The Origins of Affect—Normal and Pathological*

I am going to attempt to describe the origins of affect, normal and pathological, with a particular focus on the affects categorized as pleasurable. Selecting one developmental aspect implies that a dualism exists between affect and cognition, soma and psyche. Let us assume for a moment that such a dichotomy could exist — that affect could indeed be teased out of the total personality and examined in isolation. Imagine a world inhabited by human beings whose cognitive functions are otherwise intact but who lack human feelings. Such a world was depicted in the science fiction film, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Humanoid figures which sprouted from seedlings attached themselves by weblike tendrils to sleeping humans. The physical attributes of the people were slowly sucked out of them, feeding the monsters who began to resemble their hosts down to the last birthmark. Leaving behind a desiccated shell, the phenocopy awoke in place of the original, who seemingly went about his daily business. Family and friends noted that something was wrong. The people looked the same but the expression was different; emotion was absent and the eyes were blank. There was no anger! no remorse! no passion! no love! Living in those terms became meaningless, a mockery of life.

The study of emotional behavior, beginning with Plato and