This paper investigates some psychodynamic aspects of a new global class: New Cosmopolitans work ... more This paper investigates some psychodynamic aspects of a new global class: New Cosmopolitans work in highly creative professions that are organized in global networks run in English. Their identities are more influenced by these networks than by ethnic, national, and religious upbringing, and their frame of reference is global. Clinical, sociological, and economic data suggest that it is more difficult for New Cosmopolitans to maintain stable self-esteem, because their frame of reference is global. They suffer more from the existential fear of insignificance associated with mortality, and their existential safety is lowered because they are less rooted in ethnic and national structures. Nevertheless, New Cosmopolitans are a very influential group because of their influence in media, academia, and high-tech, and it is therefore a valuable project to understand their psychodynamic and to investigate implications of their lifestyle and the necessity of using Skype to maintain therapeutic continuity with them.
There is a tension which has been characteristic of psychoanalytic thought since the nineteen twe... more There is a tension which has been characteristic of psychoanalytic thought since the nineteen twenties, and which has increased in the last decades. This tension is not often discussed explicitly, and yet it is unmistakably there. It is manifested in the tone of papers and the narrative structure of case histories. It colours disputes about developmental theory, metapsychology and analytic technique, and it is, I believe, one of the strongest determinants in the heated emotional overtones in many of these disputes. I will call it the tension between the classic and the romantic vision of human reality.
The question whether psychoanalysis is a science and what its relation to science should be has c... more The question whether psychoanalysis is a science and what its relation to science should be has come up time and again. The positions that have been taken were: psychoanalysis is a science, and it is epistemologically autonomous; i.e. it can corroborate its claims about human nature, etiology, human development and mental functioning solely on data generated by the clinical situation. This was Freud's original position, and it was held by most psychoanalysts well into the 1970s.
Psychotherapists generally feel uncomfortable addressing patients' beliefs, particularly religiou... more Psychotherapists generally feel uncomfortable addressing patients' beliefs, particularly religious beliefs, because of the desire to respect client subjectivity and to avoid the abuse of therapeutic authority. This paper's first contention is that at some junctures, investigation of the client's belief structure can be an important catalyst for change, as exemplified by an extended case example. This stance assumes tbat much of the individual and collective damage rigid belief systems infiict derives from tbeir function as a defense against death awareness, as described by terror management theory. Tbe paper develops tbe concept of a therapeutic meta-attitude towards belief, mild Epicureanism, related to tbe classical . Mild Epicureanism means to soften attachments to all belief systems, even therapeutic theories, to lower their potential inhibition of personal growth. The paper presents the argument tbat mild Epicureanism is consistent with most therapeutic approaches, and allows addressing clients' belief without interfering with their right to make up tbeir own minds.
This article presents a psychodynamic hypothesis about a certain type of productive midlife chang... more This article presents a psychodynamic hypothesis about a certain type of productive midlife change often to be observed in creative individuals. This model is called paring down life to the essentials and is connected to the Epicurean tradition. It is exemplified by analyzing the ...
In the last decades psychoanalysis has tended to recast itself as a hermeneutic discipline geared... more In the last decades psychoanalysis has tended to recast itself as a hermeneutic discipline geared at the retelling of human lives, and Freud is recast as a great writer in the humanist tradition rather than as the scientist as which he saw himself. Although this reconceptualization has good reasons, it tends to obscure the fact that Freud primarily saw himself as a theorist of human nature. One of Freud's deepest convictions was that psychopathology needs to be explained on the basis of evolutionary biology. This paper argues that this may have been one of Freud's greatest ideas. The reason it has been "repressed" by psychoanalysis is that Freud based it on Lamarckian principles. The current flourishing of evolutionary psychology and psychiatry may well turn Freud into one of the precursors of the psychology of the future.
proportion of male entrepreneurs tend to experience their fathers as weak, inefficient, abusive, ... more proportion of male entrepreneurs tend to experience their fathers as weak, inefficient, abusive, or absent. "Fatherlessness," as we call this constellation, is, of course, not of itself either a necessary or sufficient condition for entrepreneurship, and even less for successful entrepreneurship. The present paper tries to identify the psychodynamic constellation that allows some entrepreneurs to psychologically deal with the experience of fatherlessness and to transform it into an asset. We do so using Freud's hypothesis that Leonardo da Vinci's extreme independence of mind was one of the predisposing factors to his extreme inquisitiveness and creativity. This model needs to be combined with the insight that fatherlessness is per se harmful. Through detailed case studies it is shown how only those who truly come to terms with fatherlessness can become successful entrepreneurs, whereas those who remain fixated to the rage and disappointment generated by fatherlessness are bound to become what we call selfdestroyers out of unconscious guilt or grandiose dreamers. The paper concludes with some practical advice on how to identify the various types.
Zionism was based on the idea that a New Jew needed to be created, as the Old Diaspora Jew was se... more Zionism was based on the idea that a New Jew needed to be created, as the Old Diaspora Jew was seen as weak, dejected, and self-deprecating. The hypothesis is advanced that the Old Jew remains a split-off part of Israeli identity, which is experienced as threatening, and that psychic wounds often found in Sephardic Jews in Israel reflect the projection of disavowed aspects of the Old Jew by Ashkenazim onto Sephardim. The case example shows how this wider social reality influences transference-countertransference interactions in analytic treatment. The patient's transference love and the therapist's complex countertransference reaction are analyzed not only as individual issues but as reflecting Israeli history and its present social and political reality.
This article's core idea is that body modification can be seen as a nonstandard symbolic expressi... more This article's core idea is that body modification can be seen as a nonstandard symbolic expression of a long-standing project of the enlightenment: to control human destiny, with the dream of conquering death. This idea is based on experimentally validated tenet of existential psychology that the denial of death is one of humanity's deepest motivations. The first highlights a common denominator in the articles by Pitts-Taylor, Sullivan, and Knafo: they courageously oppose the knee-jerk reaction that body modification necessarily entails giving in to social or gender pressure. Instead each proposes refined psychodynamic hypotheses. Knafo's analysis of body artist Orlan is taken as the starting point for an elaboration of this cultural phenomenon as a reflection of the denial of death.
This paper investigates some psychodynamic aspects of a new global class: New Cosmopolitans work ... more This paper investigates some psychodynamic aspects of a new global class: New Cosmopolitans work in highly creative professions that are organized in global networks run in English. Their identities are more influenced by these networks than by ethnic, national, and religious upbringing, and their frame of reference is global. Clinical, sociological, and economic data suggest that it is more difficult for New Cosmopolitans to maintain stable self-esteem, because their frame of reference is global. They suffer more from the existential fear of insignificance associated with mortality, and their existential safety is lowered because they are less rooted in ethnic and national structures. Nevertheless, New Cosmopolitans are a very influential group because of their influence in media, academia, and high-tech, and it is therefore a valuable project to understand their psychodynamic and to investigate implications of their lifestyle and the necessity of using Skype to maintain therapeutic continuity with them.
There is a tension which has been characteristic of psychoanalytic thought since the nineteen twe... more There is a tension which has been characteristic of psychoanalytic thought since the nineteen twenties, and which has increased in the last decades. This tension is not often discussed explicitly, and yet it is unmistakably there. It is manifested in the tone of papers and the narrative structure of case histories. It colours disputes about developmental theory, metapsychology and analytic technique, and it is, I believe, one of the strongest determinants in the heated emotional overtones in many of these disputes. I will call it the tension between the classic and the romantic vision of human reality.
The question whether psychoanalysis is a science and what its relation to science should be has c... more The question whether psychoanalysis is a science and what its relation to science should be has come up time and again. The positions that have been taken were: psychoanalysis is a science, and it is epistemologically autonomous; i.e. it can corroborate its claims about human nature, etiology, human development and mental functioning solely on data generated by the clinical situation. This was Freud's original position, and it was held by most psychoanalysts well into the 1970s.
Psychotherapists generally feel uncomfortable addressing patients' beliefs, particularly religiou... more Psychotherapists generally feel uncomfortable addressing patients' beliefs, particularly religious beliefs, because of the desire to respect client subjectivity and to avoid the abuse of therapeutic authority. This paper's first contention is that at some junctures, investigation of the client's belief structure can be an important catalyst for change, as exemplified by an extended case example. This stance assumes tbat much of the individual and collective damage rigid belief systems infiict derives from tbeir function as a defense against death awareness, as described by terror management theory. Tbe paper develops tbe concept of a therapeutic meta-attitude towards belief, mild Epicureanism, related to tbe classical . Mild Epicureanism means to soften attachments to all belief systems, even therapeutic theories, to lower their potential inhibition of personal growth. The paper presents the argument tbat mild Epicureanism is consistent with most therapeutic approaches, and allows addressing clients' belief without interfering with their right to make up tbeir own minds.
This article presents a psychodynamic hypothesis about a certain type of productive midlife chang... more This article presents a psychodynamic hypothesis about a certain type of productive midlife change often to be observed in creative individuals. This model is called paring down life to the essentials and is connected to the Epicurean tradition. It is exemplified by analyzing the ...
In the last decades psychoanalysis has tended to recast itself as a hermeneutic discipline geared... more In the last decades psychoanalysis has tended to recast itself as a hermeneutic discipline geared at the retelling of human lives, and Freud is recast as a great writer in the humanist tradition rather than as the scientist as which he saw himself. Although this reconceptualization has good reasons, it tends to obscure the fact that Freud primarily saw himself as a theorist of human nature. One of Freud's deepest convictions was that psychopathology needs to be explained on the basis of evolutionary biology. This paper argues that this may have been one of Freud's greatest ideas. The reason it has been "repressed" by psychoanalysis is that Freud based it on Lamarckian principles. The current flourishing of evolutionary psychology and psychiatry may well turn Freud into one of the precursors of the psychology of the future.
proportion of male entrepreneurs tend to experience their fathers as weak, inefficient, abusive, ... more proportion of male entrepreneurs tend to experience their fathers as weak, inefficient, abusive, or absent. "Fatherlessness," as we call this constellation, is, of course, not of itself either a necessary or sufficient condition for entrepreneurship, and even less for successful entrepreneurship. The present paper tries to identify the psychodynamic constellation that allows some entrepreneurs to psychologically deal with the experience of fatherlessness and to transform it into an asset. We do so using Freud's hypothesis that Leonardo da Vinci's extreme independence of mind was one of the predisposing factors to his extreme inquisitiveness and creativity. This model needs to be combined with the insight that fatherlessness is per se harmful. Through detailed case studies it is shown how only those who truly come to terms with fatherlessness can become successful entrepreneurs, whereas those who remain fixated to the rage and disappointment generated by fatherlessness are bound to become what we call selfdestroyers out of unconscious guilt or grandiose dreamers. The paper concludes with some practical advice on how to identify the various types.
Zionism was based on the idea that a New Jew needed to be created, as the Old Diaspora Jew was se... more Zionism was based on the idea that a New Jew needed to be created, as the Old Diaspora Jew was seen as weak, dejected, and self-deprecating. The hypothesis is advanced that the Old Jew remains a split-off part of Israeli identity, which is experienced as threatening, and that psychic wounds often found in Sephardic Jews in Israel reflect the projection of disavowed aspects of the Old Jew by Ashkenazim onto Sephardim. The case example shows how this wider social reality influences transference-countertransference interactions in analytic treatment. The patient's transference love and the therapist's complex countertransference reaction are analyzed not only as individual issues but as reflecting Israeli history and its present social and political reality.
This article's core idea is that body modification can be seen as a nonstandard symbolic expressi... more This article's core idea is that body modification can be seen as a nonstandard symbolic expression of a long-standing project of the enlightenment: to control human destiny, with the dream of conquering death. This idea is based on experimentally validated tenet of existential psychology that the denial of death is one of humanity's deepest motivations. The first highlights a common denominator in the articles by Pitts-Taylor, Sullivan, and Knafo: they courageously oppose the knee-jerk reaction that body modification necessarily entails giving in to social or gender pressure. Instead each proposes refined psychodynamic hypotheses. Knafo's analysis of body artist Orlan is taken as the starting point for an elaboration of this cultural phenomenon as a reflection of the denial of death.
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