Self and Others: Empirical and Neuropsychoanalytic Considerations of Superego and Conscience.

Freud's mature theorizing about human morality entrenched the functioning of the superego in anxiety stemming from the fear of punishment, a view with which many later psychoanalysts took issue, producing a debate as to the distinction between superego and conscience. This debate would later be mirrored more broadly in academic psychology concerning distinctions between shame and guilt. This is an area where the clinical observations and theoretical discussions of psychoanalysis have subtly guided research in cognitive psychology and the cognitive and affective neurosciences. These areas, in turn, have both clarified and supported psychoanalytic theory and practice without negating the rich phenomenological and theoretical basis on which psychoanalysis rests.

Thinking about encountering masochism/masochistic elements in analytic practice in the Kleinian tradition then and now.

Masochistic elements are puzzling entanglements for most of us in the beginning. Taking Melanie Klein's attempts to think about them thus show one way how to make sense of them. Starting from her struggles with masochistic symptoms in child analyses in the early 1920ies Melanie Klein tried to conceptualize those experiences in a way that could help to fact them in the analytic process. In this article the development is outlined, the move from thinking about them in libidinal terms to gradually grasping in greater depth their destructive quality. She speaks of an "evil principle" and then finds a conclusive solution in conceptualizing masochism as a representation of the death drive. In the next decades her followers would further work on the complexities of the countertransference issues and superego organizations in masochism in more detail as will be shown. Finally, a look in a piece of present analytic work will exemplify the clinical usefulness of the Kleinian conceptualization.

The work of Benno Rosenberg.

Benno Rosenberg's work has been little translated into English. Yet, his work on masochism is a landmark in France. He set himself the goal of deploying all the richness and implications of the second Freudian drive theory and the introduction of the death drive. He therefore returns to "the Economic Problem of Masochism" to give all its value to the drive fusion that it achieves internally and which is therefore for it "guardian of life", even if it is can also be fatal. He draws consequences on the psychic construction of the ego, the superego and on that of temporality. He also describes a "work of melancholy" which is different from mourning. Thinking it necessary to push the consequences of the new theorizing further than Freud was able to do, he revisits "Inhibition, Symptom and Anxiety" to articulate the triggering of anxiety by a libidinal demand and the threat to the unity of the ego who comes from the death drive due to conflict. Starting from the psychosomatic descriptions of Pierre Marty, whose options are specified, he also proposed a metapsychology of somatization during the overflow of the psyche by the destructiveness which will then threaten the body.

Reflections on masochism: An introduction.

Masochism is central to all pathologies and its relevance in clinical practise cannot be underestimated. The initial connection made by Freud was that masochism was a component or partial instinct, still operating within the pleasure principle. The relationship between masochism and the theory of drives marks a main theoretical difference in the different authors' explorations of this subject. The understanding of what is meant by 'masochism' gained complexity following Freud's postulation of a life and death drive (which is more or less contemporary with his 1924 paper on masochism) and the differences made by him between 'primary' and 'secondary' masochism. This introduction to the papers presented in this section will address some of these differences, as well as exploring the notions of primary erotogenic masochism, feminine and moral masochism. It will also look at the notion of binding /unbinding of the life/death drives, and the role of the superego. It will introduce the different papers by Novick and Novick, Bourdin, Frank and Persano on developmental perspectives, primary masochism, views on French analysts such as Benno Rosenberg and on Kleinian ideas on the subject as well as on the role of the body, pain and self harm.

The murder of the dead father: The Shoah and contemporary antisemitism.

It is suggested in this paper that in the Shoah one is confronted with the abolition of the Law of the Dead Father and the re-establishing of the tyranny of the narcissistic father. In the extermination of the Jews of Europe in the Shoah, the aim was the destruction of the rules of genealogy and filiation to both mother and father that establish the social and give rise to personhood and are at the core of the oedipal structure. The rule of absolute power - the destruction of any sense of maternal care and paternal rules - leads ultimately to the creation of the abject.Freud distinguished between two different types of obstacles to psychoanalytic treatment that are expressions of the death drive. The first is bound and is related to the superego; it is connected to the negative therapeutic reaction, masochism, and the unconscious sense of guilt. The other manifestation of the death drive is unbound and diffuse. If the first is understandable, the second, he suggests, escapes any understanding. The paper makes use of this distinction to examine Hannah Arendt's notion of the banality of evil.

Humor, sinthome and lightness / Humor, sinthoma e leveza

RESUMO: Este trabalho propõe paralelos entre a interpretação freudiana do humor e o conceito de sinthoma em Lacan. A experimentação joyceana com a escrita interessou à Psicanálise, chegando a produzir efeitos, como é o caso da diferenciação lacaniana entre symptôme e sinthoma. A cultura judaica do leste europeu e a perplexidade com o desmoronamento de um império forneciam material para o humor kafkiano e para a teoria freudiana do humor. Com Kafka e Joyce, a literatura inventa formas literárias de leveza que interessam à investigação psicanalítica.

Abstract: This work proposes parallels between Freud's interpretation of humor and the concept of sinthoma in Lacan. Joycean experimentation with writing was of interest to Psychoanalysis, even producing effects, as is the case with the Lacanian differentiation between symptom and sinthome. Eastern European Jewish culture and perplexity at the collapse of an empire provided material for Kafka's humor and Freudian humor theory. With Kafka and Joyce, literature invents literary forms of lightness that concern psychoanalytic research.

The traumatic and the work of the après-coup in Freud's opus.

This text explores the evolution of the notion of trauma in Freud's work and of its decisive import for the organization of psychic functioning through a two-stage process called the après-coup. By following the three steps of Freud's theory of the drives, the author shows that the conception of the traumatic is gradually internalized to become a basic quality of all drives as a tendency to return to an earlier state, and ultimately an organic, inanimate state. An open question remains in Freud about this tendency's relation to Eros, and therefore to the links between Eros and the traumatic state. This question has remained latent within the psychoanalytic community. The author proposes to conceive of Eros as an infinitely extensible tendency that needs containing in order for it to contribute to evolving inscriptions. Thus is outlined one traumatic state as a return to the inorganic and another traumatic state as an infinite extensibility, both being transformed by the superego and its imperatives in order to generate all life forms.

O discurso do cidadão de bem e a lógica do supereu / The good citizen's speech and the logic of the superego

O objetivo deste trabalho é propor uma reflexão acerca dos fundamentos subjetivos daquilo que alegoricamente denominamos de discurso do cidadão de bem. Postulamos que a articulação da dimensão discursiva do cidadão de bem é homóloga à paradoxal dialética da ação do supereu, que circunscreve o regime da lei, ao mesmo tempo em que resguarda, em sua constituição mais elementar, um estatuto completamente fora da lei. Analisamos, por fim, os efeitos dessa conjuntura a partir de algumas reações sociais frente a um acontecimento proveniente do campo da arte: a exposição "Queermuseu". Ressaltamos que as reivindicações dos cidadãos de bem que proclamam a defesa da família, da moral e dos bons costumes denunciam o ímpeto, desses sujeitos, em sobrepujar as condições de seus próprios ideais.

The objective of this work is to propose a reflection about the subjective foundations of what we allegorically call of good citizen's speech. We postulate that the articulation of the discursive dimension of the good citizen is homologous to the paradoxical dialectics of the action of the superego, which circumscribes the regime of the law, while at the same time safeguards, in its most basic constitution, a statute completely outside the law. Finally, we analyze the effects of this conjuncture from some social reactions to an event coming from the field of art: the exhibition "Queermuseu". We emphasize that the claims of the good citizens, who proclaim the protection of family, moral and decency, denounce the impetus, of these subjects, to overcome the conditions of their own ideals.

The superego and the object in psychoanalytical experience: towards a gap between listening and obeying / Supereu e objeto na experiência psicanalítica: por uma hiância entre ouvir e obedecer

RESUMO: Com base na premissa de que o supereu corresponde a um mandamento que ordena um gozo impossível, o presente trabalho investiga o destino que a psicanálise é suscetível de conferir ao imperativo superegoico. Sua problemática consiste na coalescência entre comando e obediência, bem como na abertura, a ser sustentada pelo discurso analítico, de uma hiância entre ambos. O desenvolvimento parte do emparelhamento entre ouvir e obedecer, servindo-se da hipnose, de Pascal Quignard, La Boétie e Herman 1853. A variedade vocal do objeto constitui o eixo que conduz, em uma análise, à fenda do desejo e ao sintoma que remaneja o gozo.

ABSTRACT: Based on the premise that the superego is a command that demands an impossible jouissance, this article studies the possible destiny psychoanalysis can give to the superegoic imperative. The issue raised is the coalescence between commanding and obeying, as well as the opening of a gap, as supported by the discourse of the analyst, between the both of them. The development of the study establishes a pairing between listening and obeying, recurring to the hypnosis technique, to Pascal Quignard, to La Boétie and also Herman Melville. The object's vocal variety constitutes an axis which conducts, in an analysis, to the desire gap and to the symptom that relocates jouissance.

Authority And Freedom.

Authority and freedom are connected, and both have external and internal forms. External authority, political or institutional, can impinge on internal freedom in ways that matter to psychoanalysts. Internal freedom requires an internal authority that can be trusted. The superego is an external authority masquerading as an internal one. The ego, with its compliance toward the id, the superego, and external reality, operates like a false self in the psyche. In Lacanian terms, it is of necessity alienated from itself. By contrast, the true self as described by Winnicott, and the "subject" as theorized especially in French psychoanalysis, represent an authentic conscience that allows us to become the authors of our at one's authority. This implies two sorts of freedom: freedom from narcissistic self-investment, and the forward-looking freedom of psychic growth. The latter occurs only in a context of relatedness to others, and it entails caring for the interests of others-if necessary at one's own expense. This vision of human beings as having an innate impetus toward psychic growth makes psychoanalysis a fundamentally optimistic endeavor. Clinical and nonclinical examples show, however, that it demands a perpetual readiness to let go of apparent certainties.

Perspectivas clínicas do supereu: desdobramentos desse imperativo categórico no tratamento psicanalítico / Perspectives cliniques du Supereu: déploiement de cet impératif catégorique dans le traitement psychanalytique / Clinical Perspectives of the Supereu: unfolding of this categorical imperative in psychoanalytic treatment

O presente trabalho apresenta um percurso sobre o conceito de supereu, enfocando-o sob seu aspecto clínico. Este se desdobra em três dimensões: a primeira, que diz respeito às suas manifestações sintomáticas que frequentemente aparecem na demanda inicial de análise; a segunda, que inclui o analista como depositário da exigência superegoica, e a terceira que leva em conta o final da análise e os destinos do supereu. Destaca-se, nesse texto, o conceito em sua vertente pulsional, de exigência de satisfação, o que vai muito além de tomá-lo apenas como instância herdeira do Édipo que promove a interiorização da lei, como é predominantemente entendido

Le présent travail présente une recherche clinique sur le concept de surmoi. Celle-ci se déroule en trois dimensions: la première, qui concerne ses manifestations symptomatiques qui apparaissent fréquemment dans la demande d'analyse initiale; la seconde, qui inclut l'analyste comme dépositaire de l'exigence surmoïque, et le troisième, qui prend en compte la fin de l'analyse et les destinées du surmoi. Dans ce texte, l'accent est sur mis concept dans son aspect pulsionnel, d'exigence de satisfaction, ce qui va bien au-delà de le comprendre uniquement comme l'héritier de l'Œdipe qui favorise l'intériorisation du loi, conformément à la définition la plus répandue

This paper presents a course on the concept of superego, focusing on its clinical aspect. This unfolds in three dimensions: the first, which concerns its symptomatic manifestations that frequently appear in the initial demand for analysis; the second, which includes the analyst as the depositary of the superegoic requirement, and the third, which takes into account the end of the analysis and the destinies of the superego. In this text, the concept is explained its drive aspect, of satisfaction requirement, which goes far beyond taking it only as the heir to the Oedipus that promotes the internalization of the law, as is most commonly defined

Psychosis and psychotic functioning in adolescence.

This paper presents an overview of the main issues that underlie the outbreak of a psychosis in adolescence. The author addresses significant questions that arise in connection with the use of the terms psychosis, psychotic functioning, and adolescent breakdown, examining different theoretical and clinical approaches to psychosis in adolescence. One of the main areas to be explored is the use of the specific diagnosis of psychosis in adolescence when we witness fluctuating mental states, variability, and changeable behaviour.A central point in the development of a psychotic process is the relationship to external reality. This break with reality was characterized by M. and M.E. Laufer as specifically lived out in relation to the reality of the adolescent's changing body. This paper will look at these authors' understanding of psychotic episodes, psychotic functioning, and psychosis, as well as other theoretical perspectives. The paper will address the economic aspects linked to drive increase, the complex interplay of early anxieties, unconscious phantasies and internal object relations, along with the role of identity, the superego and trauma. The paper also discusses different modalities of treatment and stresses the benefit of psychoanalytic treatment for disturbed adolescents.

Developments on the concept of the super-ego in Bion's work.

In Bion's work, we find both continuity with and a breakthrough from the ideas developed by Freud and Melanie Klein on the concept of superego. After relying on Klein's views, Bion presented two fresh perspectives on this topic. In the first, in his theory of thinking we find a shift from an instinctive perspective to a psychological approach to morality. In the second we find conjectures (both imaginative and rational) about a primitive conscience, a form of morality prior to the mental functioning described as the superego by Freud and even the archaic superego described by Klein. This primordial psychic condition refers to a hazy dimension in which phylogenesis merges with fetal experiences. As described by Bion, the manifestations of this primitive conscience emerge as states of intense terror and guilt underneath a symbolic mind. They inhibit the development of the mind, are felt as harsh and authoritarian, always present as prohibitive, can potentially drive the individual to suicide, and are frequently found in the psychoanalytic practice.

Conceptions of the superego in sociological and socio-psychological analyses.

This paper provides a historical overview of the reception of the superego concept in sociology and psychoanalytic social psychology. Central to the discussion are the ways in which classical and contemporary approaches (e.g. Parsons, Elias, Bourdieu) have responded to Freud's theories concerning the genesis of the superego and its changes in the course of psychic development, to his suppositions concerning anthropology and psychopathology, and to later psychoanalytic extensions of the concept (e.g. Klein, Erikson and Loewald). With reference to Freud's works of cultural critique, special emphasis is given to conceptions of the superego in studies on authoritarianism, adaptation and morality, notably by the Frankfurt School (Fromm, Horkheimer, Adorno). The authors also discuss the historical changes undergone by the superego concept and examine by way of examples the benefits of concept for achieving a clearer understanding of recent societal trends associated with contemporary phenomena such as digitization and optimization.

The perverse and the psychotic superego.

In this contribution I will sustain that, given its origin, meaning and function, the superego is readily susceptible to the pathological distortions observed in clinical psychoanalytic work. After all, while we as psychoanalysts are unacquainted with the "normal" superego, we are accustomed to seeing patients with either an abnormal sense of guilt or a seeming absence of guilt. However, a distinction must first be drawn between the primitive superego and its pathological counterpart. Whereas some clinical situations involve a superego whose primitive aspects feature prominently in the foreground, in other cases one encounters psychopathological structures that do not stem from the primitive superego, even if they share the latter's seductive, dominant or intimidatory aspects.

Confusion of tongues: Chinese/English/German psychoanalytic dialogues.

Translation of psychoanalytic texts is notoriously complex, amplified by differences between Western languages/cultures and China. Freud labelled translation "traitorous". A current challenge is the trend among some professional translators to diminish or eliminate hierarchies of accurate and inaccurate translations. We argue for accurate translation to transmit psychoanalytic concepts in Mandarin Chinese. The English Standard Edition involved unfortunate choices to "Latinize" key Freudian terms; for example, Es, Ich and Überich were rendered as Id, Ego and Supergo, instead of more experience-near common language equivalents in English, "it, I and over I." Similarly, some recent translations of German and English psychoanalytic terms into Mandarin Chinese have also tended to perpetuate intellectualized distancing from Freud's original vivid words. Here, we focus on seven critical terms for core psychoanalytic concepts: Ich/I, Es/it, Überich/superego, Transference (Übertragung), Countertransference (Gegenübertragung), Psyche/Soul (Psyche/Seele), psychoanalysis and (surprisingly) schizophrenia. We suggest that the currently popular oral-aural translations from English into Mandarin perpetuate distancing and lead to mis-translations that obscure our foundational concepts. We propose alternative Mandarin translations for some terms and discuss the broader cultural challenges involved in transmitting the heart (and soul) of psychoanalysis with Chinese colleagues.

A river with several different tributary streams: Reflections on the repetition compulsion.

This paper examines the repetition compulsion as a composite structure and explores the elements that are involved in it. After examining the difference between playful repetition, which promotes psychic development, and the repetition compulsion, which obstructs psychic change, the author discusses Freud's models of the repetition compulsion (as the return of the repressed vs an expression of the death drive). Further elements that contribute to the repetition compulsion include the role of a primitive, punitive superego, the persistence of raw, unsymbolized elements, obsessional doubt, the retreat into timeless states of mind as well as a re-entry mechanism in certain psychotic patients. Finally, the failure of reparative processes seems to be a central mechanism in sustaining the repetition compulsion. Brief clinical vignettes illustrate the author's arguments.

The working of values in ethics and religion.

This paper attempts to understand further the working of values in ethics and religion. Its premise is that the psyche is organized by its internal objects, and that understanding the effective working of values therefore requires understanding the relevant internal objects. It begins with a brief outline of the history of internal objects in the thought of Freud, Klein, Fairbairn, Winnicott and Loewald, and suggests that they are best thought of as "phenomenological" in nature, meaning that, whether conscious or unconscious, they appear in the mind without an enduring substrate. Using the thought of Loewald and of the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas in particular, it suggests that the functioning of "allegory" offers an important avenue to understanding how certain internal objects act to organize the psyche hierarchically on a basis of values including ethical ones. "Religious objects" may then be understood as a subclass of "allegorical objects", acting analogously to Levinas's "face of the other" and experienced as giving access to "transcendent" (commanding) values. Such values are not adequately described by traditional accounts of a superego and require a deepening of the psychoanalytic dialogue with philosophy.

A incidência do supereu no gozo toxicomaníaco e a contingência no percurso do tratamento / The role of the superego in drug addiction and contingencies during treatment / La incidencia del Superyó en la drogadicción y la contingencia en el curso del tratamiento

Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar a função do supereu, e de seu imperativo de gozo na toxicomania, e a consequente participação da culpa, além das condições de possibilidade de rompimento dessa relação entre o sujeito e a droga. Por meio do referencial psicanalítico, compreende-se que, na toxicomania, trata-se de uma relação de gozo entre um sujeito e o objeto droga, na qual, por vezes, o sujeito se reduz à própria droga. Este é um estudo qualitativo, em que foram realizados cinco estudos de caso. Para coleta de dados, foi utilizada uma série de quatro entrevistas semiestruturadas com cada um dos cinco participantes que, no momento da coleta, encontravam-se em um tratamento de internação para toxicomania. Os resultados foram apresentados no formato de cinco fragmentos. As análises foram realizadas a partir das contribuições do ensino psicanalítico. Os principais resultados apontam que, na prática clínica, é delicado fortalecer o supereu por meio da culpa. Quanto ao rompimento da relação com a droga, ela ocorreu sempre de maneira imprevisível.

This study aimed to investigate the role of the superego, and its imperative of enjoyment, in drug addiction; and the consequent participation of guilt; besides the conditions that may lead to the end of the relationship between a subject and the drug. Through psychoanalytic theory, it is understood that drug addiction is a relationship of enjoyment between a subject and the drug object, in which, at times, the subject is reduced to the drug. This is a qualitative study, in which five case studies were carried out. For the collection of data, a series of four semi-structured interviews were used with each participant, who, at the time of research, were undergoing inpatient treatment for drug addiction. The interviews were analyzed based on the contributions of the clinical approach of psychoanalysis. The main results indicate that, in clinical practice, it is difficuly to strengthen the superego through guilt; as for breaking the relationship with the drug, it has always occurred unpredictably.

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo investigar la función del superyó, y de su imperativo de disfrute, en la drogadicción; y, por consiguiente, la participación de la culpa; además de las condiciones de posibilidad de ruptura de esa relación entre el sujeto y la droga. Por medio del referencial psicoanalítico, se comprende que la toxicomanía se trata de una relación de disfrute entre un sujeto y el objeto droga, en la que, a veces, el sujeto se reduce a la propia droga. Este es un estudio cualitativo, en el que se realizaron cinco estudios de caso. Para la recolección de datos se utilizó una serie de cuatro entrevistas semiestructuradas con cada uno de los participantes, que, en el momento del estudio, se encontraban internados para el tratamiento de toxicomanía. El análisis de las entrevistas fue realizado a partir de las contribuciones del abordaje clínico del psicoanálisis. Los principales resultados apuntan que, en la práctica clínica, es delicado fortalecer el superyó por medio de la culpa; en cuanto a la ruptura de la relación con la droga, ocurrió siempre de manera imprevisible.

Transferencia y materialización [accomplissement] de los procesos de pensamiento / Transference and the materialization of thought processes / Transfer et accomplissement des processus de pensée

La historia de la teorización metapsicológica de la transferencia permite captar que esta concierne antes que nada a la procesualidad implicada en las diversas modalidades de trabajo psíquico. Una transposición de los procesos inconscientes sobre un otro debe tener lugar con el fin de que los procesos devengan eficientes por vía de una identificación con los procesos de pensamiento de este otro. La transferencia de autoridad sobre un otro anticipa la futura identificación fundadora. Los tratamientos psicoanalíticos de pacientes que presentan una afección somática permiten una reflexión sobre la implicación del mecanismo de transposición en el fundamento de la transferencia en la sesión

A historical look at the metapsychological theorization of transference reveals that it pertains first and foremost to the procedurality involved in the diverse modalities of psychic work. A transposition of the unconscious processes onto another must take place in arder for the processes to become efficient, by way of an identification with the thought processes of this other. The transference of authority onto another anticipates the future founding identification. The psychoanalytic treatment of patients presenting with a somatic condition enables a reflection upan the involvement of the mechanism of transposition in the foundation of the transference in the session

L'histoire de la théorisation métapsychologique du transf ert permet de saisir que celui-ci concerne avant tout la processualité engagée dans les di verses modalités de travail psychique. Une transposition sur un autre des processus inconscients doit avoir lieu afin que ces processus deviennent efficients par le biais d'une identification aux processus de pensée de cet autre. Le transfert d'autorité sur un autre anticipe la future identification fondatrice. Les traitements psychanalytiques de patients présentant une atteinte somatique permettent une réflexion sur l'implication du mécanisme de transposition au fondement du transf ert de séance