The Role of the Affective Sphere in the Emergence of Concrete Consciousness: A Phenomenological and Neurological Approach
Bence Peter Marosan
Human Studies March 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1007/s10746-025-09799-w (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Edmund husserl Affections Animal consciousness Minimal mind |
| Key points | Argues that affections and emotions have a central and foundational role in organizing conscious mental life such that consciousness cannot be concrete without emotions. |
Abstract
The main aim of this article is to shed light on the origins of consciousness in the natural world by presenting elements of empirically related interdisciplinary research based on the phenomenological philosophy of Edmund Husserl and his followers. The main thesis of this paper is that affections and emotions have a central and foundational role in organising conscious mental life such that consciousness cannot be concrete without emotions. In the first part (Sects. “The Phenomenology of Concrete Consciousness” and “The Affective Sphere as the Organising Centre of Concrete Life and Consciousness”), we treat certain elements of the phenomenology of emotions; in the second part (Sects. “Some Conceptions regarding the Neurological Bases of Affections and Emotions ” and “The Presumable Functional Basis of Concrete Consciousness”), we clarify certain features of the neurophysiological foundations of consciousness and emotions in particular, arguing for subcortical theories of emotions and consciousness that enable us to extend the capability of consciousness at least to all vertebrates.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 17
- Theories of consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 1, 2022
- Explanatory profiles of models of consciousness - towards a systematic classification. Neuroscience of Consciousness August 27, 2021
- Models of consciousness Scholarpedia 2007
- Anthropomorphic denial of fish pain Animal Sentience August 3, 2026
- “The Union of the Soul and the Body”: Merleau-Ponty on Being in the World Human Studies June 19, 2024
and 12 more in the library