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In our contemporary cultural atmosphere, where self-acclaim easily mixes with insults, Giuseppe Civitarese's short but dense book, On Arrogance, is particularly important and illuminating. Drawing extensively on psychoanalytic theory, classic literature, and continental philosophy, Civitarese defines arrogance as a clinical syndrome, a tragic flaw of psychoanalysis, and a cultural phenomenon. He does not stop at being a mere diagnostician and also offers a way out (offering a cure would itself risk being arrogant).
In the first section (pp. 12–46), Civitarese defines arrogance in a multidimensional and complex manner, using literature and pop culture as guides. His initial definition focuses on arrogance as a relational style with two directly connected components: aggrandizing the self and belittling the other. Arrogance is not equivalent to pride, although it is closely connected. In terms of bodily metaphors, pride puffs up the chest while arrogance looks down on others (as astutely displayed on the book's cover art). Despite their apparent disdain for others, arrogant individuals desperately need others to carry out their relational style.
The object-destructive yet object-dependent nature of arrogance lends itself to be viewed as a form of projective identification. The arrogant individual splits off the shameful and belittled aspect of the self and repeatedly forces others to identify with it through a projected atmosphere of haughtiness and scorn. Civitarese points out that arrogance easily leads to sadomasochistic relationships and can be analyzed using George Wilhelm Hegel's articulation of master–slave dynamics. Civitarese examines a litany of paradigmatically arrogant characters ranging from Charlus in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time to Dr. Robert Romano from the popular TV show ER. He shows that the unapproachable bravado of arrogance often hides vulnerability and loneliness, alluding to disavowed wishes for feminine, maternal, and tender connection