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I have often heard it stated that it is of questionable value to give much space to the teaching of Freud because new developments make the study of old papers mainly a matter of historical interest; I consider that the reading of this book will strongly challenge that belief.
This is the second volume in the series 'Contemporary Freud: Turning Points and Critical Issues'. It has the advantage that the starting-point is Freud's seminal 1914 paper 'On narcissism: an introduction'. As the editors of this volume point out, this paper was clearly an introduction: Freud's initiation of a long-running discussion. In short, this is an infinitely explorable topic, clearly intended to promote further development and its greatness must also be the invitation to create new understanding.
The editors take up this quest, with the result that they have invited very distinguished contributors from widely differing viewpoints to contribute ten separate essays. All the contributors place their work in the context of Freud's evolving thought and on the whole they retain the spirit that the new developments since 1914 (and there have been many) are themselves also the basis for further growth in understanding.
It is obviously not my task to add yet another critical analysis of Freud's paper, nor is it possible for me to do justice to these ten extremely interesting essays; all I can do is to highlight that which is most meaningful to me and, as far as I am able, to do some justice to those who have different emphases. What stands out, in the first instance, is the enormous value of re-reading Freud's original paper. Written in fine clear prose with a breadth of vision, this enables a degree of resonance in the mind of the reader. It is a big step forward from narcissism=auto-eroticism, and Freud spells out that narcissism is both a perversion and also part of the egoism of self-preservation—a measure of which may justifiably be attributed to every living creature. He traces th