The self as erotic striving

ABSTRACTIn this paper I show that the “narcissistic libido’ out of which the self emerges is best conceived as de-sexualized eros, for this is the kind of energy that can love ideals, love ourselves (self-esteem), and love connecting with others (selfobjects). I draw upon Plato and the late Freud to amplify how seeing the self’s energy as eros allows us to understand the self as daimonic, aesthetic, and developmental—a striving to attain evermore complex versions of itself. Eros is also an “experience-near” way to conceive of the self’s energy, as we immediately know when we are feeling intensely erotic about an activity, another person, a work of art, etc. I will further show how eros can be transformed into sexualization and narcissistic rage when the self is traumatized, thereby explaining why selves have these two kinds of by-products when traumatically injured. Conceiving of the self’s energy as eros gives us an important way to come to know our selves: we are what we love.KEYWORDS: ErosKohutnarcissismPlatoself psychologysexualization Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Quoted by Lear (Citation2005, p. 196). Note that while Freud adopts Plato’s notion of eros as longing to unite with wider forms of connectedness and its seeking of harmony, he does not follow Plato into his mystical realms. That is, he does not think that eros is only fully satisfied when united with the eternal, ethereal form of Beauty.2 See Jane Ellen Harrison’s Themis (Citation1912/2010) for an account of who the daimones were in ancient Greek ritual practices that existed before the invention of the polis.3 For a full development of this Freud/Kohut comparison, see Riker (Citation2017), ch. 4.4 Plotinus in the Hellenistic Age and Ficino in the Florentine Renaissance were two philosophers for whom the Symposium was crucial, and both these philosophers deeply influenced their ages and subsequent epochs.5 Also see chapter 6 of Strozier, et. al.’s The New World of Self.6 Eros has a number of doppelgängers, including infatuation and mania. See Ch. 5 of Riker’s Exploring the Life of the Soul for an exploration of these erotic look-alikes.Additional informationNotes on contributorsJohn Hanwell RikerJohn H. Riker has been a professor of philosophy at Colorado College since 1968 and been named Professor of the Year a record four times. He has published four books intersecting psychoanalysis and ethics, most recently, Exploring the Life of the Soul: Philosophical Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Self Psychology. He was the Kohut Distinguished Professor at the University of Chicago in 2003. He has recently been appointed co-editor in chief of Psychoanalysis, Self, and Context.