Ruth Leys. The Ascent of Affect

Ruth Leys’s The Ascent of Affect: Genealogy and Critique is an important book that traces the rise of the prevailing scientific theory of emotions today, thoroughly debunking its very foundations. The current science of emotions is dominated by the idea of six “basic emotions”—anger, fear, happiness, sadness, disgust, and surprise—all of which are hard-wired from birth and expressed most clearly on our faces. Neuroscientists present their subjects with photographs of faces posed to display these emotions in purportedly “pure form.” They then use brain scans to arrive at stunning images of the brain meant to show the region or regions associated with whatever emotion the face is said to express. Other scientists use the photographs to test people’s ability to convey and to recognize emotions; those deficient in these tasks are said to suffer from alexithymia. Children’s books offer help to any child clueless about how to “look angry” or...

Affect (linguistics) · Alexithymia · Anger · Disgust · Emotion classification · Face (sociological concept) · Happiness · Psychoanalysis · Sadness · Social science · Sociology · Surprise · Communication · Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History of Science and Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology