Abstract

In my paper I undertake an attempt at an archaeological analysis of the increasing interest in emotions and affects in the humanities. Simultaneously, it is to some extent an attempt to continue Foucault's reflection from The Order of Things. In doing so, I reconstruct (a) previous ways – both philosophical and literary (starting from the seventeenth century) – of defining the relationship between “reason” and “heart” and (b) the origins, transformations and disintegration of the subject of desire. “Affectology” itself turns out to be the result of (i) the decay of the traditional humanities (ii) the influence of structuralism, (iii) the emergence of “culture” which has replaced “human” as the primary reference point of the humanities.