# sentio ergo sum



## Maeskizzle

Hi. I´m wondering if "I feel therefore I am" is translated to Latin as "sentio ergo sum".

Thanks in advance.


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## judkinsc

Yes, it would.


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## eloir

yes but sentio, in my opinion, it's so much stronger than "feel"...


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## Maeskizzle

In what way would "sentio" be stronger than feel? Does it have a more spiritual meaning? A more spiritual sense would actually be quite adequate for the meaning I want.


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## Flaminius

Hello *eloir*,

...and welcome to the WR fora.    Please hang around and have linguistic fun here!

The reason might be different but I have been wondering about _sentio_ too.  I have always thought that this verb is used primarily in sentences like "I think that..." or "It looks to me that..." and other equivalents that express one's opinion.  Does it perhaps regain the sense of "sense" (forgive this incorrigible punster) when used in isolation?


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## Kael

From what I know, Sentio can refer to perceiving something, not just feeling it.


I can't think of a verb that just means "feel," though.


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## wonderment

Maeskizzle said:


> In what way would "sentio" be stronger than feel? Does it have a more spiritual meaning? A more spiritual sense would actually be quite adequate for the meaning I want.



It could be both carnal and spiritual...

A famous instance of 'sentio' in Latin poetry:

Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
Catullus 85

(I hate and I love. Why do I do it, perhaps you are asking?
I don't know, but I feel it happening and I am tormented/crucified.)


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## judkinsc

There is no other verb that captures the emotional feel of something, to my knowledge. All other verbs I've seen indicate a tactile "touch" or are extrapolated to "feel" in a generic sense when they actually have a more precise meaning like "burn, be angry." Cf. sentio -ire, percipio -ere, caleo -ere, contrecto -are, contracto -are, praesentio -ire.

You also have the various verbs of "knowing" which can sometimes be translated as "feel." "Praesentio" (lit. "to feel beforehand) is based off of "sentio" and has a similar meaning to a verb of knowing, "praescio" ("to know beforehand"). Cf. "praescio, praescientia -ae, praescitio -onis, conscio -ire.


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## judkinsc

eloir said:


> so I don't understand if you agree with me or not...



I suppose I was really responding to Kael's comment above, but you seem to argue that the meaning of "to feel" is abstract and philosophical, which indeed it can be.

I agree with you. We would begin a philosophical discussion of the meaning of "to know" and "to feel" if we continued along this path now.


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## Breogan

According to my Latin dictionary , *SENTIRE* has the following meanings:

1. To feel (pain, hunger,...):_ dolorem, famem *sentio*_ = _I feel pain, hunger_
2. To understand: _*sentio* id esse iustum_ = _I understand this is fair_
3. To think: _dicam quod *sentio*_ = _I'll say what I think_ or _I'll say my opinion_
...


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## Maeskizzle

Thanks a lot for all your responses! They are quite useful for the context of my paper.


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## Kheledon

eloir said:


> yes but sentio, in my opinion, it's so much stronger than "feel"...


I agree.  I posted a thread on "Typology Central" on this subject just this morning.  Here's what I said:

*Sentio ergo sum.*

It was René Descartes who coined the famous phrase, "Cogito ergo sum," i.e. "I think, therefore I am." These days, echoing John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High," I like to say that I was "born in the Summer of my 47th year." I may seem highly logical, and I can play the logic game, but I discovered just over two years ago that I am, principally, an emotional being. In Jungian terms, I am an F not a T (a feeler not a thinker). In Socionics terms, I am principally ethical, as opposed to logical.

So, I am hereby copyrighting my signature, "Sentio ergo sum." 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





*Sentio ergo sum* roughly translates as "I feel, therefore I am," but if you look at various translations of sentio, you'll get a much better sense of what being an F means. The English verb "to feel" simply doesn't cover enough ground. Here's what Google translate says:

*sentio*

feel
perceive
think (F and T are rational/articulable functions, whereas N and S are irrational/inarticulable.)
suppose
experience
see
judge (Jung calls both F and T judging functions.)
be aware
vote (If you don't vote, it's because you aren't emotionally invested in the outcome.)
declare
hold an opinion
decide

That's what it means to be an F in Jungian/Myers-Briggs-Kiersiean/Socionics terms. Few would deny that those verbs define/describe what I do ... like _all the time_. Compare sentio to cogito:

*cogito*

think
reflect
meditate
ponder
muse
ruminate
consider
plan
design
intend
imagine
ideate

You can see that the two are quite different. What I particularly like is that "sentience" is etymologically tied to *feeling*, not thinking. Philosophy may seek "truth" or "pure thought" and "the one, true answer" (Ti), _for whatever good that will do anybody (chuckle)_, but "feeling" is what it means to be human (or to be sentient). For me, life is all about emotional investment. _Sentio ergo sum_ implies that without feeling (emotional investment), I might as well be dead. I also like the fact that one translation of sentio is "I vote," i.e. *I vote, therefore I am*. 

While I regret that I have been absent for a few months, I did vote, and I am not dead. I was just reincarnating, as EIE is wont to do.

Nice to see you all again!

_Sentio ergo sum._
​Hope that's helpful to those who seek out this information in the future.  Forgive me for digging up an old thread and, thereby, introducing myself, but I hope to be able to contribute here, as etymology and languages are essential to my being.  They're very human, and, for that reason alone, are very important to me.

-Kheledon


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## Scholiast

salvete amici conlegae sodales

Is there a question here (Kheledon's #12)?

_odi et amo. quare id faciam fortasse requiris._
_*nescio*, sed fieri *sentio* et excrucior._​In this famous distich Catullus exhibits clearly the contrast between the cognitive and the emotional domains of apprehension.

Σ


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