Practicing good ethics is like exercising each day and/ or like eating a good, calory restricted, healthy, nutritional diet...Tough work...but if you keep practising it more and more, day by day, you become much better, much more proficient at living an ethical, well-balanced lifestyle over time -- just like what it takes to get into a good, steady habit of healthy eating and exercising.
In contrast, practising narcissism is like eating a piece of cake, even worse, gorging on the whole cake, or like eating any and every type of junk food we can get our hands on and put into our mouth...It tastes great, it's easy, it satisfies at least a part of our hedonistic-narcissistic (pleasure-seeking) impulses...but there are not too many good vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fiber and enzymes in what we are eating...most of what we are eating has no nutritional value at all and the older we get, the worse this can become as a health problem, especially as our metabolism slows down, usually exasperated by less and less exercise...
This is not to say that all hedonism and/or narcissism is bad -- because it's not -- our survival depends very much on our narcissistic genetics, biochemistry, and psychology. When our body tells us to eat, we need to eat. And similarly, with the other life-preserving impulses in our mind and body that help to keep us alive, both as individuals and as an ongoing species.
Indeed, like many things in life, narcissism becomes a paradox in our lives -- too much narcissism is not a good thing in our lives but so too is not enough narcissism in our lives.
Healthy aspects of narcissism include: self-assertion, self-confidence, self-awareness, self-propelled action...
Indeed, as humans we are probably largely programmed to be narcissistic unless or until we are taught differently -- or better -- to bring this, and keep this, in proper balance and perspective. Even teaching 'altruism' and 'ethics' and 'morals' does not completely, or even closely, eliminate or minimize our underlying narcissistic impulses. But for a 'civilized person and society' these counter-balancing beliefs and values of such things as altruism, social sensitivity, empathy, caring, love, ethics, morals... are essential in order to make our own lives and the lives of the people around us work properly.
Greed, selfishness, manipulation, corruption, fraud, collusion, abuse of power -- these are some of the different things that happen in our personal, social, business, and political lives when self and social narcissism start to slip and slide downhill and out of control....It becomes harder and harder to restore proper ethical, moral, and legal balance, the greater we let self and social narcissism slide down hill and out of control.
Nature injects us with narcissism. It doesn't really 'inject us' with much 'altruism' or 'ethics' or 'morals' -- these are all mainly culturally, religiously, educationally taught beliefs, values, and skills that take great time, energy, effort, and practice to develop. Like running uphill, in contrast to narcissistic self-absorption that requires little effort, energy, self-discipline...like running down hill with gravity as opposed to against gravity.
Living in a culture, an economy, an environment of 'unbridled narcissism' where narcissism -- like a fast, growing weed -- has 'propelled' itself beyond 'healthy civilian, egalitarian, fair and democratic boundaries', and into the area of 'crime, immorality, and corruption' where everyone develops a mindset of 'He's doing it so why can't I?' Or 'The company I work for or my government is being blatantly narcissistic -- using and abusing money unfairly, even corruptly, so therefore I am going to take certain narcissistic counter-measures as a way of compensating for the way that I am being unfairly treated -- these are the types of things that provide greater and greater 'fertilizer' for a larger and larger 'culture of unbridled narcissism'.
Most notably power corrupts -- unless or until there is some faction of society that says 'Enough is enough. This unbridled narcissism has to stop and brought back to more normal, healthy boundaries. If I don't say or do anything about what is happening here, who is? Everyone is passing the buck, remaining ethically passive, and letting their own ethics slip-slide away in the process...'
In Ontario here, we have a Liberal Government that is bringing in a new 'Harmonization Tax'. What a juxtaposition of words -- 'harmonization' and 'tax'. This is from a Liberal Government that has been audited as basically 'mispending millions if not billions of taxpayers money' in the just recently passed 'EHealth Scandal'. There is no Government Accountability here. If the government 'mis-spends' money -- with a lot of Liberal politicians and lobbyists getting 'quietly rich' in the process -- the government just shrugs its shoulders, perhaps offers one politician as a 'sacrifical lamb' (even though I am sure she has already made enough money off of Ehealth to retire for the rest of her life) -- and waits for the scandal to pass. Then they introduce the 'Harmonization Tax'.
As citizens of Ontario, we are far too passive not to mention probably mainly ignorant of the full extent of what this new tax is fully going to mean. We just shrug our shoulders and basically let the politicians get away with 'narcissistic mayhem'. Similarily to what happened on Wall Street. Unbridled and unethical narcissism permeates our culture like the dandelions in my front and back yard a few years ago. It took a lot of digging, over and over and over again, to get rid of most of these weeds. It still didn't get rid of them all.
I can't say that I am any type of 'ethical saint'. How many of us can? But there comes a point where narcissism eventually will destroy all semblence of what it means to be a 'civilized nation'.
Cultural narcissm propogates individual narcissism, and individual narcissism in turn propogates cultural narcissism. The two are 'dialectically entwined'. Without cultural and individual ethics counter-balancing the combined force of cultural and individual narcissism taking us all on a fast or slow roller coaster ride to self-destruction, bad things start to happen like we are seeing in the current recession. As a whole, we are all suffering from the malaise of personal and cultural narcissism destroying the ethical and economic balance in our society. We need more 'win-win' solutions -- not 'me-me', 'I win, you lose' solutions...In the end, we all lose...
One only has to go back and read some of Thomas Jefferson's quotes about how 'power corrupts'...and all of the other Enlightenment Philosophers -- John Locke, Diderot, Voltaire, Tom Paine, Montesquieu...to read how much work and effort has to be continually exercised in order to keep unethical power and narcissism out of government agencies and processes not to mention businesses... to fully understand that we cannot let this type of thing slide without drastic consequences eventually hitting us all...like the collapse of the major financial institutions on Wall Street and their essentially being 'rewarded' afterwards for their ethical and/or legal transgressions at the individual and collective expense of the rest of us, many of us who are fighting for our very economical survival...
Let me close with a few of the quotes that I mean...
...............................................................................................................................................
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Thomas Jefferson
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
Thomas Jefferson
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Thomas Jefferson
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Thomas Jefferson
An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.
Thomas Jefferson
Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto.
Thomas Jefferson
Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.
Thomas Jefferson
Delay is preferable to error.
Thomas Jefferson
Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
Thomas Jefferson
Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.
Thomas Jefferson
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
Thomas Jefferson
Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.
Thomas Jefferson
Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Thomas Jefferson
Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.
Thomas Jefferson
Every generation needs a new revolution.
Thomas Jefferson
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Thomas Jefferson
Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
Thomas Jefferson
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson
Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.
Thomas Jefferson
For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.
Thomas Jefferson
Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism.
Thomas Jefferson
Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind.
Thomas Jefferson
He who knows best knows how little he knows.
Thomas Jefferson
He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.
Thomas Jefferson
...........................................................................................................................
-- dgb, Nov. 14th-16th, 2009.
-- David Gordon Bain,
-- Democracy Goes Beyond Narcisism
-- Dialectic Gap-Bridging Negotiations...
-- Are Still in Process....
Monday, November 16, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
On The Origin and Partial History of The Term 'Narcissism'
In this essay, I will explore some of the roots and history of the concept of narcissism -- and my own theory of narcissism as it applies to Gap Philosophy.
Narcissism is both a good and bad thing -- and we cannot escape it because narcissism is 'hard-wired' into human nature. By 'narcissism', I am referring to a combination of 'selfishness', 'hedonism', 'egotism', and 'self-centredness'. We will call these the four 'cornerstones' of narcissism.
Kids don't need to 'learn' to be selfish. They just are -- until they are taught to keep their narcissism (selfishness and self-centredness)in check. They need to be taught 'manners', 'ethics', 'morals', 'sharing', 'giving', 'fairness', 'loving' and the like...because if they aren't then they never will. Both 'pampering' and 'neglect' can promote narcissism. A 'healthy' child is a child that learns a good balance between 'soft' and 'tough' love....'soft love' comes from 'compassion' and 'encouragement', 'tough love' comes form 'accountability'. There's no such thing as a 'perfect parent' any more than there is a 'perfect child'. We all try to teach 'balance' -- as well as achieve it ourselves -- but the pendulum is always swinging back and forth without really coming to a rest in the middle (at least until we are dead).
Similarily, in history you can find a 'prevalence of narcissism' in every generation in one form or another -- and/or 'overcompensation' against narcissism which can be just as bad. When there is too much 'suppression', 'denial' and/or 'repression' of narcissism -- narcissism always finds a way to 'leak out' in the form of 'acting out' and 'symptoms'. On the other side of the coin, too much open, unbridled narcissism in a society can lead to a breakdown or self-destruction of a society (the fall of the Roman Empire).
Two of the philosophers who wrote the most on the prevalence and dangers of narcissism -- even though they didn't call it that -- were Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) who wrote that 'civil' life in a society would be 'savagery' (Lord of the Flies) without a strong government, strong police force, and strong army that is able to 'keep in check' and 'under control' all uncivil acts (of narcissism) -- Hobbes's account of human nature as self-interested (narcissistic) cooperation has proved to be an enduring theory in the field of philosophical anthropology; and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) -- the ultimate philosopher of pessimism who wrote essentially that life was essentially evil, futile, and full of suffering. (He also had the arrogance and gall to schedule his lectures at the same time as Hegel. Scopenhauer despised Hegel -- who presumably, he thought was 'too idealistic', 'too 'wishful thinking' and had to much of his 'head in the clouds' to see what was happening in the 'real world' (of suffering and savagery).
It is easy to try to equate 'narcissism' with Capitalism but that is not an equal equation because some of the most 'savage narcissists' have been 'socialists and/or communists' (Lenin, Stalin). Similarily, it is easy to say that the main fight of 'religion' is against 'human greed and narcissism' but that equation doesn't completely fit either because some of the 'greediest and most narcissistic acts' were committed by the Roman Catholic Church at the height of its power -- and of course other religions too that get caught up in their own 'power and greed'.
The origin of the term 'narcissism' came from Havelock Ellis...
Henry Havelock Ellis (February 2, 1859 - July 8, 1939), known as Havelock Ellis, was a British doctor, sexual psychologist and social reformer.
He described 'narcissism' as a type of 'sexual disorder' where a person is more or less 'in love with themselves' -- the name 'Narcissius' coming from ancient Greek mythology...
Found on the internet...
......................................................
Re: Echo and Narcissius
posted by WolfKing on 3/18/03 11:17 PM
Narcissius was a handsome young man that every woman fawned over. Narcissius was so handsome that he felt there was no comparison for his beauty and he often ignored his would be lovers or told them to leave him alone. Well Echo was a Nymph who fell in love with Narcissius, who had gotten into trouble with Hera a while back. On an expidition to find out which of the nymphs was Zeus' latest love, Hera found herself diverted by Echo's chatter until all the nymphs had fled. As a result, Hera was annoyed with Echo and herself and doomed Echo by decreeing that she [Echo] would not be able to say one word on her own. She would have to repeat the last few words of what another person had said.
Of course this wouldn't help Echo one bit in her pursuit of Narcissius. Now she could only repeat the words that he spoke to her, which were basically, "Go away" or "Leave me alone". Eventually Echo became saddened and embarassed by her situation that she hid herself in a mountain and to this day repeats the last words of travelers who speak into caves.
Narciuss, meanwhile, had found somebody that he could love. While peering into a pool of clear water he spotted his own reflection, and not realizing that it was only his reflection, reached down into the water to try to touch the beautiful face and he drowned. (In another version of the story Narcissius looked into a pool of clear water, and seeing his own reflection realized that the only person he could ever love was himself. And he died of a broken heart.)
I remember reading this from a book called "Greek Myths: Gods, Heroes and Monsters" by Ellen Switzer and Costas. I hope that helped you out.
.......................................................
Freud borrowed Ellis' concept of narcissism and made it a central part of his theory -- Psychoananlysis -- and it is from Freud that I in turn borrowed the concept and made it central to my own philosophical theorizing.
There is no corner of human thought, feeling, and behavior that the concept and subject of 'narcissism' does not touch. For those of my less experienced philosophy and psychology readers, if you are having trouble getting your brain and your lips around the word 'narcissism', then let me associate it with a word that I am sure you are much more familiar with. 'Selfishness'. So that is your starting point -- your basepoint of recognition and meaning, relative to the term narcissism. However, that is only the starting point of how I intend to use the term narcissism. For those of you who may have read much Psychoanalysis, you will know that Sigmund Freud came to use the term 'narcissism' as one of the centrepoints of his philosophical and psychological investigation, process, and system. And so it is with me. I will acknowledge my debt to Freud and indirectly, to Havelock Ellis,, who influenced Freud and created the term 'narcissism'.
dgb, Jan. 16th, 2007.
Narcissism is both a good and bad thing -- and we cannot escape it because narcissism is 'hard-wired' into human nature. By 'narcissism', I am referring to a combination of 'selfishness', 'hedonism', 'egotism', and 'self-centredness'. We will call these the four 'cornerstones' of narcissism.
Kids don't need to 'learn' to be selfish. They just are -- until they are taught to keep their narcissism (selfishness and self-centredness)in check. They need to be taught 'manners', 'ethics', 'morals', 'sharing', 'giving', 'fairness', 'loving' and the like...because if they aren't then they never will. Both 'pampering' and 'neglect' can promote narcissism. A 'healthy' child is a child that learns a good balance between 'soft' and 'tough' love....'soft love' comes from 'compassion' and 'encouragement', 'tough love' comes form 'accountability'. There's no such thing as a 'perfect parent' any more than there is a 'perfect child'. We all try to teach 'balance' -- as well as achieve it ourselves -- but the pendulum is always swinging back and forth without really coming to a rest in the middle (at least until we are dead).
Similarily, in history you can find a 'prevalence of narcissism' in every generation in one form or another -- and/or 'overcompensation' against narcissism which can be just as bad. When there is too much 'suppression', 'denial' and/or 'repression' of narcissism -- narcissism always finds a way to 'leak out' in the form of 'acting out' and 'symptoms'. On the other side of the coin, too much open, unbridled narcissism in a society can lead to a breakdown or self-destruction of a society (the fall of the Roman Empire).
Two of the philosophers who wrote the most on the prevalence and dangers of narcissism -- even though they didn't call it that -- were Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) who wrote that 'civil' life in a society would be 'savagery' (Lord of the Flies) without a strong government, strong police force, and strong army that is able to 'keep in check' and 'under control' all uncivil acts (of narcissism) -- Hobbes's account of human nature as self-interested (narcissistic) cooperation has proved to be an enduring theory in the field of philosophical anthropology; and Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) -- the ultimate philosopher of pessimism who wrote essentially that life was essentially evil, futile, and full of suffering. (He also had the arrogance and gall to schedule his lectures at the same time as Hegel. Scopenhauer despised Hegel -- who presumably, he thought was 'too idealistic', 'too 'wishful thinking' and had to much of his 'head in the clouds' to see what was happening in the 'real world' (of suffering and savagery).
It is easy to try to equate 'narcissism' with Capitalism but that is not an equal equation because some of the most 'savage narcissists' have been 'socialists and/or communists' (Lenin, Stalin). Similarily, it is easy to say that the main fight of 'religion' is against 'human greed and narcissism' but that equation doesn't completely fit either because some of the 'greediest and most narcissistic acts' were committed by the Roman Catholic Church at the height of its power -- and of course other religions too that get caught up in their own 'power and greed'.
The origin of the term 'narcissism' came from Havelock Ellis...
Henry Havelock Ellis (February 2, 1859 - July 8, 1939), known as Havelock Ellis, was a British doctor, sexual psychologist and social reformer.
He described 'narcissism' as a type of 'sexual disorder' where a person is more or less 'in love with themselves' -- the name 'Narcissius' coming from ancient Greek mythology...
Found on the internet...
......................................................
Re: Echo and Narcissius
posted by WolfKing on 3/18/03 11:17 PM
Narcissius was a handsome young man that every woman fawned over. Narcissius was so handsome that he felt there was no comparison for his beauty and he often ignored his would be lovers or told them to leave him alone. Well Echo was a Nymph who fell in love with Narcissius, who had gotten into trouble with Hera a while back. On an expidition to find out which of the nymphs was Zeus' latest love, Hera found herself diverted by Echo's chatter until all the nymphs had fled. As a result, Hera was annoyed with Echo and herself and doomed Echo by decreeing that she [Echo] would not be able to say one word on her own. She would have to repeat the last few words of what another person had said.
Of course this wouldn't help Echo one bit in her pursuit of Narcissius. Now she could only repeat the words that he spoke to her, which were basically, "Go away" or "Leave me alone". Eventually Echo became saddened and embarassed by her situation that she hid herself in a mountain and to this day repeats the last words of travelers who speak into caves.
Narciuss, meanwhile, had found somebody that he could love. While peering into a pool of clear water he spotted his own reflection, and not realizing that it was only his reflection, reached down into the water to try to touch the beautiful face and he drowned. (In another version of the story Narcissius looked into a pool of clear water, and seeing his own reflection realized that the only person he could ever love was himself. And he died of a broken heart.)
I remember reading this from a book called "Greek Myths: Gods, Heroes and Monsters" by Ellen Switzer and Costas. I hope that helped you out.
.......................................................
Freud borrowed Ellis' concept of narcissism and made it a central part of his theory -- Psychoananlysis -- and it is from Freud that I in turn borrowed the concept and made it central to my own philosophical theorizing.
There is no corner of human thought, feeling, and behavior that the concept and subject of 'narcissism' does not touch. For those of my less experienced philosophy and psychology readers, if you are having trouble getting your brain and your lips around the word 'narcissism', then let me associate it with a word that I am sure you are much more familiar with. 'Selfishness'. So that is your starting point -- your basepoint of recognition and meaning, relative to the term narcissism. However, that is only the starting point of how I intend to use the term narcissism. For those of you who may have read much Psychoanalysis, you will know that Sigmund Freud came to use the term 'narcissism' as one of the centrepoints of his philosophical and psychological investigation, process, and system. And so it is with me. I will acknowledge my debt to Freud and indirectly, to Havelock Ellis,, who influenced Freud and created the term 'narcissism'.
dgb, Jan. 16th, 2007.
Words and Their Meaning: Example -- 'Narcissism'
I don't think anyone has ever really looked at words from this light before but words are an ongoing process of 'dialectical negotiations, integrations, and compromises'. In this regard, words evolve too -- just like animals, people, cultures, and ideas... Indeed, words have to evolve to keep up with a constantly changing world.
In this regard, words have both a 'narcissistic' and a 'social' function -- and they are 'compromise-formations' aimed at meeting both functions at the same time. In this regard also, words have both a range and focus of different 'narcissistic meanings' for the same and different people; and at the same time, they have a range and focus of different 'social meanings' that are used within a particular 'social context' depending on the particular culture and/or sub-culture, the country, the region, the municipality, the community, the sub-community, the school of kids, the gang, etc. Meanings can change significantly within all of these different social contexts -- and within the context of one particular person using one particular word in one particular sentence and paragraph at one particular time. When it comes to the meaning of words -- narcissistic and social context means everything.
This is why you have politicians, sports athletes, entertainers, public speakers and the like constantly complaining about 'sound bites' -- and the assertion that they have been taken 'out of context'. The politiciaan, athlete, actor, or public speaker may have a particular message he or she wishes to convey to the community -- the particular journalist may or may not have an 'underhanded agenda to create a provocative, controversial story' -- and the public figure is left 'crying foul' after the story has been written and/or the newsclip is shown on tv, Now partly or mainly, the 'communication problem' may be of the speaker's own making -- a careless use of words, an easy to draw inference from something a speaker seems to be implying (I am thinking about Hillary Clinton's reference to Robert Kennedy's assassination), a 'joke' that is not funny and/or that is alluding to but partly hiding a serious statement beneath it, an abstract word or sentence that can be taken in more than one way..and so on..
Freud may use the word 'narcissism', Kohut may use the word narcissism, I may use the word narcissism -- and it can be practically guaranteed that we will all have a partly similar, partly different, range and focus of meaning for this word -- and again, meaning in each of our individual cases will be 'contextually bound'. We may mean one thing by it in a particular sentence, and something else, slightly or significantly different in a different sentence, a different paragraph, a different essay. There will likely be a particular range of social meaning that will bind all of these individual meanings together into 'one house of social meaning' if you will but within this one house of social menaing it is still very appropriate and relevant to ask the questions: What does Freud mean by 'narcissism'? What does Kohut mena by narcissism? What does Bain mean by 'narcissism'? And what does Freud or Kohut or Bain mean by 'narcissism' in this particular context here? These are all very relevant questions when it comes to the relationship between words and meaning...
Sticking to the same word and its meaning -- narcissism --
we could again quite appropriately and significantly ask the question(s):
Does narcissism include the 'word-concept-phenomenon' (wcp) of 'hedonism'? 'Pleasure'? 'Assertiveness'? 'Aggressiveness'? 'Sensuality'? 'Sexuality'? 'Selfishness'? 'Egotism'? 'Greed'? 'Power'? 'Revenge'? 'Sadism'? The 'pursuit of money'? . 'Survival'?
In every case, I would answer -- 'yes'. But here is the kicker -- Freud and Kohut would probably each answer partly differently.
Is 'altruism' narcissistic? No -- unless it involves 'conditional giving'. Is 'approval-seeking' narcissistic? Perhaps partly. There may be a sense in which we may believe that we 'need' another person's approval in order to 'survive' or in order to get what we want. The same argument can be applied to both 'submission' and 'masochism'. A person may 'submit' because he or she thinks submission is necessary in order to survive -- or to keep one's husband or wife, or to keep one's job. And the same goes at least partly with 'masochism'. Masochism is a complicated subject addressed by Freud. I would have to go back over the material but it is most likely that I will express some agreements with Freud on this subject matter and some disaggrements. I can say right now that I believe that masochism presents a mixture of narcissistic and anti-narcissistic processes. There may be pleasure connected to the masochism. That is narcissistic. There usually involves the 'disownment' of self-assertiveness, self-integrity in masochism. That is 'anti-narcissistic'. Thus, masochism presents a mixture of narcissistic and anti-narcissistic activities.
Obviously, this discussion here is equally relevant to the subject of both 'words and meaning' -- and to the subject of 'narcissism'.
In my opinion, there is a responsibility on the part of both the writer and the reader, the speaker and the listener, to engage in these types of questions -- and their answers in order to clean up the possibility of 'referent confucsion' -- of not knowing what 'phenomenon' a word is referring to, and/or two people having different ideas, different phenomena, in mind when they use the same word.
Coming down the abstraction ladder -- and if necessary -- pointing at the 'real world phenomenon' we are talking about (see Korzybski, Wittgenstein) can significantly reduce this very common type of communication problem.
-- dgb, June 1st, 2008.
In this regard, words have both a 'narcissistic' and a 'social' function -- and they are 'compromise-formations' aimed at meeting both functions at the same time. In this regard also, words have both a range and focus of different 'narcissistic meanings' for the same and different people; and at the same time, they have a range and focus of different 'social meanings' that are used within a particular 'social context' depending on the particular culture and/or sub-culture, the country, the region, the municipality, the community, the sub-community, the school of kids, the gang, etc. Meanings can change significantly within all of these different social contexts -- and within the context of one particular person using one particular word in one particular sentence and paragraph at one particular time. When it comes to the meaning of words -- narcissistic and social context means everything.
This is why you have politicians, sports athletes, entertainers, public speakers and the like constantly complaining about 'sound bites' -- and the assertion that they have been taken 'out of context'. The politiciaan, athlete, actor, or public speaker may have a particular message he or she wishes to convey to the community -- the particular journalist may or may not have an 'underhanded agenda to create a provocative, controversial story' -- and the public figure is left 'crying foul' after the story has been written and/or the newsclip is shown on tv, Now partly or mainly, the 'communication problem' may be of the speaker's own making -- a careless use of words, an easy to draw inference from something a speaker seems to be implying (I am thinking about Hillary Clinton's reference to Robert Kennedy's assassination), a 'joke' that is not funny and/or that is alluding to but partly hiding a serious statement beneath it, an abstract word or sentence that can be taken in more than one way..and so on..
Freud may use the word 'narcissism', Kohut may use the word narcissism, I may use the word narcissism -- and it can be practically guaranteed that we will all have a partly similar, partly different, range and focus of meaning for this word -- and again, meaning in each of our individual cases will be 'contextually bound'. We may mean one thing by it in a particular sentence, and something else, slightly or significantly different in a different sentence, a different paragraph, a different essay. There will likely be a particular range of social meaning that will bind all of these individual meanings together into 'one house of social meaning' if you will but within this one house of social menaing it is still very appropriate and relevant to ask the questions: What does Freud mean by 'narcissism'? What does Kohut mena by narcissism? What does Bain mean by 'narcissism'? And what does Freud or Kohut or Bain mean by 'narcissism' in this particular context here? These are all very relevant questions when it comes to the relationship between words and meaning...
Sticking to the same word and its meaning -- narcissism --
we could again quite appropriately and significantly ask the question(s):
Does narcissism include the 'word-concept-phenomenon' (wcp) of 'hedonism'? 'Pleasure'? 'Assertiveness'? 'Aggressiveness'? 'Sensuality'? 'Sexuality'? 'Selfishness'? 'Egotism'? 'Greed'? 'Power'? 'Revenge'? 'Sadism'? The 'pursuit of money'? . 'Survival'?
In every case, I would answer -- 'yes'. But here is the kicker -- Freud and Kohut would probably each answer partly differently.
Is 'altruism' narcissistic? No -- unless it involves 'conditional giving'. Is 'approval-seeking' narcissistic? Perhaps partly. There may be a sense in which we may believe that we 'need' another person's approval in order to 'survive' or in order to get what we want. The same argument can be applied to both 'submission' and 'masochism'. A person may 'submit' because he or she thinks submission is necessary in order to survive -- or to keep one's husband or wife, or to keep one's job. And the same goes at least partly with 'masochism'. Masochism is a complicated subject addressed by Freud. I would have to go back over the material but it is most likely that I will express some agreements with Freud on this subject matter and some disaggrements. I can say right now that I believe that masochism presents a mixture of narcissistic and anti-narcissistic processes. There may be pleasure connected to the masochism. That is narcissistic. There usually involves the 'disownment' of self-assertiveness, self-integrity in masochism. That is 'anti-narcissistic'. Thus, masochism presents a mixture of narcissistic and anti-narcissistic activities.
Obviously, this discussion here is equally relevant to the subject of both 'words and meaning' -- and to the subject of 'narcissism'.
In my opinion, there is a responsibility on the part of both the writer and the reader, the speaker and the listener, to engage in these types of questions -- and their answers in order to clean up the possibility of 'referent confucsion' -- of not knowing what 'phenomenon' a word is referring to, and/or two people having different ideas, different phenomena, in mind when they use the same word.
Coming down the abstraction ladder -- and if necessary -- pointing at the 'real world phenomenon' we are talking about (see Korzybski, Wittgenstein) can significantly reduce this very common type of communication problem.
-- dgb, June 1st, 2008.
On Narcissism -- From Wikipedia
Narcissism (psychology)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the psychiatric condition of narcissism. For narcissism in the generic sense , see Narcissism.
Narcissus, the Greek hero after whom narcissism is named, became obsessed with his own reflection.The term narcissism means love of oneself, and refers to the set of character traits concerned with self-admiration, self-centeredness and self-regard. The name was chosen by Sigmund Freud, from the Greek myth of Narcissus, who was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.
While almost everyone is narcissistic to some degree, certain forms of narcissism can be highly dysfunctional, and are classified as pathologies such as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder and malignant narcissism. Psychopathy, as defined by the PCL-R, also contains a narcissistic factor [1].
Contents [hide]
1 Narcissism as defined by Psychiatry
2 In The Beginning - The Psychoanalysts
2.1 Freud
2.2 The Freudian Theory of Narcissism
2.2.1 Primary narcissism
2.2.2 Secondary narcissism
2.2.3 Narcissism, relationships and self worth
3 Karen Horney
4 Heinz Kohut
5 Otto Kernberg
6 Other forms of narcissism
6.1 Acquired situational narcissism
6.2 Sexual narcissism
6.3 Narcissistic style
6.4 Disordered narcissism
7 Commonly used measures of narcissism
7.1 Narcissistic Personality Inventory
7.2 The MCMI
8 Heritability of narcissism utilizing twin studies
9 Healthy Narcissism
9.1 What is Healthy Narcissism?
9.2 Healthy Narcissism: a required element within normal development
9.3 Healthy narcissism in relation to the pathological condition
10 References
11 See also
12 External links
[edit] Narcissism as defined by Psychiatry
This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Narcissism is a term first used in relation to human thought and behavior by the Austrian physician and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud.
Narcissism is a set of character traits concerned with self-admiration, self-centeredness and self-regard.
Everyone has some narcissistic traits. However, narcissism can also manifest in an extreme pathological form in some personality disorders such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder wherein the patient overestimates his abilities and has an excessive need for admiration and affirmation. This may be present to such a degree that it severely damages the person's ability to live a productive or happy life because the traits manifest as severe selfishness and disregard for the needs and feelings of others.
[edit] In The Beginning - The Psychoanalysts
[edit] Freud
Sigmund FreudMain article: Sigmund Freud
The Austrian physician Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), a neurologist turned psychiatrist, introduced the concept of narcissism in his 1914 essay On Narcissism: An Introduction[2].
[edit] The Freudian Theory of Narcissism
[edit] Primary narcissism
In his essay, 'On Narcissism: An Introduction', Freud suggested that exclusive self-love might not be as abnormal as previously thought, and might even be a common component in the human psyche. He argued that narcissism "is the libidinal compliment to the egoism of the instinct of self-preservation", or, more simply, the desire and energy that drives our instinct to survive. He called this: Primary Narcissism.
According to Freud we are not born with a sense of ourselves as individuals, or ego. The ego only develops during infancy and the early part of childhood, as the outside world, usually in the form of parental controls and expectations, intrudes upon primary narcissism, teaching the individual about the nature and standards of his social environment from which he can form the ideal ego, an image of the perfect self towards which the ego should aspire.
Freud regarded all libidinous drives as fundamentally sexual and suggested that ego libido (libido directed inwards to the self) cannot always be clearly distinguished from object-libido (libido directed to persons or objects outside of ourselves).
An aspect frequently associated with Primary Narcissism appears in an earlier essay, 'Totem and Taboo'.[3] where he describes his observations of children and primitive people, which he called "magical thinking". An example of magical thinking would be believing that you can have an effect on reality by wishing or willpower. This demonstrates a belief in the self as powerful and able to change external realities, which Freud believed was part of normal human development.
[edit] Secondary narcissism
According to Freud, secondary narcissism is a pathological condition which occurs when the libido withdraws from objects outside of the self. Freud further claimed that it is an extreme form of the narcissism that is part of all of us.
[edit] Narcissism, relationships and self worth
According to Freud, to care for someone is to convert ego-libido into object-libido by giving some self-love to another person, which leaves less ego-libido available for primary narcissism and protecting and nurturing the self. When that affection is returned so is the libido, thus restoring primary narcissism and self worth. Any failure to achieve, or disruption of, this balance causes psychological disturbances. In such a case primary narcissism can only be restored by withdrawing object-libido (also called, object-love), to replenish ego-libido.
According to Freud, as a child grows, and his ego develops, he is constantly giving of his self-love to people and objects, the first of which is usually his mother. This diminished self-love should be replenished by the affection and caring returned to him.
[edit] Karen Horney
Main article: Karen Horney
Karen HorneyGerman physician and psychiatrist Karen Horney (1885-1952) began to develop her own theory of psychoanalysis in the late 1930s. Though acknowledging Freud as the founder of psychoanalysis, she was critical of his work, arguing that personality was shaped mainly by social, cultural, and environmental factors. She felt that Freud was wrong to assume that the relationships, attitudes, and feelings common in his culture and times were largely driven by biological factors and could be applied universally.
Horney saw narcissism quite differently from Freud, Kohut, and other mainstream psychoanalytic theorists in that she did not posit a primary narcissism but saw the narcissistic personality as the product of a certain kind of early environment acting on a certain kind of temperament. For her, narcissistic needs and tendencies are not inherent in human nature.
Narcissism is different from her other major defensive strategies or solutions in that it is not compensatory. Self-idealization is compensatory in her theory, but it differs from narcissism. All of the defensive strategies involve self-idealization, but in the narcissistic solution it tends to be the product of indulgence rather than of deprivation. The narcissist's self-esteem is shaky, however, because it is not based on genuine accomplishments.[4]
[edit] Heinz Kohut
Main article: Heinz Kohut
Viennese physician and psychiatrist Heinz Kohut, M.D. (1913 - 1981) is best known for his development of Self Psychology, a school of thought within psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory.
Kohut explored further the implications of Freud's perception of narcissism.
He said that a child will tend to fantasize about having a grandiose self and ideal parents. He claimed that deep down we all retain a belief in our own perfection, and the perfection of anything we are part of, as we mature, grandiosity gives way to self-esteem, and the idealization of the parent become the framework for core values. It is when trauma disrupts this process that the most primitive and narcissistic version of the self remains unchanged. Kohut called this condition Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
He suggested narcissism as part of a stage in normal development, in which caregivers provide a strong and protective presence for the child to identify with that reinforces the child's growing sense of self by mirroring his good qualities. If the caregivers fail to provide this adequately, the child grows up with a brittle and flawed sense of self.[5]
He also saw beyond the negative and pathological aspects of narcissism, believing it to be a component in the development of resilience, ideals and ambition once it has been transformed by life experiences or analysis.[6]
[edit] Otto Kernberg
Main article: Otto Kernberg
Otto Kernberg uses the term Narcissism to refer to the role of self in the regulation of self esteem.
He regarded normal, infantile Narcissism to be dependent on the affirmation of others and the acquisition of desirable and appealing objects, which should later develop into healthy, mature, self-esteem. This healthy Narcissism depends upon an integrated sense of self that incorporates images of the internalised affirmation of those close to us, that is regulated by the super ego and ego ideal, internal mental structures that assure us of our worth and that we deserve our own respect.
When infantile Narcissism fails to develop in this healthy adult form, it becomes a pathology.[7]
[edit] Other forms of narcissism
[edit] Acquired situational narcissism
Acquired Situational Narcissism is a form of narcissism that develops in late adolescence or adulthood, brought on by wealth, fame and the other trappings of celebrity. It was coined by Robert B. Millman, professor of psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
ASN differs from conventional narcissism in that it develops after childhood and is triggered and supported by the celebrity-obsessed society: fans, assistants and tabloid media all play into the idea that the person really is vastly more important than other people, triggering a narcissistic problem that might have been only a tendency, or latent, and helping it to become a full-blown personality disorder.
In its presentation and symptoms, it is indistinguishable from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, differing only in its late onset and its support by large numbers of others. The person with ASN may suffer from unstable relationships, substance abuse and erratic behaviour.
A famous fictional character with ASN is Norma Desmond, the main character of Sunset Boulevard.
[edit] Sexual narcissism
Sexual narcissism is the erotic preoccupation with oneself as a sexual being: a desire to merge sexually with a mirror image of oneself. Sexual narcissism can also be an egocentric pattern of sexual behavior, defined by David Farley Hurlbert and Carol Apt[8] as an inability to experience intimacy combined with a fixation on the sexual act, using high sexual esteem to compensate for low general self esteem. This is believed to be more common in men than in women and is suggested to be the basis of sex addiction.
[edit] Narcissistic style
Johnson [9] discusses Narcissism as constituting a spectrum, from a severe disorder with much in common with borderline personality disorder, to a much less severe, high-functioning form he calls "the narcissistic style."
"People who have a narcissistic personality style rather than narcissistic personality disorder are relatively psychologically healthy, but may at times be arrogant, proud, shrewd, confident, self-centered and determined to be at the top. They may not, however, have an unrealistic image of their skills and worth and are not so strongly dependent on praise to sustain a healthy self-esteem." [10]
[edit] Disordered narcissism
Main article: Narcissistic personality disorder
Lack of empathy is a hallmark of narcissistic disorders, and sufferers find it extremely difficult to understand others' (and their own) emotional states and impact. This makes maintaining close or intimate relationships significantly harder. They may find it difficult to perceive or admit this, or may interpret it as a virtue.[citation needed]
It is also worth noting that the individual expressions of grandiosity or arrogance vary with the person's value system. A person will generally attempt to display superiority as they define it.[citation needed]
Overreacts to criticism, becoming angry or humiliated
Uses others to reach goals
Exaggerates own importance
Entertains unrealistic fantasies about achievements, power, beauty, intelligence or romance
Has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
Seeks constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
Is easily jealous [11]
Has a sense of entitlement
Is exploitative of others
Lacks empathy
Displays arrogant and proud behavior
Displays haughty behavior[citation needed]
[edit] Commonly used measures of narcissism
[edit] Narcissistic Personality Inventory
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is the most widely used measure of narcissism in social psychological research. Although several versions of the NPI have been proposed in the literature, a 40-item forced-choice version (Raskin & Terry, 1988) is the one most commonly employed in current research. The NPI is based on the DSM-III clinical criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), although it was designed to measure these features in the general population. Thus, the NPI is often said to measure "normal" or "sub-clinical" narcissism (i.e., people who score very high on the NPI do not necessarily meet criteria for diagnosis with NPD).
Because the NPI was originally based on DSM criteria for NPD, there has been much research on its factor structure. Raskin and Terry (1988) identified seven factors of the NPI (i.e., superiority, exhibitionism, entitlement, vanity, authority, exploitativeness and self-sufficiency), mapping roughly onto the DSM criteria for NPD. Since then, several studies have further examined the factor structure of the NPI with varying results. For example, some studies report three factors, some report 4 factors. Furthermore, it is often the case that factors of the NPI exhibit very low internal consistency (although the full scale exhibits acceptable reliability). Thus, it may currently be concluded that the factor structure of the NPI is unknown.
Research has found that people who score high on the NPI are more likely to: cheat and game-play in relationships; take more resources for themselves and leave less for others; value material things; like looking at themselves in the mirror. NPI scores are higher in recent generations.
[edit] The MCMI
The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) is a widely-used diagnostic test developed by Theodore Millon. The MCMI includes a scale for Narcissism. Auerbach JS ("Validation of two scales for narcissistic personality disorder", J Pers Assess. 1984 Dec;48(6):649-53. [1]) compared the NPI and MCMI, and found them well correlated, r(146) = .55, p<.001. However, it should be noted that whereas the MCMI measures Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), the NPI measures narcissism as it occurs in the general population. In other words, the NPI measures "normal" narcissism; i.e., most people who score very high on the NPI do not have NPD. Indeed, the NPI does not capture any sort of narcissism taxon as would be expected if it measured NPD.[12]
[edit] Heritability of narcissism utilizing twin studies
Livesley et al. (1993) published a paper entitled Genetic and environmental contributions to dimensions of personality disorder, which concluded, in agreement with other studies, that narcissism as measured by a standardized test was a common inherited trait. Additionally, in similar agreement with those other studies, it was found that there exists a continuum between normal and disordered personality.
The study subjects were 175 volunteer twin pairs (90 identical, 85 fraternal) drawn from the general population. Each twin completed a questionnaire that assessed 18 dimensions of personality disorder. The authors estimated the heritability of each dimension of personality by standard methods, thus providing estimates of the relative contributions of genetic and environmental causation.
Of the 18 personality dimensions, narcissism was found to have the highest heritability (0.64), indicating that the concordance of this trait in the identical twins was significantly influenced by genetics. Of the other dimensions of personality, only four were found to have heritability coefficients of greater than 0.5: callousness, identity problems, oppositionality and social avoidance.
The study generally concluded that, in agreement with other studies, some personality factors have significantly high heritability coefficients, and there exists a continuum between normal and disordered personality.[13]
[edit] Healthy Narcissism
This article is about normal narcissism. For the pathological condition of Narcissism, see Narcissistic Personality Disorder and for narcissism in the generic sense, see Narcissism.
[edit] What is Healthy Narcissism?
Narcissism in the generic sense describes the character trait of self love, based on self-image or ego. In general, narcissism is seen in a more negative manner, related to excessive levels of self-esteem and a devaluation of others. However, this might be too narrow-minded. Healthy narcissism is formed through a structural truthfulness of the self, achievement of self and object constancy, synchronization between the self]and the superego, a balance between libidinal and aggressive drives, the ability to get gratification from others and the drive for impulse expression. Healthy narcissism forms a constant, realistic self-interest and mature goals and principles, and an ability to form deep object relations[14]. A feature related to healthy narcissism is the feeling of greatness. This is used to avoid the feeling of being small.
[edit] Healthy Narcissism: a required element within normal development
Healthy narcissism exists in all individuals. Sigmund Freud says that this is an original state from the individual from where to develop the love object. Freud argues that healthy narcissism is an essential part in normal development.[15] The love of the parents for their child and their attitude towards their child could be seen as a revival and reproduction of their own narcissism according to Freud in On Narcissism: An Introduction.[16] The child has an omnipotence of thought. The parents stimulate that feeling because in their child they see the things they have never reached themselves. Compared to neutral observations, the parents tend to overvalue the qualities of their child. When parents act in an extreme opposite style and the child is rejected or inconsistently reinforced depending on the mood of the parent, the self-needs of the child are not met.
[edit] Healthy narcissism in relation to the pathological condition
Healthy narcissism has to do with a strong feeling of “own love” protecting the human being against illness. However, eventually the individual must love the other, “the object love to not become ill". The person gets ill, as a result of a frustration, when he can’t love the object [17]. In pathological narcissism such as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder and schizophrenia the person’s libido has been withdrawn from objects in the world and produces megalomania. The clinical theorists Kernberg, Kohut and Millon all see pathological narcissism as a possible outcome in response to an empathetic and inconsistent early childhood interactions. They suggested that narcissists try to fill the void left in childhood in their adult relationships [18]. The pathological condition of narcissism is, as Sigmund Freud suggested, a magnified, extreme manifestation of healthy narcissism. With regard to the condition of healthy narcissism, it is suggested that this is correlated with good psychological health. Self-esteem works as a mediator between narcissism and psychological health, That is, thanks to their elevated self-esteem, deriving from self-perceptions of competence and likeability, high narcissists are relatively free of worry and gloom [19]. Other researchers suggested that healthy narcissism cannot be seen as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, however, it depends on the contexts and outcomes being measured. In certain social contexts such as initiating social relationships, and with certain outcome variables, such as feeling good about oneself, healthy narcissism can be helpful. In other contexts, like maintaining long-term relationships and with other outcome variables, such as accurate self-knowledge, healthy narcissism can be unhelpful.[20]
[edit] References
^ Nestor, Paul G Mental Disorder and Violence: Personality Dimensions and Clinical Features The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2002; 159:1973–1978
^ Freud, Sigmund, On Narcissism: An Introduction, 1914
^ Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo, 1913
^ Paris, Bernard J, Personality and Personal Growth, edited by Robert Frager and James Fadiman, 1998
^ Kohut, Heinz, The Analysis of the Self, 1971
^ Kohut, Heinz, Forms and Transformations of Narcissism, 1966
^ Siniscalco, Raffaele Narcissism. The american contribution - a conversation with Otto Kernberg Journal of European Psychoanalysis, Number 12-13 - Winter-Fall 2001
^ Hurlbert, D.F., Apt, C., Sexual narcissism and the abusive male.
^ Stephen M. JohnsonHumanizing the Narcissistic Styl, 1987, W. W. Norton and Company, isbn0-393-70037-2
^ Narcissistic personality disorder: Signs and symptoms - MayoClinic.com
^ Laura Stephens (apr 18 2006). Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Psychology Today's Diagnosis Dictionary. Psychology Today. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
^ Foster, J.D., & Campbell, W.K., Are there such things as "narcissists" in social psychology? A taxometric analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, in press.
^ Livesley, W.J., Jang, K.L., Jackson, D.N. and P.A. Vernon (1993). "Genetic and environmental contributions to dimensions of personality disorder". American Journal of Psychiatry 150, 1826-1831. Abstract online. Accessed June 18, 2006.
^ Moore & Fine (1990). Psychoanalytic Terms & Concept. The American Psychoanalytic Association: New York.
^ http://www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/narc/guide1.html
^ Freud, Sigmund. (1914). On Narcissism: An Introduction. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIV (1914-1916): On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement, Papers on Metapsychology and Other Works, 67-102.
^ http://www.psywilly.be/index.php?page=lezingen
^ Morf, Caroline C. and Rhodewalt, Frederick. (2001). Unraveling the Paradoxes of Narcissism: A Dynamic Self-Regulatory Processing Model. Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 12, No. 4, 177-196.
^ Sedikides, C., Rudich, E.A., Gregg, A.P., Kumashiro, Ml, & Rusbult, C. (2004). Are Normal Narcissists Psychologically Healthy?: self-esteem matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 400-416.
^ Campbell, W.K., & Foster, J.D. The Narcissistic Self: Background and extended agency model and ongoing controversies. Sedikides and Spencer. The Self, Psychology Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-84169-439-9
[edit] See also
Narcissism
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissism of small differences
Malignant narcissism
Megalomania
Hubris
Victory disease
Peter Pan syndrome
Antisocial personality disorder
Dorian Gray syndrome
Superiority complex
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic rage
Self-esteem
[edit] External links
Look up narcissism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.A Field Guide To Narcissism, Carl Vogel - feature writer for Psychology Today magazine
Distinctions between Self-Esteem and Narcissism: Implications for Practice, Lilian G. Katz
The Impact of Narcissism on Leadership and Sustainability, Bruce Gregory Ph.D.
A routine diagnosis investigated, Dr Frans Gieles, 2002
Narcissism can be as much a hindrance as a help to relationships, Kim Carlyle
Voicelessness: Narcissism - on being raised by narcissists, Richard Grossman, Ph.D.
Dictionary of psychology
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_%28psychology%29"
Categories: Psychoanalysis | Human behavior
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the psychiatric condition of narcissism. For narcissism in the generic sense , see Narcissism.
Narcissus, the Greek hero after whom narcissism is named, became obsessed with his own reflection.The term narcissism means love of oneself, and refers to the set of character traits concerned with self-admiration, self-centeredness and self-regard. The name was chosen by Sigmund Freud, from the Greek myth of Narcissus, who was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.
While almost everyone is narcissistic to some degree, certain forms of narcissism can be highly dysfunctional, and are classified as pathologies such as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder and malignant narcissism. Psychopathy, as defined by the PCL-R, also contains a narcissistic factor [1].
Contents [hide]
1 Narcissism as defined by Psychiatry
2 In The Beginning - The Psychoanalysts
2.1 Freud
2.2 The Freudian Theory of Narcissism
2.2.1 Primary narcissism
2.2.2 Secondary narcissism
2.2.3 Narcissism, relationships and self worth
3 Karen Horney
4 Heinz Kohut
5 Otto Kernberg
6 Other forms of narcissism
6.1 Acquired situational narcissism
6.2 Sexual narcissism
6.3 Narcissistic style
6.4 Disordered narcissism
7 Commonly used measures of narcissism
7.1 Narcissistic Personality Inventory
7.2 The MCMI
8 Heritability of narcissism utilizing twin studies
9 Healthy Narcissism
9.1 What is Healthy Narcissism?
9.2 Healthy Narcissism: a required element within normal development
9.3 Healthy narcissism in relation to the pathological condition
10 References
11 See also
12 External links
[edit] Narcissism as defined by Psychiatry
This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Narcissism is a term first used in relation to human thought and behavior by the Austrian physician and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud.
Narcissism is a set of character traits concerned with self-admiration, self-centeredness and self-regard.
Everyone has some narcissistic traits. However, narcissism can also manifest in an extreme pathological form in some personality disorders such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder wherein the patient overestimates his abilities and has an excessive need for admiration and affirmation. This may be present to such a degree that it severely damages the person's ability to live a productive or happy life because the traits manifest as severe selfishness and disregard for the needs and feelings of others.
[edit] In The Beginning - The Psychoanalysts
[edit] Freud
Sigmund FreudMain article: Sigmund Freud
The Austrian physician Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), a neurologist turned psychiatrist, introduced the concept of narcissism in his 1914 essay On Narcissism: An Introduction[2].
[edit] The Freudian Theory of Narcissism
[edit] Primary narcissism
In his essay, 'On Narcissism: An Introduction', Freud suggested that exclusive self-love might not be as abnormal as previously thought, and might even be a common component in the human psyche. He argued that narcissism "is the libidinal compliment to the egoism of the instinct of self-preservation", or, more simply, the desire and energy that drives our instinct to survive. He called this: Primary Narcissism.
According to Freud we are not born with a sense of ourselves as individuals, or ego. The ego only develops during infancy and the early part of childhood, as the outside world, usually in the form of parental controls and expectations, intrudes upon primary narcissism, teaching the individual about the nature and standards of his social environment from which he can form the ideal ego, an image of the perfect self towards which the ego should aspire.
Freud regarded all libidinous drives as fundamentally sexual and suggested that ego libido (libido directed inwards to the self) cannot always be clearly distinguished from object-libido (libido directed to persons or objects outside of ourselves).
An aspect frequently associated with Primary Narcissism appears in an earlier essay, 'Totem and Taboo'.[3] where he describes his observations of children and primitive people, which he called "magical thinking". An example of magical thinking would be believing that you can have an effect on reality by wishing or willpower. This demonstrates a belief in the self as powerful and able to change external realities, which Freud believed was part of normal human development.
[edit] Secondary narcissism
According to Freud, secondary narcissism is a pathological condition which occurs when the libido withdraws from objects outside of the self. Freud further claimed that it is an extreme form of the narcissism that is part of all of us.
[edit] Narcissism, relationships and self worth
According to Freud, to care for someone is to convert ego-libido into object-libido by giving some self-love to another person, which leaves less ego-libido available for primary narcissism and protecting and nurturing the self. When that affection is returned so is the libido, thus restoring primary narcissism and self worth. Any failure to achieve, or disruption of, this balance causes psychological disturbances. In such a case primary narcissism can only be restored by withdrawing object-libido (also called, object-love), to replenish ego-libido.
According to Freud, as a child grows, and his ego develops, he is constantly giving of his self-love to people and objects, the first of which is usually his mother. This diminished self-love should be replenished by the affection and caring returned to him.
[edit] Karen Horney
Main article: Karen Horney
Karen HorneyGerman physician and psychiatrist Karen Horney (1885-1952) began to develop her own theory of psychoanalysis in the late 1930s. Though acknowledging Freud as the founder of psychoanalysis, she was critical of his work, arguing that personality was shaped mainly by social, cultural, and environmental factors. She felt that Freud was wrong to assume that the relationships, attitudes, and feelings common in his culture and times were largely driven by biological factors and could be applied universally.
Horney saw narcissism quite differently from Freud, Kohut, and other mainstream psychoanalytic theorists in that she did not posit a primary narcissism but saw the narcissistic personality as the product of a certain kind of early environment acting on a certain kind of temperament. For her, narcissistic needs and tendencies are not inherent in human nature.
Narcissism is different from her other major defensive strategies or solutions in that it is not compensatory. Self-idealization is compensatory in her theory, but it differs from narcissism. All of the defensive strategies involve self-idealization, but in the narcissistic solution it tends to be the product of indulgence rather than of deprivation. The narcissist's self-esteem is shaky, however, because it is not based on genuine accomplishments.[4]
[edit] Heinz Kohut
Main article: Heinz Kohut
Viennese physician and psychiatrist Heinz Kohut, M.D. (1913 - 1981) is best known for his development of Self Psychology, a school of thought within psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory.
Kohut explored further the implications of Freud's perception of narcissism.
He said that a child will tend to fantasize about having a grandiose self and ideal parents. He claimed that deep down we all retain a belief in our own perfection, and the perfection of anything we are part of, as we mature, grandiosity gives way to self-esteem, and the idealization of the parent become the framework for core values. It is when trauma disrupts this process that the most primitive and narcissistic version of the self remains unchanged. Kohut called this condition Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
He suggested narcissism as part of a stage in normal development, in which caregivers provide a strong and protective presence for the child to identify with that reinforces the child's growing sense of self by mirroring his good qualities. If the caregivers fail to provide this adequately, the child grows up with a brittle and flawed sense of self.[5]
He also saw beyond the negative and pathological aspects of narcissism, believing it to be a component in the development of resilience, ideals and ambition once it has been transformed by life experiences or analysis.[6]
[edit] Otto Kernberg
Main article: Otto Kernberg
Otto Kernberg uses the term Narcissism to refer to the role of self in the regulation of self esteem.
He regarded normal, infantile Narcissism to be dependent on the affirmation of others and the acquisition of desirable and appealing objects, which should later develop into healthy, mature, self-esteem. This healthy Narcissism depends upon an integrated sense of self that incorporates images of the internalised affirmation of those close to us, that is regulated by the super ego and ego ideal, internal mental structures that assure us of our worth and that we deserve our own respect.
When infantile Narcissism fails to develop in this healthy adult form, it becomes a pathology.[7]
[edit] Other forms of narcissism
[edit] Acquired situational narcissism
Acquired Situational Narcissism is a form of narcissism that develops in late adolescence or adulthood, brought on by wealth, fame and the other trappings of celebrity. It was coined by Robert B. Millman, professor of psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
ASN differs from conventional narcissism in that it develops after childhood and is triggered and supported by the celebrity-obsessed society: fans, assistants and tabloid media all play into the idea that the person really is vastly more important than other people, triggering a narcissistic problem that might have been only a tendency, or latent, and helping it to become a full-blown personality disorder.
In its presentation and symptoms, it is indistinguishable from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, differing only in its late onset and its support by large numbers of others. The person with ASN may suffer from unstable relationships, substance abuse and erratic behaviour.
A famous fictional character with ASN is Norma Desmond, the main character of Sunset Boulevard.
[edit] Sexual narcissism
Sexual narcissism is the erotic preoccupation with oneself as a sexual being: a desire to merge sexually with a mirror image of oneself. Sexual narcissism can also be an egocentric pattern of sexual behavior, defined by David Farley Hurlbert and Carol Apt[8] as an inability to experience intimacy combined with a fixation on the sexual act, using high sexual esteem to compensate for low general self esteem. This is believed to be more common in men than in women and is suggested to be the basis of sex addiction.
[edit] Narcissistic style
Johnson [9] discusses Narcissism as constituting a spectrum, from a severe disorder with much in common with borderline personality disorder, to a much less severe, high-functioning form he calls "the narcissistic style."
"People who have a narcissistic personality style rather than narcissistic personality disorder are relatively psychologically healthy, but may at times be arrogant, proud, shrewd, confident, self-centered and determined to be at the top. They may not, however, have an unrealistic image of their skills and worth and are not so strongly dependent on praise to sustain a healthy self-esteem." [10]
[edit] Disordered narcissism
Main article: Narcissistic personality disorder
Lack of empathy is a hallmark of narcissistic disorders, and sufferers find it extremely difficult to understand others' (and their own) emotional states and impact. This makes maintaining close or intimate relationships significantly harder. They may find it difficult to perceive or admit this, or may interpret it as a virtue.[citation needed]
It is also worth noting that the individual expressions of grandiosity or arrogance vary with the person's value system. A person will generally attempt to display superiority as they define it.[citation needed]
Overreacts to criticism, becoming angry or humiliated
Uses others to reach goals
Exaggerates own importance
Entertains unrealistic fantasies about achievements, power, beauty, intelligence or romance
Has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
Seeks constant attention and positive reinforcement from others
Is easily jealous [11]
Has a sense of entitlement
Is exploitative of others
Lacks empathy
Displays arrogant and proud behavior
Displays haughty behavior[citation needed]
[edit] Commonly used measures of narcissism
[edit] Narcissistic Personality Inventory
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is the most widely used measure of narcissism in social psychological research. Although several versions of the NPI have been proposed in the literature, a 40-item forced-choice version (Raskin & Terry, 1988) is the one most commonly employed in current research. The NPI is based on the DSM-III clinical criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), although it was designed to measure these features in the general population. Thus, the NPI is often said to measure "normal" or "sub-clinical" narcissism (i.e., people who score very high on the NPI do not necessarily meet criteria for diagnosis with NPD).
Because the NPI was originally based on DSM criteria for NPD, there has been much research on its factor structure. Raskin and Terry (1988) identified seven factors of the NPI (i.e., superiority, exhibitionism, entitlement, vanity, authority, exploitativeness and self-sufficiency), mapping roughly onto the DSM criteria for NPD. Since then, several studies have further examined the factor structure of the NPI with varying results. For example, some studies report three factors, some report 4 factors. Furthermore, it is often the case that factors of the NPI exhibit very low internal consistency (although the full scale exhibits acceptable reliability). Thus, it may currently be concluded that the factor structure of the NPI is unknown.
Research has found that people who score high on the NPI are more likely to: cheat and game-play in relationships; take more resources for themselves and leave less for others; value material things; like looking at themselves in the mirror. NPI scores are higher in recent generations.
[edit] The MCMI
The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) is a widely-used diagnostic test developed by Theodore Millon. The MCMI includes a scale for Narcissism. Auerbach JS ("Validation of two scales for narcissistic personality disorder", J Pers Assess. 1984 Dec;48(6):649-53. [1]) compared the NPI and MCMI, and found them well correlated, r(146) = .55, p<.001. However, it should be noted that whereas the MCMI measures Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), the NPI measures narcissism as it occurs in the general population. In other words, the NPI measures "normal" narcissism; i.e., most people who score very high on the NPI do not have NPD. Indeed, the NPI does not capture any sort of narcissism taxon as would be expected if it measured NPD.[12]
[edit] Heritability of narcissism utilizing twin studies
Livesley et al. (1993) published a paper entitled Genetic and environmental contributions to dimensions of personality disorder, which concluded, in agreement with other studies, that narcissism as measured by a standardized test was a common inherited trait. Additionally, in similar agreement with those other studies, it was found that there exists a continuum between normal and disordered personality.
The study subjects were 175 volunteer twin pairs (90 identical, 85 fraternal) drawn from the general population. Each twin completed a questionnaire that assessed 18 dimensions of personality disorder. The authors estimated the heritability of each dimension of personality by standard methods, thus providing estimates of the relative contributions of genetic and environmental causation.
Of the 18 personality dimensions, narcissism was found to have the highest heritability (0.64), indicating that the concordance of this trait in the identical twins was significantly influenced by genetics. Of the other dimensions of personality, only four were found to have heritability coefficients of greater than 0.5: callousness, identity problems, oppositionality and social avoidance.
The study generally concluded that, in agreement with other studies, some personality factors have significantly high heritability coefficients, and there exists a continuum between normal and disordered personality.[13]
[edit] Healthy Narcissism
This article is about normal narcissism. For the pathological condition of Narcissism, see Narcissistic Personality Disorder and for narcissism in the generic sense, see Narcissism.
[edit] What is Healthy Narcissism?
Narcissism in the generic sense describes the character trait of self love, based on self-image or ego. In general, narcissism is seen in a more negative manner, related to excessive levels of self-esteem and a devaluation of others. However, this might be too narrow-minded. Healthy narcissism is formed through a structural truthfulness of the self, achievement of self and object constancy, synchronization between the self]and the superego, a balance between libidinal and aggressive drives, the ability to get gratification from others and the drive for impulse expression. Healthy narcissism forms a constant, realistic self-interest and mature goals and principles, and an ability to form deep object relations[14]. A feature related to healthy narcissism is the feeling of greatness. This is used to avoid the feeling of being small.
[edit] Healthy Narcissism: a required element within normal development
Healthy narcissism exists in all individuals. Sigmund Freud says that this is an original state from the individual from where to develop the love object. Freud argues that healthy narcissism is an essential part in normal development.[15] The love of the parents for their child and their attitude towards their child could be seen as a revival and reproduction of their own narcissism according to Freud in On Narcissism: An Introduction.[16] The child has an omnipotence of thought. The parents stimulate that feeling because in their child they see the things they have never reached themselves. Compared to neutral observations, the parents tend to overvalue the qualities of their child. When parents act in an extreme opposite style and the child is rejected or inconsistently reinforced depending on the mood of the parent, the self-needs of the child are not met.
[edit] Healthy narcissism in relation to the pathological condition
Healthy narcissism has to do with a strong feeling of “own love” protecting the human being against illness. However, eventually the individual must love the other, “the object love to not become ill". The person gets ill, as a result of a frustration, when he can’t love the object [17]. In pathological narcissism such as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder and schizophrenia the person’s libido has been withdrawn from objects in the world and produces megalomania. The clinical theorists Kernberg, Kohut and Millon all see pathological narcissism as a possible outcome in response to an empathetic and inconsistent early childhood interactions. They suggested that narcissists try to fill the void left in childhood in their adult relationships [18]. The pathological condition of narcissism is, as Sigmund Freud suggested, a magnified, extreme manifestation of healthy narcissism. With regard to the condition of healthy narcissism, it is suggested that this is correlated with good psychological health. Self-esteem works as a mediator between narcissism and psychological health, That is, thanks to their elevated self-esteem, deriving from self-perceptions of competence and likeability, high narcissists are relatively free of worry and gloom [19]. Other researchers suggested that healthy narcissism cannot be seen as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, however, it depends on the contexts and outcomes being measured. In certain social contexts such as initiating social relationships, and with certain outcome variables, such as feeling good about oneself, healthy narcissism can be helpful. In other contexts, like maintaining long-term relationships and with other outcome variables, such as accurate self-knowledge, healthy narcissism can be unhelpful.[20]
[edit] References
^ Nestor, Paul G Mental Disorder and Violence: Personality Dimensions and Clinical Features The American Journal of Psychiatry, 2002; 159:1973–1978
^ Freud, Sigmund, On Narcissism: An Introduction, 1914
^ Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo, 1913
^ Paris, Bernard J, Personality and Personal Growth, edited by Robert Frager and James Fadiman, 1998
^ Kohut, Heinz, The Analysis of the Self, 1971
^ Kohut, Heinz, Forms and Transformations of Narcissism, 1966
^ Siniscalco, Raffaele Narcissism. The american contribution - a conversation with Otto Kernberg Journal of European Psychoanalysis, Number 12-13 - Winter-Fall 2001
^ Hurlbert, D.F., Apt, C., Sexual narcissism and the abusive male.
^ Stephen M. JohnsonHumanizing the Narcissistic Styl, 1987, W. W. Norton and Company, isbn0-393-70037-2
^ Narcissistic personality disorder: Signs and symptoms - MayoClinic.com
^ Laura Stephens (apr 18 2006). Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Psychology Today's Diagnosis Dictionary. Psychology Today. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
^ Foster, J.D., & Campbell, W.K., Are there such things as "narcissists" in social psychology? A taxometric analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, in press.
^ Livesley, W.J., Jang, K.L., Jackson, D.N. and P.A. Vernon (1993). "Genetic and environmental contributions to dimensions of personality disorder". American Journal of Psychiatry 150, 1826-1831. Abstract online. Accessed June 18, 2006.
^ Moore & Fine (1990). Psychoanalytic Terms & Concept. The American Psychoanalytic Association: New York.
^ http://www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/narc/guide1.html
^ Freud, Sigmund. (1914). On Narcissism: An Introduction. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIV (1914-1916): On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement, Papers on Metapsychology and Other Works, 67-102.
^ http://www.psywilly.be/index.php?page=lezingen
^ Morf, Caroline C. and Rhodewalt, Frederick. (2001). Unraveling the Paradoxes of Narcissism: A Dynamic Self-Regulatory Processing Model. Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 12, No. 4, 177-196.
^ Sedikides, C., Rudich, E.A., Gregg, A.P., Kumashiro, Ml, & Rusbult, C. (2004). Are Normal Narcissists Psychologically Healthy?: self-esteem matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 400-416.
^ Campbell, W.K., & Foster, J.D. The Narcissistic Self: Background and extended agency model and ongoing controversies. Sedikides and Spencer. The Self, Psychology Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-84169-439-9
[edit] See also
Narcissism
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissism of small differences
Malignant narcissism
Megalomania
Hubris
Victory disease
Peter Pan syndrome
Antisocial personality disorder
Dorian Gray syndrome
Superiority complex
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic rage
Self-esteem
[edit] External links
Look up narcissism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.A Field Guide To Narcissism, Carl Vogel - feature writer for Psychology Today magazine
Distinctions between Self-Esteem and Narcissism: Implications for Practice, Lilian G. Katz
The Impact of Narcissism on Leadership and Sustainability, Bruce Gregory Ph.D.
A routine diagnosis investigated, Dr Frans Gieles, 2002
Narcissism can be as much a hindrance as a help to relationships, Kim Carlyle
Voicelessness: Narcissism - on being raised by narcissists, Richard Grossman, Ph.D.
Dictionary of psychology
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_%28psychology%29"
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On Narcissism -- From The Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing (PEP) Website...
Brenman, E. (1993). Freud's 'On Narcissism: An Introduction': Edited by Joseph Sandler, Ethel Spector Person and Peter Fonagy. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1991. Pp. 236 + xx.. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 74:627-630.
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(1993). International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 74:627-630
Freud's 'On Narcissism: An Introduction': Edited by Joseph Sandler, Ethel Spector Person and Peter Fonagy. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1991. Pp. 236 + xx.
Review by: Eric Brenman
I have often heard it stated that it is of questionable value to give much space to the teaching of Freud because new developments make the study of old papers mainly a matter of historical interest; I consider that the reading of this book will strongly challenge that belief.
This is the second volume in the series 'Contemporary Freud: Turning Points and Critical Issues'. It has the advantage that the starting-point is Freud's seminal 1914 paper 'On narcissism: an introduction'. As the editors of this volume point out, this paper was clearly an introduction: Freud's initiation of a long-running discussion. In short, this is an infinitely explorable topic, clearly intended to promote further development and its greatness must also be the invitation to create new understanding.
The editors take up this quest, with the result that they have invited very distinguished contributors from widely differing viewpoints to contribute ten separate essays.
Welcome to PEP Web!
Viewing the full text of this document requires a subscription to PEP Web.
(1993). International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 74:627-630
Freud's 'On Narcissism: An Introduction': Edited by Joseph Sandler, Ethel Spector Person and Peter Fonagy. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1991. Pp. 236 + xx.
Review by: Eric Brenman
I have often heard it stated that it is of questionable value to give much space to the teaching of Freud because new developments make the study of old papers mainly a matter of historical interest; I consider that the reading of this book will strongly challenge that belief.
This is the second volume in the series 'Contemporary Freud: Turning Points and Critical Issues'. It has the advantage that the starting-point is Freud's seminal 1914 paper 'On narcissism: an introduction'. As the editors of this volume point out, this paper was clearly an introduction: Freud's initiation of a long-running discussion. In short, this is an infinitely explorable topic, clearly intended to promote further development and its greatness must also be the invitation to create new understanding.
The editors take up this quest, with the result that they have invited very distinguished contributors from widely differing viewpoints to contribute ten separate essays.
On Unbridled-Toxic Narcissism -- Addiction, Destruction, Self-Destruction, Exploitation...
We've seen it in baseball -- the steroid scandal of the past few years.
We've seen it in government -- just pick a scandal -- how about the 'Ad-Scam' scandal of the Liberal Government in Canada a few years back.
We've seen it with the owners of large corporations -- just look back to the Conrad Black trial. Or the owners of the large oil companies -- either in the Middle East or in America.
We've seen it in history -- just name your time period. How about the overthrowing of the French government and aristocrats in the French Revolution. Or the Americans overthrowing the British government in The American Revolultion.
We've seen it in philosophy -- Thomas Hobbes, Machiavelli, Schopenhauer, or how about Ayn Rand and 'The Virtue of Selfishness'.
Try as we might, we can't escape the 'drive of human narcissism'. Some people are less narcissistic than others. Some religions are less narcissistic than others. They all try to at least partly condemn human selfishness but most religions get caught up in narcissistic drives themselves. Budhism seems to be better than most but perhaps they go too far the other way)
We all need a certain percentage or degree of narcissism in lives -- call it self-awareness, sensory awareness, staying in touch with our feelings, staying in touch with what we want, self-assertion, a certain amount of hedonism (pleasure-seeking).
The human mind and body is programmed to pursue pleasure and happiness.
This is not the problem of narcissism that I come back to again and again.
The problem of narcissism that I come back to over and over again is 'unbridled narcissism' -- narcissism out of control. Too much narcissism turns into exploitation and human exploitation can occur in any type of economic and/or political system -- Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Feudalism, Dictatorship, Democracy...
Too much narcissism -- and resulting exploitation -- can happen in any kind of religious and/or atheist system.
So let me count two ways in which narcissism can be, and is, pathological.
Narcissism is pathological to the extent that it leads to destruction and/or self-destruction. (Violence, drug addiction, any kind of addiction, abuse of one's own body and/or someone else's...)
Narcissism is pathological to the extent that it leads to social, sexual, economic, political, and/or legal exploitation.
In Canada, we all want a piece of the Canadian Pie, the Canadian Dream...
Same with America...or visa versa.
Corporate owners and shareholders want their share of the Canadian and/or American Pie.
Managers, supervisors, white collar workers, blue collar workers...they all want their share of the Canadian and/or American Pie.
The goal of Capitalism is to 'stretch your/our limits as far as you can' -- let the market determine your value. What people are willing to pay you -- that is what you are worth.
But somewhere in here is also the need for 'homeostatic balance' -- we can see this in sports franchises: the more out of line with the 'salary cap' -- and the total salary of the team -- one individual's salary becomes, the more this salary is going to create a problem of 'homestatic balance' relative to the team salary as a whole.
Corporation owners are for the most part going to strive for as much of the Canadian and/or American Pie that they can get in the Capitalist-Market system that they are working in. To a certain extent, the market determines the 'homestatic balance' of people's individual incomes and salaries. If I can't get the salary I want in this organization, then perhap the organization down the street is willing to pay me closer to what I want. Same with free agents in whatever the particular sport is -- baseball, hockey, football, soccer, with individual rules governing each sport and each league.
In corporations, there is a reason that 'unions' came into existence; there was too much worker exploitation with almost all of the power in the hands of the corporate owners and very little power in the hands of the individual workers. So individual workers started to group together, form unions, the unions were legalized by particular governments, and the workers gained more collective and individual power -- and rights. Less corporate exploitation.
But this gave rise to the phenomenon of 'union exploitation' -- either against the workers in the union, and/or against the company that the union was/is involved with.
The one underlying principle of all of nature and all of human activity is the principle of homeostatic balance -- and the interactive process of: one bi-polarity; a second bi-polarity; and the dialectic interchange between them. Thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis striving for that ever-allusive and ever-changing homesotatic balance.
A relationship, a marriage, is dialectically stable until something throws instability into the relationship, into the marriage, and either a confrontation ensues, or it doesn't, but either way, the relationship, is thrown into instability, thrown into uncertainty. Will the relationship re-stabilize -- or completely unstabilize to the point of one party or the other withdrawing from the relationship.
The 'power dialectic' and/or the 'democratic dialectic' is always taking another swing, one encounter at a time, one moment at a time, and if resentments, conflicts, and/or instabilities are not processed, negotiated and resolved, then they build up over time until the relationship collapes.
Marriages collaps from self-destruction, and/or needs simply not being met any more. Unions either work or they don't work -- if they don't work, they are usually tossed aside at the end of the contract. If the union works to well in the workers' favor and the company's needs are not fulfilled, then the company could collapse from self-destruction. Same with governments -- they either achieve a good enough homeostatic balance with the people of the country, that the people want to re-elect the government and the leader of the government -- or if the government has failed in the eyes of the people, then the government collapses and/or is thrown out of power at the end of its election term, or in some cases, in a revolution.
If you live in the fast lane, you generally die in the fast lane. Marriages that try to live in the fast lane don't usually last. Marriages trying to live in the slow lane may not last either. Boredome -- a lack of new and exciting stimulation -- is another human reality connected to narcissism. This is both a good and a bad thing. Good in that it propels people together. Bad in that it tears people apart.
The successful marriage probably generally requires a combination of fastballs, curve balls, and change of paces. But don't ask me. I have never been married -- at least in the technical, formal, sense of the word. I guess I don't trust marriage.
Maybe I don't trust myself.
For the most part, I certainly don't trust corporations. How many ethical companies are out there? What is the percentage of ethical corporations out there compared to unethical ones? 5 or 10 per cent maybe?
To be sure, corporations need to stay in business or everyone employed by the company loses. But some times you just have to shake your head at some of the unethical things that are done. Customers are gouged. Unethical marketing practises and promises. I'm not talking about making a product or service 'sexy'. I'm talking about blatant lying, blatant cheating, blatant stealing. Collusion, Conflict of interest. Networking in back offices. Lobbying behind the scenes. Feeding. Two people or groups of people are 'fattened up' with contracts or money or both -- while a third party, or a third, fourth, and fifth party, are all left out in the cold to starve or suffer.
I remember back in the mid 90s when there was a whole mess of government down-sizing. I was a part of it. My job, my department was declared 'redundant'. They had brought in a computer to do my job.
That's fine. You can't stop technology and technological 'advances' (human evolution?), good and/or bad in its consequences.
The company I worked for didn't have unionized white collar workers -- and many of these workers lost their jobs -- while unionized drivers and blue collar workers were barely touched. The white collar workers had voted down a union just the year before as management continued to promise them the same benefits as the blue collar, unionized workers and drivers -- without the union dues. And as it happened a year later -- without the union protection. Many middle managers were eliminated as well as white collar administration workers.
Again this was all fine and good -- not for the workers who lost their jobs of course although many of them got decent to very good severance settlements -- but if the country was so far in debt that it needed to elminate these jobs in order to help eliminate some of the government's -- and country's debt -- then so be it.
But the final touch was the final coup de grace. All the top managers voted themselves 'nice fat raises' to reward themselves for all the people they had cut and all the money they had saved the company while the remaining white collar adminiatration workers were left with twice as much administration work to do and no such fat raises, indeed, no raises at all. And of course, the down-sized workers had no jobs left.
What do we call this? Law of the jungle? Survial of the fittest? Lord of the Flies? Schopenhauer's world? Or management feces running downhill? Which is not to say that in the case of human narcissism, feces can't defy the law of gravity and roll uphill too. With human narcissism -- anything is possible -- and likely.
I mean no disrespect for those corporate ownere who are fair and who treat their employees and customers well -- who treat their employees with respect, as being human. Too be sure, there are some good fair owners and companies out there.
But for the rest, what do we say?
Is there any limit to human greed? Is there any limit to human cheating and/or exploitation. Drivers for companies being nickeled and dimed, short-changed, charged back, charged late fees, made to do runs that they don't get paid for, or don't get paid enough to cover their time and/or expenses, charged for administration fees, charged for dispatch fees, left to deal with rising gas expenses with no compenstations from the companies that employ them and/or contract them. Contracting them is better than employing them -- less responsibility and accountability. Besides, contractors you don't have to pay benefits. Same with part-timers. Part-timers you can pay less wages for a certain time with no benefits. Advantage company. Let's make every Canadian and/or American employee a contractor and/or a part-timer. Less expense for the business and/or government.
Drivrs being paid $400 to $500 -- doesn't sound too bad if you can't get anything else -- until you hear it's on a seventy or eighty hour work week. What's that? About $5 per hour? No taxes paid. Got to pay your taxes. What's that bring it down to -- $3 an hour? That is slave labour. Mexico couldn't make it any cheaper.
And meanwhile, we parade ourselves around as being leaders in human rights and democracy. Democracy goes deeper than just voting our leader -- or at least it should. We think that we are 'humanistic' and 'democratic' but down underneath the surface of things we still have to ask ourselves how much of this is a fascade and a charade. As time goes by, is real government and corporate power being held in the hands of fewer and fewer people?
We don't believe that we have 'sweat shops' in Canada or America. Only in Mexico. Or China. Or Taiwan. We do have our sweat shops here and if an unethical company can't get away with one, then they have another alternative. Close down there manufacturing company here and open it up somewhere else in the world -- like Mexico, China, or Taiwan. They allow sweat shops there.
Now all we need is 'free trade'. Bring more and more of the cheap goods in from foreign countries with dirt cheap wages and no tariffs. The Narcissistic Capitalists love it. They call it 'Globalization'. And since the Narcissistic Capitalists -- are connected to the Government Lobbyists (if they aren't the same people) -- and the Government Lobbyists are giving the politicians money to help them stay in power -- and be wealthy also -- who cares about all the unemployed workers who are being flushed down the drain. That too -- is Capitalism -- we say. Maybe it is high time we took a hard look at Capitalism and where it is taking us -- and at least sort out the difference between 1. Narcissistic, Exploitive Capitalism; and 2. Ethical, Humanistic-Existential Capitalism. We need some new rules in the government about what ethical, Capitalist companies can and can't do. And enforce these laws. The Better Business Bureau and the Labour Board dont' really cut it. They can't see the real faces of human exploitation.
First and foremost, we all need to be our own ethical control boards. And at least partly police each other.
Rules are easy to bend and/or break to achieve narcissistic ends.
But sometimes the social and family cost is horrific.
We all need to know where to draw the line on our narcissistic drives.
A homeostatically balanced and stable society demands it.
Look at the collapse of the Roman Empire if you want to examine the factors leading to the opposite.
Or look at all the ethical transgrssions that are committed by the people you work with -- above you, beside you, and below you.
And sometimes we all need to take a very good look in the mirror.
-- dgb, August 6th, 2008.
......................................................................
Post-Script
In case we are not clear on some or all of these points:
In this essay I wrote yesterday, I think I was going after corporate narcissism more than anything -- the type I see around me every day.
I don't want to turn anyone into a social prude or prune.
I want everyone to have fun, be happy, be in touch with their senses, pursue pleasure and the American and/or Canadian Dream -- within reason without self and/or social toxic consequences.
On the opposite side of things, I will take some religions and religious preachers to task -- just as Nietzsche did -- for being too anti-narcissistic, too anti-human. One does not need to be a slave to one's own moral-ethical code in order to live a balanced, narcissistic-altruistic life.
I just despise corporate and government corruption, exploiting others to climb higher on the corporate narcissistic ladder, and I hate to see families destroyed because of men and women who have no brakes when it comes to their outside socializing.
Aside from that, you can never completely stop the drive of narcissism -- and love, and lust -- from crossing boundaries where sometimes we just don't expect it. Unless, you are old enough to say that nothing surprises relative to love and sex.
Sometimes, despite all of our most ethical efforts, nature simply has the last word.
And what more can I say about that. Nothing.
My message is simply to treat others with dignity and respect relative to working with them, if you own a company, paying your workers their due share, and what is fair labour value, rather than copping another extra couple of bucks for yourself and/or your company that stretches outside the realm of fairness into the realm of unbridled (toxic) narcissism.
There's a lot of hard-working people out there just trying to pay their bills and feed their families. It pains me to see many of these people taken advanatage of by corporate narcissism -- owners squeezing and shaking every last dollar out of their employees in order to load up their own coffers.
To be sure, businesses have to survive but whe are not talking about business survival here. We are talking primarily about owners exploiting workers that are not unionized. I'm not a big union fan but there is a good reason unions came into existence in many companies.
People shouldn't have to become slaves at their work, enrage themselves, and/or dmean themselves in order to keep a job that they need to feed their families but which doesn't pay them fairly.
Have a great -- balanced narcissistic-altruistic -- day.
-- dgb, Aug. 7th, Aug 8th, 2008.
We've seen it in government -- just pick a scandal -- how about the 'Ad-Scam' scandal of the Liberal Government in Canada a few years back.
We've seen it with the owners of large corporations -- just look back to the Conrad Black trial. Or the owners of the large oil companies -- either in the Middle East or in America.
We've seen it in history -- just name your time period. How about the overthrowing of the French government and aristocrats in the French Revolution. Or the Americans overthrowing the British government in The American Revolultion.
We've seen it in philosophy -- Thomas Hobbes, Machiavelli, Schopenhauer, or how about Ayn Rand and 'The Virtue of Selfishness'.
Try as we might, we can't escape the 'drive of human narcissism'. Some people are less narcissistic than others. Some religions are less narcissistic than others. They all try to at least partly condemn human selfishness but most religions get caught up in narcissistic drives themselves. Budhism seems to be better than most but perhaps they go too far the other way)
We all need a certain percentage or degree of narcissism in lives -- call it self-awareness, sensory awareness, staying in touch with our feelings, staying in touch with what we want, self-assertion, a certain amount of hedonism (pleasure-seeking).
The human mind and body is programmed to pursue pleasure and happiness.
This is not the problem of narcissism that I come back to again and again.
The problem of narcissism that I come back to over and over again is 'unbridled narcissism' -- narcissism out of control. Too much narcissism turns into exploitation and human exploitation can occur in any type of economic and/or political system -- Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Feudalism, Dictatorship, Democracy...
Too much narcissism -- and resulting exploitation -- can happen in any kind of religious and/or atheist system.
So let me count two ways in which narcissism can be, and is, pathological.
Narcissism is pathological to the extent that it leads to destruction and/or self-destruction. (Violence, drug addiction, any kind of addiction, abuse of one's own body and/or someone else's...)
Narcissism is pathological to the extent that it leads to social, sexual, economic, political, and/or legal exploitation.
In Canada, we all want a piece of the Canadian Pie, the Canadian Dream...
Same with America...or visa versa.
Corporate owners and shareholders want their share of the Canadian and/or American Pie.
Managers, supervisors, white collar workers, blue collar workers...they all want their share of the Canadian and/or American Pie.
The goal of Capitalism is to 'stretch your/our limits as far as you can' -- let the market determine your value. What people are willing to pay you -- that is what you are worth.
But somewhere in here is also the need for 'homeostatic balance' -- we can see this in sports franchises: the more out of line with the 'salary cap' -- and the total salary of the team -- one individual's salary becomes, the more this salary is going to create a problem of 'homestatic balance' relative to the team salary as a whole.
Corporation owners are for the most part going to strive for as much of the Canadian and/or American Pie that they can get in the Capitalist-Market system that they are working in. To a certain extent, the market determines the 'homestatic balance' of people's individual incomes and salaries. If I can't get the salary I want in this organization, then perhap the organization down the street is willing to pay me closer to what I want. Same with free agents in whatever the particular sport is -- baseball, hockey, football, soccer, with individual rules governing each sport and each league.
In corporations, there is a reason that 'unions' came into existence; there was too much worker exploitation with almost all of the power in the hands of the corporate owners and very little power in the hands of the individual workers. So individual workers started to group together, form unions, the unions were legalized by particular governments, and the workers gained more collective and individual power -- and rights. Less corporate exploitation.
But this gave rise to the phenomenon of 'union exploitation' -- either against the workers in the union, and/or against the company that the union was/is involved with.
The one underlying principle of all of nature and all of human activity is the principle of homeostatic balance -- and the interactive process of: one bi-polarity; a second bi-polarity; and the dialectic interchange between them. Thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis striving for that ever-allusive and ever-changing homesotatic balance.
A relationship, a marriage, is dialectically stable until something throws instability into the relationship, into the marriage, and either a confrontation ensues, or it doesn't, but either way, the relationship, is thrown into instability, thrown into uncertainty. Will the relationship re-stabilize -- or completely unstabilize to the point of one party or the other withdrawing from the relationship.
The 'power dialectic' and/or the 'democratic dialectic' is always taking another swing, one encounter at a time, one moment at a time, and if resentments, conflicts, and/or instabilities are not processed, negotiated and resolved, then they build up over time until the relationship collapes.
Marriages collaps from self-destruction, and/or needs simply not being met any more. Unions either work or they don't work -- if they don't work, they are usually tossed aside at the end of the contract. If the union works to well in the workers' favor and the company's needs are not fulfilled, then the company could collapse from self-destruction. Same with governments -- they either achieve a good enough homeostatic balance with the people of the country, that the people want to re-elect the government and the leader of the government -- or if the government has failed in the eyes of the people, then the government collapses and/or is thrown out of power at the end of its election term, or in some cases, in a revolution.
If you live in the fast lane, you generally die in the fast lane. Marriages that try to live in the fast lane don't usually last. Marriages trying to live in the slow lane may not last either. Boredome -- a lack of new and exciting stimulation -- is another human reality connected to narcissism. This is both a good and a bad thing. Good in that it propels people together. Bad in that it tears people apart.
The successful marriage probably generally requires a combination of fastballs, curve balls, and change of paces. But don't ask me. I have never been married -- at least in the technical, formal, sense of the word. I guess I don't trust marriage.
Maybe I don't trust myself.
For the most part, I certainly don't trust corporations. How many ethical companies are out there? What is the percentage of ethical corporations out there compared to unethical ones? 5 or 10 per cent maybe?
To be sure, corporations need to stay in business or everyone employed by the company loses. But some times you just have to shake your head at some of the unethical things that are done. Customers are gouged. Unethical marketing practises and promises. I'm not talking about making a product or service 'sexy'. I'm talking about blatant lying, blatant cheating, blatant stealing. Collusion, Conflict of interest. Networking in back offices. Lobbying behind the scenes. Feeding. Two people or groups of people are 'fattened up' with contracts or money or both -- while a third party, or a third, fourth, and fifth party, are all left out in the cold to starve or suffer.
I remember back in the mid 90s when there was a whole mess of government down-sizing. I was a part of it. My job, my department was declared 'redundant'. They had brought in a computer to do my job.
That's fine. You can't stop technology and technological 'advances' (human evolution?), good and/or bad in its consequences.
The company I worked for didn't have unionized white collar workers -- and many of these workers lost their jobs -- while unionized drivers and blue collar workers were barely touched. The white collar workers had voted down a union just the year before as management continued to promise them the same benefits as the blue collar, unionized workers and drivers -- without the union dues. And as it happened a year later -- without the union protection. Many middle managers were eliminated as well as white collar administration workers.
Again this was all fine and good -- not for the workers who lost their jobs of course although many of them got decent to very good severance settlements -- but if the country was so far in debt that it needed to elminate these jobs in order to help eliminate some of the government's -- and country's debt -- then so be it.
But the final touch was the final coup de grace. All the top managers voted themselves 'nice fat raises' to reward themselves for all the people they had cut and all the money they had saved the company while the remaining white collar adminiatration workers were left with twice as much administration work to do and no such fat raises, indeed, no raises at all. And of course, the down-sized workers had no jobs left.
What do we call this? Law of the jungle? Survial of the fittest? Lord of the Flies? Schopenhauer's world? Or management feces running downhill? Which is not to say that in the case of human narcissism, feces can't defy the law of gravity and roll uphill too. With human narcissism -- anything is possible -- and likely.
I mean no disrespect for those corporate ownere who are fair and who treat their employees and customers well -- who treat their employees with respect, as being human. Too be sure, there are some good fair owners and companies out there.
But for the rest, what do we say?
Is there any limit to human greed? Is there any limit to human cheating and/or exploitation. Drivers for companies being nickeled and dimed, short-changed, charged back, charged late fees, made to do runs that they don't get paid for, or don't get paid enough to cover their time and/or expenses, charged for administration fees, charged for dispatch fees, left to deal with rising gas expenses with no compenstations from the companies that employ them and/or contract them. Contracting them is better than employing them -- less responsibility and accountability. Besides, contractors you don't have to pay benefits. Same with part-timers. Part-timers you can pay less wages for a certain time with no benefits. Advantage company. Let's make every Canadian and/or American employee a contractor and/or a part-timer. Less expense for the business and/or government.
Drivrs being paid $400 to $500 -- doesn't sound too bad if you can't get anything else -- until you hear it's on a seventy or eighty hour work week. What's that? About $5 per hour? No taxes paid. Got to pay your taxes. What's that bring it down to -- $3 an hour? That is slave labour. Mexico couldn't make it any cheaper.
And meanwhile, we parade ourselves around as being leaders in human rights and democracy. Democracy goes deeper than just voting our leader -- or at least it should. We think that we are 'humanistic' and 'democratic' but down underneath the surface of things we still have to ask ourselves how much of this is a fascade and a charade. As time goes by, is real government and corporate power being held in the hands of fewer and fewer people?
We don't believe that we have 'sweat shops' in Canada or America. Only in Mexico. Or China. Or Taiwan. We do have our sweat shops here and if an unethical company can't get away with one, then they have another alternative. Close down there manufacturing company here and open it up somewhere else in the world -- like Mexico, China, or Taiwan. They allow sweat shops there.
Now all we need is 'free trade'. Bring more and more of the cheap goods in from foreign countries with dirt cheap wages and no tariffs. The Narcissistic Capitalists love it. They call it 'Globalization'. And since the Narcissistic Capitalists -- are connected to the Government Lobbyists (if they aren't the same people) -- and the Government Lobbyists are giving the politicians money to help them stay in power -- and be wealthy also -- who cares about all the unemployed workers who are being flushed down the drain. That too -- is Capitalism -- we say. Maybe it is high time we took a hard look at Capitalism and where it is taking us -- and at least sort out the difference between 1. Narcissistic, Exploitive Capitalism; and 2. Ethical, Humanistic-Existential Capitalism. We need some new rules in the government about what ethical, Capitalist companies can and can't do. And enforce these laws. The Better Business Bureau and the Labour Board dont' really cut it. They can't see the real faces of human exploitation.
First and foremost, we all need to be our own ethical control boards. And at least partly police each other.
Rules are easy to bend and/or break to achieve narcissistic ends.
But sometimes the social and family cost is horrific.
We all need to know where to draw the line on our narcissistic drives.
A homeostatically balanced and stable society demands it.
Look at the collapse of the Roman Empire if you want to examine the factors leading to the opposite.
Or look at all the ethical transgrssions that are committed by the people you work with -- above you, beside you, and below you.
And sometimes we all need to take a very good look in the mirror.
-- dgb, August 6th, 2008.
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Post-Script
In case we are not clear on some or all of these points:
In this essay I wrote yesterday, I think I was going after corporate narcissism more than anything -- the type I see around me every day.
I don't want to turn anyone into a social prude or prune.
I want everyone to have fun, be happy, be in touch with their senses, pursue pleasure and the American and/or Canadian Dream -- within reason without self and/or social toxic consequences.
On the opposite side of things, I will take some religions and religious preachers to task -- just as Nietzsche did -- for being too anti-narcissistic, too anti-human. One does not need to be a slave to one's own moral-ethical code in order to live a balanced, narcissistic-altruistic life.
I just despise corporate and government corruption, exploiting others to climb higher on the corporate narcissistic ladder, and I hate to see families destroyed because of men and women who have no brakes when it comes to their outside socializing.
Aside from that, you can never completely stop the drive of narcissism -- and love, and lust -- from crossing boundaries where sometimes we just don't expect it. Unless, you are old enough to say that nothing surprises relative to love and sex.
Sometimes, despite all of our most ethical efforts, nature simply has the last word.
And what more can I say about that. Nothing.
My message is simply to treat others with dignity and respect relative to working with them, if you own a company, paying your workers their due share, and what is fair labour value, rather than copping another extra couple of bucks for yourself and/or your company that stretches outside the realm of fairness into the realm of unbridled (toxic) narcissism.
There's a lot of hard-working people out there just trying to pay their bills and feed their families. It pains me to see many of these people taken advanatage of by corporate narcissism -- owners squeezing and shaking every last dollar out of their employees in order to load up their own coffers.
To be sure, businesses have to survive but whe are not talking about business survival here. We are talking primarily about owners exploiting workers that are not unionized. I'm not a big union fan but there is a good reason unions came into existence in many companies.
People shouldn't have to become slaves at their work, enrage themselves, and/or dmean themselves in order to keep a job that they need to feed their families but which doesn't pay them fairly.
Have a great -- balanced narcissistic-altruistic -- day.
-- dgb, Aug. 7th, Aug 8th, 2008.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
What is Wrong With This World?: Try This -- Personal and Collective Narcissism Overpowering Ethics, Morality, Compassion, Altruism -- and Truth
What is wrong with this world?
Try this: Narcissistic bias interfering with good ethics, integrity, character, compassion and passion for people - as well as the objective search for truth.
Narcissism is necessary, indeed imperative, for self-assertiveness and self-survival - not to mention at least 50 per cent of the pursuit of happiness.
However, narcissism needs to be balanced by altruism and a genuine empathy, caring, compassion, and passion for people
What separates the really great leaders and people of the world from the sociopathic leaders is the difference between leaders who genuinely care about people (Winston Churchill, Eisenhauer, Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa...), vs. those who ruthlessly don't (Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung...).
Anything else I write is superfulous.
Sometimes less is better.
This is one of those occasions.
dgb, Aug. 17th, 2008.
Try this: Narcissistic bias interfering with good ethics, integrity, character, compassion and passion for people - as well as the objective search for truth.
Narcissism is necessary, indeed imperative, for self-assertiveness and self-survival - not to mention at least 50 per cent of the pursuit of happiness.
However, narcissism needs to be balanced by altruism and a genuine empathy, caring, compassion, and passion for people
What separates the really great leaders and people of the world from the sociopathic leaders is the difference between leaders who genuinely care about people (Winston Churchill, Eisenhauer, Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa...), vs. those who ruthlessly don't (Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung...).
Anything else I write is superfulous.
Sometimes less is better.
This is one of those occasions.
dgb, Aug. 17th, 2008.
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