Affective Temperaments
This chapter discusses the phenomenology of affective temperaments as well as their subjective nuances and potential pathogenetic trajectories. It first considers the notion that different kinds of temperament are constitutionally based affective-behavioral dispositions, tracing it back to Hippocratic medicine with the theory of the four humors. It then explains how the modern concept of affective temperaments has been operationalized in a clinical descriptive framework. In particular, it explores the works of Emil Kraepelin, Ernst Kretschmer, and Hubertus Tellenbach on affective psychoses, human emotions, and Typus Melancholicus (TM), respectively. The chapter also examines the pathogenic role of TM as a specific personality structure, how despair intervenes in the transition from the pre-melancholic to the melancholic phase, and the status of temperaments within the context of affective phenomenology.