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Narcissism as Double Direction. Lou Andreas-Salomé.
The “Tri-theon” of the Ancient Hindus. P. C. van der Wolk.
Character and Married Life of Henry VIII. J. C. Flügel.
The Self. Dr. Geza Röheim. (Concluded.)
Robert Lach's “Studien zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der ornamentalen Melopöie.” Dr. S. Pfeifer.
1. Narcissism as Double Direction.—The author considers, as Freud does, that narcissism denotes more than mere autoerotism. The self is loved as an object so that egoism really becomes a libido problem and narcissism is concerned with the perfecting of the ego. Self-love then accompanies every stage of development and forms the deep basis of object love as well as of the highest ethical and cultural aspirations of humanity. It is only in the taking possession of an object outside itself that the sexual energy can be distinguished from the ego instincts. The libido is merely the link between the desired individuality and the reaching out of the latter to conjugation with another.
The writer lays emphasis upon this side of narcissism which reaches back to the ego consciousness to identify or weld it with all as the final positive goal of the libido. This is accomplished in the taking possession of an object, in the establishment of one's own value, in narcissistic transformation into artistic creations.
In the child the distinctness of the self as an object is only becoming established, in the psychotic it is dissolving. The latter comes to the point where his ego no longer transfers to individual things and so he himself is no longer an individual. The overvaluation of a love object is narcissistically conditioned in the fact that it represents an overflow of the self-love upon the object. This is ego love although there is another sort of ego love which finds its goal only in the ego. The libidinous character of libido appears first as love is directed toward an object. The object becomes the “symbol” of all that the ego would find in it. It is the subjec