as acts of perceiving or as merely
indicating) and in them there arises the complete coincidence of
the experienced and the perceived "I."
In order to arrive at a cornplete picture, we would have to go
through every kind of'experience. -fhis can take place only suggestively
here. Sensations result in nothing fbr the experienced
"1."'I'he pressrrre, rvarmth, ()r attraction tr> light that I sense are
nothing in which I experience mvself, in no way issue from my
"1." On the c()ntrary, if they are made into an object, they "announce"
"sensitivity" to me as a persistent psychic attriblrte. -Ihe
so-called "sensations of f'eeling" or "sensory I'eelings," such as
pleasure ilr a tactile impression or sens()ry pain, already reach into
the sphere of the "I." I experience pleasure and pain on the
surf ace of my "1." At the sane time I also experience my "sensory
receptiveness" as the topmost or outerm()st layer of my' "1." tuo
There are, t.hen, feelings which are "self-experiencing" in a special
sense: general feelings and moods. I distinguish general feelings
fiom moods because general f'eelings "are bound to the
living body," which should not be drawn in here. Ger-reral feelings
and moods occupy a special place in the realm of'consciousness,
for they are not giving acts but only visible as "colorings" of
giving acts. 'fherefore, at the same time they are different because
they have no definite locality in the "I," are neither experienced
()n the surface of the "1" uor in its depths and expose no
levels of'the "l." Rather, they inundate and fill it entirelv.'fhey
penetrate, or certainly can penetrate, all levels. -I'hey have something
of the omnipresence of light. For example, cheerfulness of
character is not an experienced attribute, either, that is localized
in the "l" in any way but is poured over it entirely like a bright
luster. And every actual experience has in it something of this
"total illuminati()n," is bathed in it.
Now we come t() feelings in the pregnant sense. As said earlier,
these feelings are always l-eelings of'something. Every time I f-eel,
I arn turnecl toward an otrject, something of an object is giverr to
me, and I see a level of'the ob-ject. But, in ()rder to see a level of
the object, I must first have it. lt ntust be given to me in theoreri-
Empathy as the [Jnderstanding of Spiritual Persons
ctl acts. 'I'hus, the structure of all leelings requires theoretical
:rcts. Whett I am.joyful over a g
it. And this even takes place during complete immersion in felt
value. Anger over the loss of'a piece of -jewelry comes fiom a
nrore superficial level or does not. penetrate as deeply as losing the
s;rme object as the souvenir of a loved one. Furthermore, pain
over the ltlss of this person himself rvould be evell deeper' This
cliscloses essential relationships among the hierarchy oI felt values,r:7
the depth classificatiol'r of value feelings, and the level
classification of' the person exposed in t.hese f'eelings. Accordirrgly,
every time lr'e advance in the value realm, we also make
acquisitions in the realn.r of our own Personality.
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