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In the Eastern philosophical paradigm, as in psychoanalytic theory, there are two distinct frameworks for the concept of self. On the one hand, self is viewed as a construction, the aggregate of self representations acquired as a result of experiences with the object world. In contrast, a second frame of reference equates the self with the subjective center of experience. This split between subjectively and objectively referenced self functions has a parallel in the subject–object duality of personal experience. However, Eastern philosophy teaches that the subject–object distinction is illusory and that self can be transcended.
This paper reviews concepts of self derived from classical psychoanalysis as well as self psychology and object relations theory, and explores the relevance of the Eastern philosophical paradigm for psychoanalytic theory. It is argued that the experience of self arises in relation to the self-referent, self-organizing ability that is the distinctive hallmark of the human knowing system. Similarly, the human being is endowed with the tendency to conceptualize the self as agent—to infer the existence of a reified separate “someone”
Dr. Schuman is Associate Professor of Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles.
Acknowledgment. The author wishes to thank Dr. William Bauer for valuable comments on an earlier draft of this article.
who experiences our experience. Implications of this view for the psychoanalytic endeavor are discussed.