Mental vs Relational vs Material Affection

Martin (1992: 533):

Table 7.13 provides a provisional account of how affections might be classified along three dimensions: surge/predisposition, negative/positive and self/other.  In addition the following proportionalities are suggestive:

positive : negative ::
discord : satisfaction ::	‘feel’
insecurity : security ::	‘be’
frustration : fulfillment [sic]	‘do’

Blogger Comments:

[1] This continues the confusion of the theoretical notion of affect (a charged or neutral relation between interlocutors) with the general notion of affection ('a gentle feeling of fondness or liking').

[2] These are clearly the reverse of what is intended.

[3] The claim here is that 'discord' is the negative counterpart of 'satisfaction', and 'satisfaction' the positive counterpart of 'discord'.

To be clear, discord is 'disagreement between people' whereas satisfaction is 'fulfilment of one's wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived from this'.

[4] The claim here is that "affection" (mental process) oppositions can be further differentiated according to process type:

• the "affection" opposition of discord vs satisfaction is mental ('feel'), whereas
• the "affection" opposition of insecurity vs security is relational ('be'), and
• the "affection" opposition of frustration vs fulfilment is material ('do').

No attempt is made to clarify, let alone justify, the claim.