Philosophic thought is reflective. Reflection is the recall or reexamination of experience in order to understand or to comprehend it. Experience transforms itself into reflection. Reflection occurs when we recognize a break in the continuity of our experience. Reflection thus seeks to restore the unity of our experience, and is secondary reflection.
Primary reflection is analytic, and moves in the reverse direction.
Primary reflection tends to break down the unity of experience, whereas secondary reflection tends to restore it. Primary and secondary reflection are at opposite ends of an existential fulcrum. This question is an important subject of philosophic reflection. Reflection discovers that I am not what I am thought to be, but also, that I am not simply the negation of what I am thought to be. Reflection on this question of personal identity also leads us to recognize the fundamental nature of feeling.