Pre-reflective Consciousness and the Formation of Judgments: On the Role of Memory and Affective Anticipation in Motivation Processes and Practical Reasoning

Adriana WARMBIER

Abstract

The article addresses the question of the influence the pre-reflective (pre-actual) form of consciousness exerts on the formation of processes occurring at the level of reflection. The author defends the claim that the affects we live through, which arise in the preconscious phase of our experience and manifest themselves in the form of judgments concerning an object with which they are connected, do not pass away without a trace, but persist in the form of pre-reflective affective memory, playing a significant role in the process of decision-making and practical reasoning. Starting from the outline of two models of motivation-appraisal structures covering the mutual relation between the intellectual-spiritual sphere, the emotional sphere, and the bodily sphere, the author indicates the place and role of pre-reflective affective feelings in the formation of needs. The author demonstrates that the formation of needs takes place on different (i.e., pre-reflective and reflective) levels. The argument is based on Ricoeur’s description—which constitutes an important part of the analyses included in the volume Le volontaire et l’involontaire (The Voluntary and the Involuntary)—of the structure of need and its relation to the volitional structures.