Feeling vs. Idea — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 24, 2024
Feelings are subjective emotional responses, often instinctive or experiential; ideas are cognitive constructs that represent understanding or plans.
Difference Between Feeling and Idea
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Feelings are primarily emotional states or reactions that are experienced internally and can be triggered by external or internal events. These responses are often visceral and hard to articulate precisely. Whereas ideas are mental representations or thoughts that can be clearly communicated and discussed, usually involving rational processing and creativity.
A feeling can range from simple emotions like happiness or sadness to complex states like love or resentment, influenced by personal experiences and perceptions. On the other hand, an idea is a conceptual thought that can be abstract, like democracy, or concrete, like a plan to build a house.
Feelings are inherently personal and can vary significantly from person to person, even in similar situations. This subjectivity is a key characteristic of emotions. In contrast, ideas can be shared and understood universally, as they are based on common cognitive processes and can be logically explained.
The expression of feelings is often reflected through physical manifestations such as facial expressions, body language, or physiological responses. Conversely, ideas are primarily expressed through language, symbols, or other forms of communication intended to convey specific information or concepts.
Feelings are crucial in influencing an individual's decision-making and behavior, often subconsciously. Ideas, however, guide conscious decisions and actions, providing a framework for problem-solving and creativity.
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Comparison Chart
Nature
Emotional response
Cognitive construct
Examples
Happiness, anger, love
Democracy, a business plan
Expression
Often non-verbal (facial expressions, body language)
Primarily verbal or written
Impact on Decisions
Subconscious influence
Conscious, rational planning
Subjectivity
Highly subjective and personal
Can be universal and shared
Compare with Definitions
Feeling
An instinctual sense of something, not based on rationality.
He had a feeling that the shortcut would save them time.
Idea
A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.
His idea to improve efficiency was quickly implemented.
Feeling
A complex emotional state such as love or jealousy.
His feelings of affection were apparent to everyone.
Idea
A belief or opinion.
The idea that hard work pays off is widely accepted.
Feeling
A subjective emotional response to experiences or thoughts.
The feeling of joy overwhelmed her as she met her newborn.
Idea
A mental impression or concept.
She played with the idea of starting her own business.
Feeling
Emotional perception or attitude toward a situation.
She expressed her feeling of unease about the upcoming merger.
Idea
An understanding or thought expressed in words.
His essay clarified his idea on environmental conservation.
Feeling
A physical sensation distinct from thought or reasoning.
A sudden feeling of cold swept through the room.
Idea
The aim or purpose.
The idea behind the meeting was to foster better communication.
Feeling
Feeling was originally used to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe other experiences, such as "a feeling of warmth" and of sentience in general.
Idea
In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are abstract concepts. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object.
Feeling
An emotional state or reaction
A feeling of joy
Idea
A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action
Recently, the idea of linking pay to performance has caught on
It's a good idea to do some research before you go
Feeling
An idea or belief, especially a vague or irrational one
He had the feeling that he was being watched
Idea
The aim or purpose
I took a job with the idea of getting some money together
Feeling
The capacity to experience the sense of touch
A loss of feeling in the hands
Idea
(in Platonic thought) an eternally existing pattern of which individual things in any class are imperfect copies.
Feeling
A sensitivity to or intuitive understanding of
She says I have a feeling for medicine
Idea
Something, such as a thought or conception, that is the product of mental activity.
Feeling
Showing emotion or sensitivity
She was a feeling child
Idea
An opinion, conviction, or principle
Has some strange political ideas.
Feeling
The sense of touch
Lost feeling in a toe.
Idea
A plan, purpose, or goal
She started school with the idea of becoming a doctor.
Feeling
A sensation experienced through this sense
Enjoyed the feeling of rain on my face.
Idea
The gist or significance
The idea of the article is that investing in green technology can save you money in the long run.
Feeling
A physical sensation other than one experienced though touch
A feeling of warmth.
Idea
A sense that something can happen; a notion or expectation
They have this idea that we can just drop what we're doing and go to the park.
Feeling
An emotion, such as joy or sorrow
A feeling of loss.
Idea
(Music) A theme or motif.
Feeling
Strong mental agitation or excitement involving the emotions
Eyes that showed deep feeling.
Idea
In the philosophy of Plato, a non-physical form or archetype to which beings in phenomenal reality correspond only as imperfect replicas.
Feeling
An emotion of affection; a fondness
Does she have feelings for you?.
Idea
In the philosophy of Kant, a concept of reason that is transcendent but nonempirical.
Feeling
The capacity to experience refined emotions; sensitivity; sensibility
A man of feeling.
Idea
In the philosophy of Hegel, absolute truth; the complete and ultimate product of reason.
Feeling
Feelings Susceptibility to emotional response; sensibilities
The child's feelings are easily hurt.
Idea
(Obsolete) A mental image of something remembered.
Feeling
An awareness or impression
He had the feeling that he was being followed.
Idea
(philosophy) An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.
Feeling
An opinion based strongly on emotion; sentiment
Voters' feelings on tax reform.
Idea
(obsolete) The conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal.
Feeling
A general impression conveyed by a person, place, or thing
This office has the feeling of a fortress.
Idea
(obsolete) The form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic.
Feeling
The emotions thought to be conveyed or intended by a work of art
The painting's feeling of anguish.
Idea
An image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory.
The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.
Feeling
Appreciative regard or understanding
Has no feeling for propriety.
Idea
More generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking.
Feeling
Intuitive awareness or aptitude; a feel
Has a feeling for language.
Idea
A conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an intention.
I have an idea of how we might escape.
Feeling
Easily moved emotionally; sympathetic
A feeling heart.
Idea
A purposeful aim or goal; intent
Yeah, that's the idea.
Feeling
Expressive of sensibility or emotion
A feeling glance.
Idea
A vague or fanciful notion; a feeling or hunch; an impression.
He had the wild idea that if he leant forward a little, he might be able to touch the mountain-top.
Feeling
Emotionally sensitive.
Despite the rough voice, the coach is surprisingly feeling.
Idea
(music) A musical theme or melodic subject.
Feeling
Expressive of great sensibility; attended by, or evincing, sensibility.
He made a feeling representation of his wrongs.
Idea
The transcript, image, or picture of a visible object, that is formed by the mind; also, a similar image of any object whatever, whether sensible or spiritual.
Her sweet idea wandered through his thoughts.
Being the right idea of your fatherBoth in your form and nobleness of mind.
This representation or likeness of the object being transmitted from thence [the senses] to the imagination, and lodged there for the view and observation of the pure intellect, is aptly and properly called its idea.
Feeling
Sensation, particularly through the skin.
The wool on my arm produced a strange feeling.
Idea
A general notion, or a conception formed by generalization.
Alice had not the slightest idea what latitude was.
Feeling
Emotion; impression.
The house gave me a feeling of dread.
Idea
Hence: Any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; a notion, conception, or thought; the real object that is conceived or thought of.
Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or as the immediate object of perception, thought, or undersanding, that I call idea.
Feeling
Emotional state or well-being.
You really hurt my feelings when you said that.
Idea
A belief, option, or doctrine; a characteristic or controlling principle; as, an essential idea; the idea of development.
That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.
What is now "idea" for us? How infinite the fall of this word, since the time where Milton sang of the Creator contemplating his newly-created world, -"how it showed . . . Answering his great idea," -to its present use, when this person "has an idea that the train has started," and the other "had no idea that the dinner would be so bad!"
Feeling
Emotional attraction or desire.
Many people still have feelings for their first love.
Idea
A plan or purpose of action; intention; design.
I shortly afterwards set off for that capital, with an idea of undertaking while there the translation of the work.
Feeling
Intuition.
He has no feeling for what he can say to somebody in such a fragile emotional condition.
I've got a funny feeling that this isn't going to work.
Idea
A rational conception; the complete conception of an object when thought of in all its essential elements or constituents; the necessary metaphysical or constituent attributes and relations, when conceived in the abstract.
Feeling
An opinion, an attitude.
Idea
A fiction object or picture created by the imagination; the same when proposed as a pattern to be copied, or a standard to be reached; one of the archetypes or patterns of created things, conceived by the Platonists to have excited objectively from eternity in the mind of the Deity.
Thence to behold this new-created world,The addition of his empire, how it showedIn prospect from his throne, how good, how fair,Answering his great idea.
Feeling
Present participle of feel
Idea
The content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about;
It was not a good idea
The thought never entered my mind
Feeling
Possessing great sensibility; easily affected or moved; as, a feeling heart.
Idea
A personal view;
He has an idea that we don't like him
Feeling
Expressive of great sensibility; attended by, or evincing, sensibility; as, he made a feeling representation of his wrongs.
Idea
An approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth;
An estimate of what it would cost
A rough idea how long it would take
Feeling
The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external objects.
Why was the sightTo such a tender ball as the eye confined, . . . And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused?
Idea
Your intention; what you intend to do;
He had in mind to see his old teacher
The idea of the game is to capture all the pieces
Feeling
An act or state of perception by the sense above described; an act of apprehending any object whatever; an act or state of apprehending the state of the soul itself; consciousness.
The apprehension of the goodGives but the greater feeling to the worse.
Idea
(music) melodic subject of a musical composition;
The theme is announced in the first measures
The accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it
Feeling
The capacity of the soul for emotional states; a high degree of susceptibility to emotions or states of the sensibility not dependent on the body; as, a man of feeling; a man destitute of feeling.
Feeling
Any state or condition of emotion; the exercise of the capacity for emotion; any mental state whatever; as, a right or a wrong feeling in the heart; our angry or kindly feelings; a feeling of pride or of humility.
A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind.
Tenderness for the feelings of others.
Feeling
That quality of a work of art which embodies the mental emotion of the artist, and is calculated to affect similarly the spectator.
Feeling
The experiencing of affective and emotional states;
She had a feeling of euphoria
He had terrible feelings of guilt
I disliked him and the feeling was mutual
Feeling
A vague idea in which some confidence is placed;
His impression of her was favorable
What are your feelings about the crisis?
It strengthened my belief in his sincerity
I had a feeling that she was lying
Feeling
The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people;
The feel of the city excited him
A clergyman improved the tone of the meeting
It had the smell of treason
Feeling
A physical sensation that you experience;
He had a queasy feeling
I had a strange feeling in my leg
He lost all feeling in his arm
Feeling
The sensation produced by pressure receptors in the skin;
She likes the touch of silk on her skin
The surface had a greasy feeling
Feeling
An intuitive understanding of something;
He had a great feeling for music
Common Curiosities
Can feelings influence the formulation of ideas?
Yes, emotional states can significantly affect how ideas are formed and perceived.
Can the same idea provoke different feelings in different people?
Yes, the same idea can lead to varied emotional responses based on individual experiences and perspectives.
How do feelings manifest in the body?
Feelings can manifest as physiological responses, such as changes in heart rate, facial expressions, or body language.
What is the fundamental difference between a feeling and an idea?
Feelings are emotional responses, whereas ideas are rational thoughts or plans.
How are feelings communicated?
Feelings are often communicated non-verbally through body language, facial expressions, or tone of voice.
Can feelings be completely separated from ideas?
Not entirely, as emotional underpinnings often influence how ideas are conceived and received.
Are ideas always based on logical reasoning?
Typically, yes, ideas are formed through logical processes, though they can be influenced by subjective factors.
What role do ideas play in creative processes?
Ideas are fundamental to creativity, providing the basis for innovation and problem-solving.
How can one better understand their feelings?
Reflection, discussion with others, and sometimes professional counseling can help individuals understand and articulate their feelings.
Why might someone struggle to express their feelings?
Due to their subjective nature, feelings can be difficult to articulate clearly compared to more concrete ideas.
How are new ideas typically generated?
Through brainstorming, research, and logical reasoning, often stimulated by existing knowledge or needs.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
