The handbook brings together, for the first time, the diverse traditions of emotion research. It begins with a historical examination of theories of emotion and affect from antiquity to modern times. Following this is a comprehensive overview of central contemporary concepts of emotions, as discussed in psychology and philosophy. Against the background of these concepts and their historical location, the handbook unfolds a comprehensive typology of emotions. Various complexes – such as grief, melancholia, and depression, or joy, happiness, and well-being – are each presented from the viewpoints of different disciplines, including ethnology, philosophy, literary studies, sociology, and psychology. Finally, four essential reference points of the current emotion research are unfolded along key concepts such as language, culture, politics, and media, which transcend the horizon of individual disciplines and are accordingly explored from an interdisciplinary perspective.