FREEDOM OF OBJECT OF THE AFFECT SYSTEM Dealing with masochism and puritanism: « There is literally no kind of object, which has not historically been linked to one, or another of the affects. Positive affect has been invested in pain and every kind of misery, and negative affect has been experienced as a consequence of pleasure and every kind of triumph of the human spirit. Masochism and puritanism are possible only for an animal capable of using his reason to govern his feelings. Thus he comes to be able to love death and hate life.(…) Everyman has been puzzled for centuries at the irrationality of affect investment, that this one who has every reason in the world to be happy is miserable, whereas that one whose lot is unrelieved misery, seems nonetheless to be full of zest for life. In part such confusion is a derivative of the failure to understand the basic freedom of object of the affect system.” p.74 (Chap 4- FREEDOM OF THE WILL AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE AFFECT SYSTEM) Silvan S. TOMKINS in Affect Imagery Consciousness, The Complete Edition, Volume 1 and 2, Ed. Springer Publishing Company, New York, 2008.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:47:18 +0000