Comparing the Judging Axes

Fe/Ti

Te/Fi

The Rounded Judgment Axis (Fe/Ti): By the pairing of Introverted Thinking and Extroverted Feeling, this axis yields a cognitive preference for developing and propounding propositions with a careful attention to process. Under the aspect of Introverted Thinking, these propositions are arrived at by qualifying every link in the reasoning from an even-handed and detached perspective so that the process of reasoning is impartially valid, but there is no guarantee of arriving at a worthwhile conclusion (or indeed any conclusion at all). However, under the aspect of Extroverted Feeling, these propositions pay their respects to the social environment, that is, to the audience of its propositions. Here the originator of the proposition is careful to pay his respects to, if not outright affirm, the sentiments that exist among his audience, regardless of whether he personally agrees with them or not. This inclination should not be interpreted as insincerity, however, but as a cognitive focus on facilitating cooperation and mutual understanding. Just as Introverted Thinking makes sure that every step of the reasoning behind a proposition is valid, so Extroverted Feeling makes sure that no proposition is rejected on the grounds of misunderstood (invalid) retorts, such as prejudice and knee-jerk reactions.

The Angular Judgment Axis (Te/Fi): By the pairing of Extroverted Thinking and Introverted Feeling, this axis yields a cognitive preference for developing and propounding propositions with the stress placed on the comprehension of objects by virtue of their most unique and obvious qualities. Under the aspect of Extroverted Thinking, these propositions are arrived at by “seizing the object or person where it cannot help but be seized” and by constructing one’s analyses on the basis of previously complied empirical evidence and a special attention to trade-offs and outcomes. But under the aspect of Introverted Feeling, the sum-total of what the object or object could be is added to and kept unspoiled by the Fi type’s sympathetic parallelism and eye for the idiosyncratic elements present in everything that is otherwise commonly thought “universal.”

If a person has an Fe/Ti axis, then, all other things being equal, they will tend to see all people as being essentially “cut from the same cloth” (Fe), while all observations pertaining to Thinking will unconsciously be seen as universally accessible, regardless of who made them (Ti).To give an example of what we mean, take the following characterization of the philosopher Immanuel Kant:
“Kant … was much bothered by the common opinion that philosophy is only for the few … because of this opinion’s moral implications.”That is to say, according to Kant’s natural preference, all people should be capable of accessing and understanding the points of philosophy (even though they plainly are not). Kant was also “bothered” by the implication that if not all people were able to understand philosophy, then that would imply that not all people were “cut from the same cloth.” This is circumstantial evidence of a Fe/Ti axis in Kant.

If a person has a Te/Fi axis, that person will be more inclined to view each person as unique, different, and very much his own person (Fi). With this differentiation – all people being decidedly not cut from the same cloth – a hierarchization of people is implied (Te).
Ironically, IxFP types will often vehemently deny that they subscribe to a worldview featuring such a hierarchy of people and may even denounce such views as unethical. But from an axial perspective, it is merely their own inferior Te they are denouncing.

Fe/Ti represents the road between external and shared valuations on the one hand, and internal logical principles on the other. It is the tension between an outside world of sharing and joint values, contrasted against an inner world of impartial and dispassionate coldness.Its interplay is like a traveler in a foreign country faced with the journey of discovering the logic of the foreign language and integrating it into themself, so that they can experience the warmth that arises in the interaction with others.

Te/Fi represents the road between logical judgments based on objective data on the one hand, and valuations based on subjective sentiments on the other. It is the tension between a cold and uncaring outside world, coupled with the warmth and idiosyncrasies that exist within the individual.In other words, the cognitive biases inherent in the Te/Fi axis plots the lone individual against a freezing wilderness, employing whatever means necessary to survive, doing everything they can to keep warm, making their warmth known in the world, and pushing back the encroaching ice. As examples, we might mention the Te type’s prioritization of “what objectively needs to be done” regardless of how others may feel about it, or the Fi type’s championing of the individual’s personal dream world.

Ti
With regard external reality, Ti tends to perceive the facts as being of secondary importance when compared to the abstract idea that the Ti type is attempting to clarify in their mind.
In other words, the Ti type perceives facts as governed by ideas, whereas the Te type perceives ideas as things that should ideally amend themselves to the facts.
One consequence of Ti’s tendency to abstract from external reality is that the individual will be more preoccupied with discovering ideal ideational structures than in actually making sense of the messy multitude of facts that were handed down to them through external reality. Another consequence of this ideational bias is that objects are viewed as being more similar in nature than they really are (and certainly as more similar than a Te type would perceive them).Fe
According to the Heraclitean conception of Jungian typology, there can be no Ti without Fe and vice versa. Though Ti and Fe polarize each other in consciousness, the overall structure of the Ti/Fe axis itself still primes the consciousness of the individual to view human beings as an ideal ideational object as described with the Ti type above. When I stress that classes of objects are experienced “ideally,” what I mean is that the properties of particular individuals can, to the Ti/Fe axis, be stripped away without losing the noetic object of the human being (Ti), as one understands this generally and in the abstract. (Here the operations of the Ti/Fe axis come very close to Plato’s idea of the theory of forms.) Therefore, one premise nested in the Ti/Fe axis is that human beings are essentially similar and that their desires and goals must therefore on some level also be similar (Fe).• Fe/Ti types live in a world of abstract, theoretical commonalities between objects, of which one unstated premise is that, deep down, our interests are all aligned.

Te
Where Ti has a tendency to abstract from the individual and to perceive it through an idealized Platonic “form of the human being,” standing apart from reality and current affairs, Te tends to cognize the individual as an active participant in the actual and specific reality that surrounds us. Thus, in the Te mode, we must be concerned with the empirical properties of reality as these unfold around us (no matter how messy they may seem to the Ti type) and it simply will not do to sit on the sidelines, mourning that reality could or should be different. On the contrary, Te flings our consciousness directly into an uncooperative world, prompting us to go head-to-head with its challenges and letting us know that only we are responsible for getting whatever it is we want from the world.Fi
In the Te mindset, our world is disobliging and resources finite. My triumph may very easily turn out to be your downfall and vice versa. I don’t owe you anything and what you want is not necessarily what I want. Such a mode of consciousness creates the backdrop for a species of relativism, and it is here that Te meets Fi to form the Te/Fi axis: An axis that identifies goals on the basis of actual and personal relevance, rather than on the basis of abstract and communitarian ideals.• Te/Fi types live in a world of concrete, empirical certainties of objects, of which one unstated premise is that we have our own interests at heart.

Ti does not naturally perceive phenomena in terms of matter, but rather in terms of the abstract noetic idea which the individual phenomenon represents. The elements of physical existence that do not fit with the pursuit of the abstract idea are ignored or neglected (e.g. “it is a nonessential feature, let somebody else take care of that”). The idea that is pursued by Ti is immaterial; it is imagined rather than proven. It is the idea we want, not the necessity. In this respect, matter is simply a necessity – a stricture upon the idea that the Ti type is chasing. Consequently, matter is but a constraint that the Ti type feels compelled to look beyond and break out of.Fe does not naturally perceive phenomena in terms of matter, but rather in terms of the sentiments they elicit. With Fe, there is an involuntary inclination to perceive objects as sentient beings to be sympathized with (e.g. “the Earth has a soul”). Consciousness is thus unwittingly ascribed the primacy over matter. Certainly, most Fe types would concede that we are made of both consciousness and matter. But according to the Fe prejudice, our defining feature is our consciousness, since it is consciousness, not matter, that produces these sentiments.

Te does not naturally perceive phenomena in terms of events, but in terms of objective laws that standardize and shut out those elements of existence which do not conform to the law. Overarching ideas like “energy” and “matter,” that allow for the greatest extension of laws into all spheres of human existence will thus hold a special sway over the Te type. Consequently, matter is unwittingly accepted as holding the primacy over consciousness – indeed, to many a Te type, consciousness is just matter experiencing itself. It follows that sentiments and feelings, which are often personal and illogical, and which no known law can dominate or sort out, are thus but accidental and secondary features of existence.Fi is inclined to experience every interpersonal phenomenon as an interaction between two unique subjects. You have your values, and I have mine. But you are not me. We each experience our highest values through our personal, subjective psyche and frames of mind. I cannot adjust my innermost, truest ideas to fit yours, and nor can you adjust yours to fit with mine. We are not to place demands upon each other, but to tolerate each other the way we are, so that we are both free to go our own way. We understand our deepest thoughts and feelings through the purity of our personal subject, which is strictly our own. A great gulf separates your truest, innermost nature from mine; this gulf may be material in nature, or it may not. All I know is that it is there.

Fe/Ti asks “What do I think and how can I communicate that?”The Fe/Ti axis seeks to understand the logical structure that underlies phenomena encountered by the psyche. This discernment includes sentiment-related phenomena, which it approaches in an analytical manner, just as it may take the form of more mechanical analysis, which the Fe/Ti types then take care to present in an agreeable manner and with a human face.The Fe/Ti attitude reasons that people do things because they operate under the influence of “general principles,” which they may not even understand in full themselves, but which nevertheless influence “all operations of the mind.”

Te/Fi axis asks, “What do I want and how can I get it?”The Te/Fi axis seeks to apprehend a hierarchy of desires and passions that motivate the individual to create expedient and realistic arrangements with the aim of furthering one’s ends and accomplishing one’s desires. Ultimately, the arrangements are there to serve the individual’s aims, and not in order to construct some impersonal, idealized model that could then (perhaps conceitedly) be thought to be true for all time.Thus, in the Te/Fi mind-set, we see that people are thought to do things because they want to, wish to, and have a passionate desire and drive to: No matter what intricate logical justifications are produced, the true fuel of all spirited human activity, in the end, be found to be personal wishes and goals that the individual is willing to fight for.

Comparing the Perceiving Axes

Se/Ni

Ne/Si

The Quiddity Perception Axis (Se/Ni): By the pairing of Extroverted Sensation and Introverted Intuition, this axis yields a cognitive preference for experiencing objects in their entirety. The perceptions of the Quiddity axis are singular, intense, and deep.
Under the aspect of Extroverted Sensation, these perceptions may be described as an immediate and compelling experience with an eye for the object’s possible uses here and now. However, under the aspect of Introverted Intuition, these perceptions may be better described as transcendental in nature, taking the object only as a suggestion that then leads back to an ideational representation that is seemingly more real than the object itself.

The Abstraction Perception Axis (Ne/Si): By the pairing of Introverted Sensation and Extroverted Intuition, this axis yields a cognitive preference for abstracting from objects and for muting their more immediate suggestions in order to recall other objects or conjure up ideational concepts not directly related to the object. Its perceptions are broad, extensive, and tentative.
Under the aspect of Introverted Sensation, these perceptions mute the object by calling upon reminiscences that the observer experientially connects with the given object. By contrast, under the aspect of Extroverted Intuition, these perceptions mute the object by relentlessly connecting it with some ideational concept (and then another and another…), until it has abandoned the object without looking back, and is sketching away at a novel conceptual framework for understanding the object, which is nevertheless quite divorced from the empirical nature of the object itself.

If a person has an Se/Ni axis, then that person’s observations will be more singular and intense. The person will stress one point of view (Ni), which is frequently the viewpoint that generates the greatest yield in relation to the current situation (Se). The singularity of observation involved will lend a manifest and immediate quality to the Se/Ni type’s observations, which tends to make them convincing.

If a person has an Ne/Si axis, that person’s observations will be more multifaceted and chromatic, drawing upon multiple perspectives at once (Ne). The person will also be more careful and meticulous (Si) because there is an unconscious striving to contribute one’s observations to building a system which is valid, not just here and now, but true in general – to generate the type of knowledge that could conceivably end up in a future textbook on the subject.

So, am I thereby saying that Ne types are in a sense cautious and meticulous? Those would hardly be the first adjectives that come to mind when typologists think of Ne types. But, yes – actually, I am. It is true that Ne types may fling themselves at the unknown, sometimes making bold and half-baked claims on the basis of cursory knowledge. But all other things being equal they will also be quick to withdraw from those claims again, and that, after all, is also a kind of caution.

The Se/Ni axis represents an intense mode perception, one that tends to over-commit or over-analyze singular areas, factors, or concepts. It does so at the expense of adjacent areas, but to make up for it, this axis can in return achieve a surprising depth and intensity in exactly the area of its choosing.
For the Se/Ni axis, the psychic movement I envisage is one that begins as narrow and pinpointed at the object, representing the direct focus on the object itself. In this way, the Se/Ni axis magnifies its subject matter, taking inspiration from objects themselves and amplifying their possibilities so as to perceive them in an intense way.

The Ne/Si axis represents a multifaceted, sweeping perception that tends to under-commit to the objects at hand, but which gains a surprising breadth of insight in compensation.
The psychic movement I envisage for it is a fuzzy and associative awareness, directed in the general direction of the object. This represents the Ne/Si axis’ indirect and generalized relationship to entities. In this way, the Ne/Si axis is meticulous and examining, making detailed, thorough, and associative records of the world.

Se/Ni asks: “What is the most likely outcome on the basis of the raw data?”The Se/Ni axis seeks to apprehend the most likely future outcome that we can expect based on raw and direct experience of reality. This configuration lends an unhindered and self-evident quality to the insights of Se/Ni types, where they are often able to fuse direct experience of reality with compelling mental schemata for how to cognitively lock on to the essence of what is going on in the world.On balance, Se/Ni is much more trusting of and interested in, whatever empirical data is immediately available and pertains directly to the matter at hand. As I have said, it is simply in the nature of Se/Ni to rely on direct observation and direct conjecture from the data. As the original article said, the Se/Ni type will be cognitively engrossed in one perspective, which is also likely to be the perspective that generates the greatest and most compelling immediate yield. There is a manifest and emphatic quality to their insights since they are naturally hooked into a more direct and straightforward perception of the world.Even when Se is a person’s inferior function, one can still see this facet of the Se/Ni axis at play. All else being equal, an Ni dominant type takes in the least amount of factual outside experience of all the Se/Ni types. Yet, if one observes them, one will see them constantly mulling over and conjecturing from whatever data they do have. In fact, they simply cannot help but do so, and so they often feel like they have a lot to say on a broad range of topics, regardless of their actual levels of expertise. Their saving grace, however, is the subjective originality of the Ni function, which frequently allows them to concoct novel and intriguing points of view, even on the basis of just a few morsels of data. A meagre basis for exposition that would leave others lost may frequently be all they need to come up with a compelling and ingenious scheme for how to think about the subject at hand.

Si/Ne axis asks: “What is the relative truth behind each perspective?”For its part, the Si/Ne axis seeks to cognize the most dependable and lasting qualities of phenomena, based on a tentative sampling of varying perspectives. Each perspective is experienced as illuminating some insights while dimming the centrality of others (with others still entirely concealed from view). This configuration leads to a more inhibited and indirect style of cognition on the part of the Si/Ne type. Consequently, their contributions owe much more to an aggregated form of general wisdom that has accumulated over time than to acute observation of the present subject matter.The Ne/Si axis is far less trusting of direct observation. This is hardly a mystery since their Sensation function is introverted. Where Se/Ni types are straightforward and direct in their object representations, Ne/Si types are more cautious and indirect, abstracting experiences so as to produce subjective mental facsimiles of them at the expense of cognizing them directly. As Ryan Smith pointed out in part 1, this is why Si types will frequently experience an unconscious striving to organize the contents of their experience into a general mental regimen which is not just valid in the here and now, but which might conceivably be capable of ending up in a future textbook on the subject. As said, Si types focus their cognitive energy on the apprehension of the carefully and cautiously culled characteristics of phenomena that have been proven to endure over time. This is why we stereotypically hear of their thorough, cautious, and reserved nature. Meanwhile, Ne types tend to focus their energy on provisional exploration and experimentation, where the subject matter is approached from multiple angles at once. However, with Ne types, the caution instilled by their inferior Si can still be seen in their tendency to never truly commit to any one of these perspectives. It is all experimentation and exploration with them, as a series of tentative snapshots gradually amasses to form a composite mental image. Their trouble is that they never want to stop. The Si type’s trouble, on the other hand, is that, since they are subjectively comfortable with what they already know, when faced with the task of coming to terms with what is truly new, they do not always want to start.

Cutting Across Axes

Se

Te

Si

Ti

Ne

Fe

Ni

Fi