Overview

This book renews interest in the field of narcissism, showing that narcissism can become a crystallization point for theoretical convergence and simplification. It integrates Kohut's ideas with the works of his sometimes overlooked predecessors and contemporaries (especially Federn, Adler, Horney, Sandler) and revives links between psychoanalysis, on the one hand, and ethology, philosophy, and sociology, on the other. Departing from the insight that coevolved intraspecific aggression and appeasement gestures are critically important for social behaviour, the book asserts the need to maintain feelings of safety (narcissistic equilibrium) at the heart of a wide range of normal and psychopathological phenomena. This provides support for an evolutionarily sensible definition of the self and paves the way for a deterministic approach to culture and society.

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9781322966977

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Ralf-Peter Behrendt studied medicine and medical cybernetics at the Russian Medical State University in Moscow, Russia. He trained in psychiatry in Sheffield, UK, and has been working as a consultant in old age psychiatry since 2005. He has published several review articles and book chapters on the pathophysiology of hallucinations in schizophrenia and on mechanisms that underpin consciousness.

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