Agency Dictionary
Affect
nounPronunciation: /ˈæf.ɛkt/
In Portuguese: Afeto
Psychology & Mind
Philosophy & EthicsWhat does “Affect” mean?
An expressed or experienced emotion, feeling, or visceral response to a stimulus in psychology and philosophy.
Etymology
From Latin affectus, "disposition, mood, state of mind", from afficere, "to act upon, to influence", formed from ad ("to") and facere ("to do, to make"). Middle English had the noun in the sense of a mental state or desire, a use that later died out. The modern psychological term, stressed on the first syllable, was taken up again in the late 19th century under the influence of German Affekt.
Usage note
The noun is a technical term of psychology and philosophy, stressed on the first syllable (AFF-ect); the common verb is stressed on the second.
Synonyms
- emotion
- feeling
- sentiment
- mood
Often confused with
- effect
- In general use affect is the verb (to influence) and effect is the noun (a result); the noun affect belongs to psychology.
Word family
- affective
- affection
- affectionate
- affected
- affectively
Concepts
- Affective CogitoThe affective cogito is a philosophical reformulation of Descartes' foundational maxim, expressed as I am affected, therefore I exist. It establishes that subjective…
- Affective EpistemologyAffective epistemology is the philosophical perspective asserting that emotional resonance, bodily affection, and visceral feeling precede and enable rational…
- Phenomenological ShockPhenomenological shock is an immediate, pre-reflective sensory and emotional rupture that completely destabilizes an observer's conventional horizon of expectation. It…
- Principle of PermeabilityThe principle of permeability is an ontological and epistemological framework stating that conscious reality begins when an entity possesses the capacity to be affected…
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.
Words of the same theme
- Antithesisnoun
- A person, thing, or concept that represents the direct or exact opposite of another.
- Discursiveadjective
- Proceeding by reasoned argument or sequential exposition rather than by immediate visual intuition.
- vocationnoun
- A strong innate inclination or sense of purpose toward a particular career, craft, or calling.
- Synchronicitynoun
- The simultaneous occurrence of events that appear meaningfully related yet lack a direct causal connection.
- Treatisenoun
- A formal, systematic, and comprehensive written work dealing methodically with the principles and evidence of a particular philosophical, scientific, or technical subject.
- Maximnoun
- A concise statement expressing a fundamental principle, general truth, or practical rule of conduct.
- Resiliencenoun
- The capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties, tough conditions, or shock.
- Stigmanoun
- A mark of social disgrace, shame, or prejudice associated with a particular circumstance, trait, or behavior.
- clevernessnoun
- The mental quality of being quick-witted, agile, and ingenious in solving specific situational problems.
- rhetoricnoun
- The art of effective and persuasive speaking or writing, especially through strategic linguistic devices.
- Tangibleadjective
- Perceptible by the sense of touch or capable of being physically grasped and measured in concrete physical reality. It distinguishes concrete material products from virtual or intellectual entities.
- collective consciousnessnoun
- The set of beliefs, ideas and feelings shared by the members of a society, which exists beyond any single person. By extension, what a community knows and repeats in common.
Also from these editions: terms
- Biomenoun
- A large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat defined by climate and soil.
- Cognitionnoun
- The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
- Epistemologicaladjective
- Relating to epistemology, the theory of knowledge, its methods, validity, and scope.
- Inferentialadjective
- Characterized by or derived from deduction, reasoning from premises, or drawing conclusions from evidence.
- Ontologynoun
- The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being, reality, and what kinds of entities can be said to exist.
- Permeabilitynoun
- The state or quality of being permeable, allowing liquids, gases, or symbolic influences to pass through.
- Phenomenologynoun
- The philosophical approach that concentrates on the study of conscious experience and appearances as experienced from the first-person point of view.
- Reciprocitynoun
- The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit; mutual dependence or action and reaction between entities.
- Reductionismnoun
- The practice of analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents.
- Somaticadjective
- Relating to the physical body, especially as distinct from the mind, psyche, or purely intellectual faculties.
- Venomousadjective
- Capable of injecting venom through a bite or sting; highly toxic or characterized by malice.
Also from these editions: concepts
- Frans HalsFrans Hals was a Dutch painter of the 17th century, a portraitist who worked in Haarlem. Research.1, an edition published only in Portuguese, names him once, in the…
- René DescartesRené Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician of the 17th century, author of the Discourse on the Method and of the principle "I think, therefore I am"…
- Artificial ConsciousnessArtificial consciousness is the hypothetical state of subjective awareness, qualitative experience, and phenomenal sentience within an engineered computational system. It…
- Behavioral ResponsivenessBehavioral responsiveness is the adaptive capacity of a conscious organism to formulate intentional, self-modifying actions in functional reply to external sensory and…
- Cartesian RationalismCartesian rationalism is the epistemological and metaphysical system founded by René Descartes that establishes the thinking ego as the primary certainty of existence. It…
- Methodological ReductionismMethodological reductionism is a scientific research strategy that investigates complex phenomena by dividing them into their smallest constituent parts and examining…
- Mind-Body ReciprocityMind-body reciprocity is the psychological and physiological principle of continuous, bidirectional causation between subjective mental states and somatic biology. It…
- Ontological RelationalityOntological relationality is the metaphysical doctrine asserting that entities, organisms, and observers do not exist as isolated, self-contained essences, but are…