Guilt or guilty

Guilt and feeling guilty are extremely common. Guilt describes a condition or state of being, while feeling guilty describes, well, a feeling. Why do we experience the two and is it important to ask the question?

Let me begin by reminding you that there are four basic emotions: fear, anger, happy and sad. So, it seems that guilt is not a basic emotion. In fact, it's not an emotion at all. Although it is a psychological condition with an associated feeling, it is quite different than an emotion.

Emotions are primal, deeply rooted, natural human expressions. Feelings are related to a sense of ev...