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Gemma Corradi Fiumara

Posted By: Giancarlo Marchetti
Date: Sunday, 31 March 2002, at 8:46 a.m.

----- Original Message -----
From: Giancarlo Marchetti
To: apf@cyberpsych.org
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 3:35 PM
Subject: emotion

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the publication of a new enlightening book

Gemma Corradi Fiumara, The Mind's Affective Life. A Psychoanalytic and Philosophical Inquiry, Brunner-Routledge 2001.

'... a major contribution to the neglected subject of human feelings' Arnold H. Modell, Harvard Medical School

'This book is a remarkable contribution to an understanding of the role of affects in the construction and survival of psychic life' Joyce McDougall, Member of the New York Freudian Society

`Professor Fiumara's rich, detailed, thoughtful analysis both enriches and sharpens the reader's understanding of a complex and highly actual subject of psychoanalytic and philosophical inquiry' Otto Kernberg, President, International Psychoanalytic Association

The Mind's Affective Life is a refreshing and innovative examination of the relationship between feeling and thinking. Our thoughts and behaviour are shaped by both our emotions and reason; yet until recently most of the literature analysing thought has concentrated largely on philosophical reasoning and neglected emotions. This book is an original and provocative contribution to the rapidly growing literature on the neglected "affective" dimensions of modern thought. The author draws on contemporary psychoanalysis, philosophy, feminist theory and recent innovations in neuroscience to argue that in order to to understand thought, we need to consider not only both emotional and rational aspects of thought but also the complex interactions between these different aspects. Only through such a rich and complicated understanding of modern thought can we hope to avoid what the author identifies as a significant contemporary problems for individuals and cultures; that is, suppression or denial of intolerable states of feeling.

Contents: Introduction. I. The Fragility of "Pure Reason." The Island of"Pure Reason" and the Sea of Passions. The Contigency of the Subject. ACulture of Hierachised Knowledges. II. From Philosophy to Epistemophily.Latent Functions of Knowledge. Alternative Modes of Inquiry. III. Thinking Affects. The Problem of Thinking Affects. The "Conquest" of Affects.Ulterior Perspectives. IV. A Passion for Reason. Passions in Reason. ThePleasures of Mental Efficacy. V. Minding the Body. Mental Life and Embodied Existence. Knowledge as an Organismic Derivative. VI. The "Terminology" of Affects. The Question of Classification and Terminology. Familiarity and Continuities. Vocabularies and Perception of Affects. VII. Affective Knowledge. Affective Components of Reason. Expanding the Conditions of Knowledge. Relational Knowing. Affects and Cognition. VIII. The Price of Maturity. The Question of Maturity. The Legitimacy of Affects and Moods. Silencing Affects. IX. Toward Affective Literacy. Naming Our Inner States. Cultural Influences. X. Affects and Narratives. Joint Narratives. Narrative Constructions. Psychoanalytic Narratives. XI. Affects and Identity. Affects and Identity in the Psychoanalytic Relation. Empathy and Identity. Reprocessing Our Inner Past. XII. Affects and Indifference. The Question of Indifference. Psychodiversity and "Co-optosis." Preliminaries as Conclusions

Author Biography:

Gemma Corradi Fiumara is Professor of Philosophy at the Third University of Rome, and a training member of the International Psychoanalytic Association. She is the author of The Metaphoric Process: Connection between Language and Life, Routledge 1995

best wishes

Giancarlo Marchetti