Atmosphere and the Pathic Epoché

The concept of atmosphere today has raised the interest of various academic disciplines, including phenomenological philosophy and psychiatry. In this chapter, I will first present the phenomenon of atmosphere (from the Greek ‘atmos’ = “vapour”, and ‘sphaire’ = “sphere”), highlighting its main conceptualizations. The concreteness of this phenomenon is evident, but the problem is that every time we theorize it, somehow, we denature its essence. The most reliable way to appraise atmospheres is to rediscover the field of situationality. Then, through the analysis of the main act of the phenomenological method, the epoché, I will illustrate a peculiar affinity with the phenomenon of atmosphere, exploring the psychopathology of prodromal experiences of psychosis.