The Private Self

Rating:
Summary: Readable review, questionable conclusions
Review: Written by a Harvard clinical psychoanalyst, this work introduces an eclectic range of theories of self, including those of: Hegel, James, Mead, Goffman, Fairbairn, Winnicot, Freud and Kohut. As a summary of these views the work is succinct and readable. The author's presentation of his own theory, that there is a real and "private" core to the self - the private self - that does not depend on any internalisation of others or "objects" is IMHO, however, unlikely to be remembered as a significant contribution to self theory. Model's persuasiveness seems to rely on presenting the unpalatableness of competing theories. The following passage, attacking Hume's (purported) claim that the self is an illusion, is a typical example:

"For anyone who experiences annihilation anxiety, who fears that his or her self is disintegrating, the existence of the self is not a matter of philosophical debate. The feeling that the self is becoming fragmented, transformed, or annihilated evokes the most terrible anxiety that anyone is likely to experience. The apprehension of a self that is continuous over time is thus not an illusion, as Hume would claim, but something essential to our existence. " (p. 12)

In this passage as in others, in this otherwise intelligent book, the author is arguing from the unpleasantness of a proposition to its falsity. For me, thus, Model is positive, optimistic and humanistic, but finally unconvincing.