ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an introduction to affect theory by surveying its three dominant paradigms: classical rhetoric; cultural studies; and neuroscience. It develops spatially and chronologically across the disciplines from classical antiquity to present day. The chapter focuses upon notable intersections of affect scholarship whose multimodal perspectives offer unique insights into the human condition. It traces the evolution of affect in cultural studies from the rationalist philosophy of Benedict de Spinoza through the post-structural insights of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. The chapter draws Aristotle’s concept of pathos in classical rhetoric. Aristotle expands his insights on emotion in the Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle defines the three categories as follows. First, a feeling refers to “whatever implies pleasure or pain.” Second, a capacity is “what graduate students have when there are said to be capable of the feelings.” Finally, a state refers to graduate students quality of being when experiencing feelings.
