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A review by adampilled
On Narcissism: An Introduction by Sigmund Freud, Joseph Sandler
3.0
In many ways, the concept of Narcissism serves as the glue for much of Freud's early psychoanalytic theories.
Freud imagines a libidinal economy in which object-libido (directed outward) and ego-libido (directed inward) exist in a ratio. Being in love is at the extreme end of object-libido; being a paranoid schizophrenic is at the extreme end of ego-libido. In essence, object-libido and ego-libido are tied in a zero-sum game. Freud also separates Primary Narcissism from Secondary Narcissism, the former being necessary and the latter detrimental. The formation of the Ideal Ego (not yet called the Super-Ego) is also critical to understanding later Psychoanalysts (See Lacan's extension of the Ideal Ego through the Mirror Stage).
Much like Freud's other writings, this text is characteristically eloquent and insightful yet dated (see Freud on Homosexuality in sections I and II).
3/5
Freud imagines a libidinal economy in which object-libido (directed outward) and ego-libido (directed inward) exist in a ratio. Being in love is at the extreme end of object-libido; being a paranoid schizophrenic is at the extreme end of ego-libido. In essence, object-libido and ego-libido are tied in a zero-sum game. Freud also separates Primary Narcissism from Secondary Narcissism, the former being necessary and the latter detrimental. The formation of the Ideal Ego (not yet called the Super-Ego) is also critical to understanding later Psychoanalysts (See Lacan's extension of the Ideal Ego through the Mirror Stage).
Much like Freud's other writings, this text is characteristically eloquent and insightful yet dated (see Freud on Homosexuality in sections I and II).
3/5