Minding Feeling

In this commentary on Jørgen Dines Johansen’s paper, ‘Feelings in Literature’, an expanded approach to feeling is sketched, relying on the work of Susanne Langer. Without challenging the central and valuable insights presented by Johansen, this commentary attempts to develop and refine the notion of feeling beyond that found in Johansen and to focus on the heuristic power of images, especially artistic images, to reveal the deep structures of minding. Langer’s work is rooted in a nuanced philosophical psychology and biology, but she looks for her guide to exploring these domains to the ‘import of art.’ Her approach to the semiotics of art offers a set of powerful analytical tools that reveal the universal scope of aesthetic reflection and its relevance for the sciences of mind.