Psychoanalysis, the Self, and the World: Postphenomenology, Consciousness, and Death

Description

This book takes psychoanalysis into the 21st century, examining issues of existentialism, postphenomenology, social media, and death and death anxiety that have gone largely ignored in the psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic literature. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, Leffert explains that it is impossible to close the door of the consulting room. The therapeutic relationship is invaded by the outside world and its relationships for both patient and therapist and cannot be isolated from these influences. Drawing on richly detailed case studies, Leffert demonstrates how the internet, social media, and the metaverse have changed and expanded the self in ways that could not have been imagined in the last century. In turn, Leffert acknowledges recent advances in the neurosciences, and addresses the lack of engagement with their implications for theories and practices of therapeutic action. Finally, the ways in which death and death anxiety impinge on the self, which have also gone mostly undealt with in psychoanalytic literature, become an important focus of this book. As a novel exploration of interdisciplinary connections, this book will be of use to both scholars and practitioners of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, social network theory, philosophy, and neuroscience. Cover Endorsements Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. So Why Do We Need Philosophy Anyway?: Phenomenology, Postmodernism, and the Plague in the Psychoanalytic Workplace Introduction Phenomenology Existentialism The Plagues The Postmodern Turn To Sum Up 2. The Evo-Devo of Phenomenology and Prephenomenology Introduction Evo-Devo Paleoanthropology, the Evo-Devo of Human Mental Hardware: An Archaeology of the Self Prephenomenology Becoming Us—The Passing of Prephenomenology and the Advent of Phenomenology The Devo of Phenomenology 3. Postphenomenology and Its Evo-Devo Introduction A Brief History of Postphenomenology Postphenomenal Neuroscience and Its Evo-Devo Cyborgs Smartphones—The Quintessential Postphenomenal Tool Cyberspace The Psychology of Cyberspace and Its Inhabitants Virtual Relationships Existentialism and Absurdity in Cyberspace Conclusions 4. Consciousness and Unconsciousness: A Fresh Appraisal Introduction Where We Have Gotten to—A Brief History Complexity and Consciousness Animal Consciousness? So Where Do We Go from Here? Toward a Philosophy of Consciousness The Preconscious Revisited Consciousness, Absurdity, and Meaning 5. Death and Death Anxiety: A Further Search for Meaning Introduction My Appointment in Samarra Death Death Anxiety Suicide Afterword Index