Affects Disorders

This chapter explores the phenomenology of affectivity as foundational to the constitution of selfhood, intersubjectivity, and ethical agency. Drawing on Husserl’s later works, this chapter presents a layered model of affective intentionality—comprising interest, value activity, and representational acts—as key to understanding how human beings engage meaningfully with the lifeworld ( Lebenswelt ). The discussion then maps dysfunctions in these affective processes onto three clinical phenomena: alexithymia, borderline personality disorder, and narcissistic personality traits. Each condition is interpreted as a breakdown at a specific level of feeling intentionality, offering a new phenomenological framework for understanding emotional disorders. This chapter proposes integrative approaches combining bodily awareness, narrative reconstruction, and intersubjective engagement to restore access to meaning and ethical life.