Chessick brings unique qualifications to his scholarly writings in psychoanalysis and psychiatry. Well-trained in one of the most open-minded creative centers of psychoanalytic training in Chicago, he followed his inner cravings for further knowledge by adding a Ph.D. in philosophy to his name, representing, as he indicates, a search for lost idealization figures like Plato, who held out hope for an ordered intellectual world and civilized dialogues. He brings this deep scholarly searching, clarifying inclination to his writings, his perspectives, and his work.

This book consists mostly of a collection of previously published papers, with the exception of the preface, first chapter, and epilogue. The preface is well-chosen to give the book coherence and breadth. Theoretical discussions