The Ascent of Affect

By Ruth Leys,

Book cover of The Ascent of Affect: Genealogy and Critique

Book description

In recent years, the emotions have become a major, vibrant topic of research not merely in the biological and psychological sciences but throughout a wide swath of the humanities and social sciences as well. Yet, surprisingly, there is still no consensus on their basic nature or workings. Ruth Leys's brilliant,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Ascent of Affect as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I like a scholarly bin fire as much as the next person. Leys’ book assembles all the dross of twentieth-century psychological essentialism, douses it in gallons of scholarly scorn, and lights a match.

I think it is massively important that the personalities and authorities that give scientific ideas their power and traction are exposed and critiqued, as a means of moving the needle on emotion knowledge production. This is a scholarly book, no question, but I love it for its unrelenting demolition job.

If you love The Ascent of Affect...

Ad

Book cover of I Am Taurus

I Am Taurus By Stephen Palmer,

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from…

Want books like The Ascent of Affect?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Ascent of Affect.

Browse books like The Ascent of Affect

Book cover of How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain
Book cover of The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework for the History of Emotions
Book cover of Empathy: A History

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in emotions, humanities, and neuroscience?

Emotions 171 books
Humanities 21 books
Neuroscience 157 books