The Self and the Body: II. The Embodied Self—Self vs. Nonself

This is the second in a series of papers developing the psychoanalytic theory of the self as embodied in relation to previously discussed concepts of body, body self, and body image. Embodiment is heterogeneous and has differentiable implications depending on the degree and nature of varying areas of bodily experience, particularly in relation to CNS functioning. The body is involved in human experience as both subject and object, and in varying degrees in divergent contexts. Within this general frame of reference, there is room for distinction of self from nonself even within the body as ordinarily perceived. Forms of nonself considered include ingested objects, the fetus in pregnancy, infectious agents, disease processes such as cancer, organ transplants, and prosthetic devices (internal and external). Phantom limb experiences focus the persistent influence of the body image in the absence of parts of the body or body self. At the level of immunological reactivity, discrimination of self from nonself is central to immune defenses and autoimmune disorders. The relation of these clinical conditions to the integrity of the body self and body image are explored and implications for psychoanalytic understanding suggested.