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The formation of scientific concepts on intellectual feelings in philosophical and psychological discourse. Education & Pedagogy Journal. 2026;1(17):59-76. DOI:

This article examines the key historical stages in the development of philosophical and psychological discourse on intellectual feelings and the role of emotions in regulating human cognitive activity. The analysis begins with early philosophical debates about whether emotions hinder or, conversely, facilitate cognitive processes and epistemic behavior. Using transspective analysis, the study identifies the main direction in which philosophical and psychological interpretations of this problem have evolved. This transformation moves from the rigid dualism of “reason versus emotion,” characteristic of classical scientific rationality, toward various conceptual interpretations of L. Vygotsky’s dialectical principle of the unity of affect and intellect in nonclassical and post-non-classical psychology. This review-based study demonstrates how an initially marginal idea – that emotions are integrated into the mental mechanisms of human thinking – gradually gained legitimacy and experimental support as psychological knowledge developed. Before the emergence of cultural-historical psychology, emotions were treated as inconsistent and secondary factors in cognitive regulation, variously viewed as obstacles to cognition, side effects of thought, or somatopsychic markers of exploratory behavior. As non-classical psychology became established, emotions and intellectual feelings were no longer treated as secondary by-products of thinking but as regulatory mechanisms that orient problem solving, shape meaning, support flexible exploratory behavior, prevent cognitive stagnation, and coordinate the entire course of thought. Today, intellectual feelings are recognized as significant components of human thinking and intellectual behavior, particularly in situations of increasing cognitive uncertainty and growing world complexity. They have become a focus of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and education.

Keywords: cognition, mental activity, emotions, feelings, intellectual feelings