Editor's Introduction: Power

Early psychoanalytic theory of motivation centered upon sexual and self-preservatory instincts (Freud, 1905, 1915). Later, both these motivations were subsumed under the broad rubric of “life instinct” and the concept of “death instinct”, of which aggression was an outward manifestation, was added (Freud, 1920). As clinical experience accumulated and psychoanalytic theory grew in tandem, it became clear that forces other than sex and agression also impelled the mind to act. Prominent among these were concerns pertaining to attachment and object relations (Fairbairn, 1952; Bowlby, 1969; Guntrip, 1969) and to self-expression and self-coherence (Kohutt, 1977). While all this has come to be well-recognized (Pine, 1990), what still remains unknown is that the drive for mastery (Hendrick, 1942), the need to be understood and “known” by others (Bion, 1967), and the search for epistemolphilic satisfaction (Nunberg, 1931; Steinberg, 1993) are also important motivations for human beings.

The list does not end here, as there is yet another factor that motivates the human mind. This involves the desire for power. Ethel Person's book Feeling Strong: The Achivement of Authentic Power deals with this very subject. Person offers a wide-ranging and textured elucidation of the concept of power, greatly expanding narrow and limited use of the term in the sense of dominating others. In her characteristically erudite manner, which draws examples from clinical practise, movies, and literature, Person highlights the central role of power in the psychosocial experience of human beings. She distinguishes between related phenomena in this realm (e.g. agency, narcissim, assertiveness) and explores the relationship between power and authenticity as well as power and an overall sense of authorship of one's life. Her book is reviewed here by Christine Fischetti, a bright psychologist-psychoanalyst from Pittsburgh. Fischetti offers a pithy and sophisticated reading of Person's book, admiring its n