In response to
Wordwind's question:
In reply to:
You wouldn't happen to know what Homo sapiens sapiens, in an attempt to relinquish a little brain power and substitute it with a good dose of heart power, would be called could he become "Homo sapiens 'feeling,'" would you?
Though affectus actually translates better, I think sentiens has more of the right connotations and connections with other fields. For example, there is a perennial disagreement in science fiction as to whether we are looking for other sentient life forms or sapient life forms, if we're looking for those that are human-like.
Sentire means 'to feel', but by extension also 'to be self-aware'. I've often wondered how sapiens 'tasting' came to mean 'wise' -- I can only think it's because the wise were those who had 'good taste.' Maybe the distinction is just that the homines sapientes cooked their food? Grits for the mill, anyway.
