The article describes the specific psychodynamics of ‘destructive narcissism’, a configuration which in its effects, if not in its intentions, can truly be said to be ‘destructive’. The two most widely used diagnostic manuals (ICD-10 and DSM-IV) correctly deny it the status of an illness or personality disorder in its own right, as it is more appropriately described as a fundamental anthropological dimension. As such it is similar in status to consciousness, bipersonal reciprocity or self-referentiality. Its aim is the obliteration of the subject-object relation. Destructive narcissism finds expression in a variety of manifestations differing according to context. They include some psychic symptoms and disorders. The article is also a plea for the application of psychoanalysis (enriched by a phenomenological perspective) to the discussion of anthropological issues.