“Tragic Man” in the Field of Tension between Fear of the Future, Self-Optimization, and Epidemic Loneliness? On the Need to Consider Social Dynamics as a Constant Influencing Factor in the Psychoanalytic Process

Can Kohut’s concept of the “Tragic Man” (Tragic Person) shed light on current psychological dynamics in the context of multiple crises in highly developed, capitalistically organized Western societies? To approach this question, I will first illustrate the connection between the crises-ridden social development and personal experience in modern Western society on a widespread ideal-typical phenomenon—the optimization of oneself. This correlates with the fears of loss of control and future negative expectations that have penetrated far into the middle of society. Roger Frie's reconceptualization of agency opens up a perspective on a concept of psychological action that is able to take into account both the permanent (often pre-reflective) social influences on consciousness and the (confirming, questioning …) repercussions of the moral decisions or actions based on them on social structures. In terms of the therapeutic process, this can be combined with the need for sensitivity to “the emergence of personel worlds within relational worlds“ (p. 241). Based on Kohut’s shift from truth-seeking to empathy as a central value of psychoanalysis, Donna Orange considers attitudes like “intersubjective vulnerability“ as crucial mediating factors. Taking social dynamics like self-optimization into account can thereby facilitate dialogical access to a critically reflective agent acting in the world in the sense of Kohut’s “Tragic Man“ concept with an ethic of relational accountability.