Archipelago of the Passions

A student, a teacher, an encounter, an infinite number of conversations. From these exchanges, often wide-ranging, yet always returning to the question of sensibility, of what affects us, of the boundaries (or absence of boundaries) between emotions, their logic and sometimes their confusion, Charlotte Casiraghi and Robert Maggiori conceived the idea of putting into writing what had emerged from their dialogues. It gradually became clear to them that all our states of mind form a constellation of interdependent islets, connected by the magnetic current of desire, which weaves invisible links between them. It is this archipelago that they set out to chart.

The book, which reads like a concise treatise on the passions, is composed of around forty thematic “entries” (Love, Cruelty, Patience, Modesty, Disgust, Adoration, Admiration, Arrogance, Pity, Fraternity, Gentleness, Boredom, Sadness, Jealousy, etc.). Rooted in philosophical knowledge, these entries are accompanied by carefully selected reading recommendations and written in a clear, accessible style.

Robert Maggiori is a philosopher and literary critic at Libération.