It is highly probable that they first arose as attitudes useful in the animal's environments for defence, flight, seizure, embrace, etc., and have descended to man as survivals, so becoming indications of states of the mind.
The final and highest manifestation of the life of feeling is what we call Sentiment.

Sentiment is aroused in response to certain so-called ideal states of thought.

The trend of mental growth toward constantly greater adequacy in its knowledge leads it to anticipate conditions when its attainments will be made complete.

There are certain sorts of reality whose completeness, thus imagined, arouses in us emotional states of the greatest power and value.

The thought of God gives rise to the Religious sentiment, that of the good to the Ethical or Moral sentiment, that of the beautiful to the Esthetic sentiment.