Group Psychology and the Analysis of the EGO (International Psycho-Analytical Library) - Softcover

Freud, Sigmund

Softcover

ISBN 10: 189139634X ISBN 13: 9781891396342

Publisher: Martino Fine Books, 2010

Synopsis

2010 Reprint of 1922 edition. In the introduction to this important work, Freud makes the claim that group psychology is part of psychoanalysis. He proceeds to tackle a fundamental problem: What is the mental dynamic that holds together the individuals in a group, creates the group's forms, ensures its continuity and stability, or causes its disappearance? Repeating a significant move in psychoanalysis, his abandonment of hypnosis, Freud proposed that the libido accounts for group psycho dynamics. He accomplished this epistemological operation in three chapters, borrowing from Gustave Le Bon and William McDougall to describe the prevalence of the primary processes in ephemeral groups. Freud refined his proposal by showing how two groups, the church and the army, can come apart-in their different ways-through the loss of libidinal bonds to the leader or among members, and how, in keeping with psychoanalytic dynamics, only the power of love is capable of overcoming the narcissism and hatred that distance us from one another.

About this title

About the Author

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is one of the twentieth century's greatest minds and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. His many works include The Ego and the Id; An Outline of Psycho-Analysis; Inhibitions; Symptoms and Anxiety; New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis; Civilization and Its Discontent, and others. Peter Gay is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the National Book Award winner The Enlightenment, the best-selling Weimar Culture, and the widely translated Freud: A Life for Our Time. He lives in New York City.

Edition details

• Publisher: Martino Fine Books
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 189139634X
• ISBN 13: 9781891396342
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144