How did Johann Gottfried von Herder explain the relationship between feeling and reflection?

Johann Gottfried von Herder viewed feeling (Gefühl) and reflection (Besonnenheit) not as separate, competing faculties, but as deeply interconnected components of human nature.

For Herder, feeling provides an immediate, tactile experience of reality, allowing an individual to apprehend the world as a power reacting against their own vital energy. However, this experience is initially dim and unspecific. Reflection acts as the process by which these feelings are "broken off" or consciously recognized.1

The bridge between these two states is language. Herder argued that while the individual and the world are united in feeling, they separate in consciousness to link again through the "intentional" act of naming. By designating an object with a word, the individual transforms what was once a vague emotional apprehension into a specific, recognized meaning. Consequently, feeling and reflection interpenetrate each other; every word carries both objective significance and an emotional attitude, reflecting the unique outlook of its user. Thus, for Herder, this union of sound and significance is the fundamental structure that defines human nature.1