Becoming a Subject: Reflections in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Marcia Cavell Draws On Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, And The Sciences Of The Mind In A Fascinating And Original Investigation Of Human Subjectivity. A 'subject' Is A Creature, We May Say, Who Recognizes Herself As An 'i', Taking In The World From Her Own Subjective Perspective; Who Is An Agent, Doing Things For Reasons, Sometimes Self-reflective, And Able To Assume Responsibility For Herself And Some Of Her Actions. The Idea Of A 'subject' Points, Then, Toward An Ideal. It Asks For The Conditions Under Which A Human Infant Becomes A Subject, And For The Sorts Of Things, Like Self-deception And Massive Anxiety, That Get In The Way. What Sorts Of Questions Are These? Certainly Philosophical. They Burrow Into Central Issues In Moral Philosophy: Freedom Of The Will, The 'self', Self-knowledge, The Relations Between Reason And Passion, Between Autonomy And Self-knowledge, Issues That Form Roughly The Second Half Of The Book. They Lead Also Into Metaphysics And Epistemology: Is Subjectivity Incompatible With Objectivity? Are Subjects Not Also Objects In The Real World? As Such, How Are They To Be Treated? Would It Be Possible, In Theory, For A Creature To Become A Subject In The Absence Of Relationships With Other Subjects? But The Questions Are Also Practical. In Particular They Are At The Heart Of Psychoanalysis Both As A Theory Of The Mind, And As A Therapy Which Aims At Maximizing The Ideals Of Autonomy And Self-knowledge Implicit In The Very Idea Of A 'subject'. One Of The Guiding Premises Of Becoming A Subject Is That Philosophical Investigation Into The Specifically Human Way Of Being In The World Cannot Separate Itself From Investigations Of A More Empirical Sort. Cavell Brings Together For The First Time Reflections In Philosophy, Findings In Neuroscience, Studies In Infant Development, Psychoanalytic Theory, And Clinical Vignettes From Her Own Psychoanalytic Practice.--book Cover. Neuroscience, Psychoanalysis, And Memory -- The Anxious Animal -- Keeping Time : Remembering, Repeating, And Working Through -- Triangulation : The Social Character Of Thought -- On Judgment -- Self-reflections -- Irrationality And Self-transcendance -- Freedom And Understanding -- Valuing Emotions -- Self-knowledge And Self-discovery. Marcia Cavell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [168]-178) And Index.