Exploring the Life of the Soul: Philosophical Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology PDF
Preview Exploring the Life of the Soul: Philosophical Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology
Exploring the Life of the Soul Exploring the Life of the Soul Philosophical Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology John Hanwell Riker LEXINGTONBOOKS Lanham•Boulder•NewYork•London PublishedbyLexingtonBooks AnimprintofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2017byLexingtonBooks Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataAvailable 978-1-4985-4390-3(cloth:alk.paper) 978-1-4985-4391-0(electronic) TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica ToMarcia Clinician,Classicist,Dancer,Pianist,Mother,Grandmother Brimmingwithwarmth,intelligence,andspirit MyBelovedPartnerinLife Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction:Psychoanalysis,SelfPsychology,andtheHumanistic Tradition xv PartI:PsychoanalysisandtheNatureoftheSelfandSoul 1 1 KnowledgeinPsychoanalysis:CanThereBeaScienceof Subjectivity? 3 2 TheLifeoftheSoul 17 3 Subjectivity,theEgo,andtheSelf 35 4 TheEroticSelf:Plato,Freud,andKohut 55 5 AncientTheologyandContemporarySelfPsychology: Monotheism,Mono-Selfism,andtheTransgressionsof Omnipotence 67 6 EmersonandThoreau:TheSelfinRelationtoNature 79 PartII:SelfPsychology,Culture,andSociety 91 7 Ethics,ModernSociety,andSelfPsychology 93 8 SelfPsychologyandtheProblemoftheOther 113 9 WhatdoHumansNeedtobeHuman?:EconomicSociety,Self Psychology,andtheProblemofSocialJustice 125 10 SelfPsychologyandHistoricalExplanation:TheDeathofGod andtheBirthofImpressionism—FormsandTransformationsof NarcissismintheNineteenthCentury 139 vii viii Contents Conclusion 153 Bibliography 157 Index 161 Preface Icametopsychoanalysisandselfpsychologythroughtwodifferentroutes— thefirstbeingaphilosophicalsearchintoquestionsofethicsandtheseconda therapeuticjourneyintothedepthsofmyownsoul. As I set out on my career as a philosopher at Colorado College, I found myselfintenselyinterestedinthemostfundamentalofethicalquestions,first askedbySocrates:howisitbesttoliveasahumanbeing?Ididnotcometo thisquestioninanabstractway,butanexistentialone,forlikemanygrowing up in the 1950s, I observed that although my parents and many of their friendswerelivingtheprescribedlifestyleforthoseinthemiddleandupper classes,theywerenothappy.Indeed,theamountofrage,alcoholism,abuse, and emptiness I experienced in my childhood let me know that modern economic culture did not have the right answer to the ethical question. I witnessedtoovividlythatmaterialprosperitydidnotnecessarilyequatetoa depth of human satisfaction. If it were not for a profound relation to nature (see chapter 6 for this story), I might not have survived childhood. My unhappiness went underground in later childhood and early adolescence whenIsurprisinglybecamepopularatschoolandintenselyinterestedingirls and sports. However, the Socratic question never left me, and when I found philosophy in college, I knew I had discovered the discipline to which I needed to devote my life. I was going to address with all the depth I could mustertheethicalquestionsthathadhauntedmesincechildhood. The exploration of these questions has turned out to be a lifelong adven- ture. However, while I was probing a promising way of dealing with the questionofhowtolivewellintermsofsituatingitincontemporaryscientific and philosophic understandings of human nature, an event happened that changedeverythinginmylife:Ihadaseverepsychologicalbreakdown.The precipitating cause was the falling apart of my first marriage and with it the ix
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