The Private Self

by Arnold Modell

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Author: Arnold Modell

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 9780674707535
ISBN 13: 978-0674707535

In The Private Self, Arnold Modell contributes an interdisciplinary perspective in formulating a theory of the private self. A leading thinker in American psychoanalysis, Modell here studies selfhood by examining variations on the theme of the self in Freud and in the work of object relations theorists, self psychologists, and neuroscientists. Modell contends that the self is fundamentally paradoxical, in that it is at once dependent upon social affirmation and autonomous in generating itself from within. We create ourselves, he suggests, by selecting values that are endowed with private meanings.

By thinking of the unconscious as a neurophysiological process, and the self as the subject and object of its own experience, Modell is able to explain how identity can persist in the flux of consciousness. He thus offers an exciting and original perspective for our understanding of the mind and the brain.

Review

“A richly challenging book...A prodigious review and criticism of much of psychoanalytic theory in addition to an exposition of new ideas in the psychology of the self. I enthusiastically recommend it to all those who are seriously interested in psychoanalytic theory.”―William R. Flynn, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry

“There is a great deal of material here and the 'self' is examined from many different perspectives, primarily psychoanalytical...This is an important book.”―Ronald R. Koegler, M.D., American Journal of Psychotherapy

“Modell's book refocuses attention on the importance of the private self as the source of our deepest motivations and basic values...This is an impressively rich theoretical contribution with concepts drawn from psychoanalysis, philosophy, literature, biography, infant psychiatry, and neuroscience. Modell's clarity of thought and generosity of spirit are admirable, and he is neither formulaic nor contentious. It is a carefully reasoned, restrained, and respectful approach to unresolved theoretical issues.”―Milton Eber, Psychoanalytic Books

From the Back Cover

The concept of the self is the subject of intense debate in psychoanalysis - as it is in neuro-science, cognitive science, and philosophy. In The Private Self Arnold Modell, a leading thinker in American psychoanalysis, studies selfhood from the inside by examining variations on the theme of the self in Freud and in the work of object relations theorists, self psychologists, and neuro-scientists. His significant contribution is an interdisciplinary perspective in formulating a theory of the private self. Modell contends that the self is fundamentally paradoxical in that it is both dependent and autonomous - dependent upon social affirmation, but autonomous in generating itself from within: we create ourselves by selecting values that are endowed with private meanings. (Modell presents an extensive view of these self-generative and self-creative aspects.) The private self is an embodied self: the psychology of the self is rooted in biology. By thinking of the unconscious as a neurophysiological process and the self as the subject and object of its own experience, Modell is able to explain how identity can persist in the flux of consciousness. In arriving at his unique synthesis of psychoanalytic observations and neurobiological theory, Modell draws on the contributions of Donald Winnicott in psychoanalysis, William James in philosophy, and Gerald Edelman in neurobiology. The Private Self boldly explores the frontier between psychoanalysis and biology. In replacing the "instinct-driven" self and the "attachment-oriented" self with the "self-generating" self, the author offers an exciting and original perspective for our understanding of the mind and the brain.

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The Private Self