Transindividual Affect: Gilbert Simondon's Contribution to a Posthumanist Theory of Emotions

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore how some aspects of Gilbert Simondon's philosophy of individuation may contribute to outlining a posthumanist theory of emotions. According to Simondon, the relation between affection and emotion is a key case study for examining the transindividual character of psychosocial individuation. Affection and emotion appear to him not as a binary opposition, but as an example of a transductive operation. The article suggests the concept of ‘transindividual affect’ as a way of challenging some key dualisms (rationality and emotion; the individual and the collective; emotion and affect). From this perspective, Simondon can contribute to a redefinition of the human from the non-dualistic and non-anthropocentric perspective that characterises critical posthumanism.