Sexuality, Excess, and Representation: A Psychoanalytic Clinical and Theoretical Perspective

Moral Psychology,” are beautiful and rich displays of Lear’s intimate experience and knowledge of Loewald’s contributions to the field. The last two chapters are about taking responsibility. Putting Coetzee’s literary work to use, Lear forces both himself and the reader to take responsibility—namely, responsibility for injustice. This involves the moral challenge posed to us in owning racism and inequality, and in refusing any attempts to assign these ignoble qualities to others and thereby absolve ourselves. In short, the essays in Wisdom Won from Illness are delightful, thought provoking, engaging, and, in Lear’s own words, committed to life. As he sets out to share his journey from philosophy to psychoanalysis, he writes, “I began studying Aristotle in my twenties, and what captured my imagination was not only the brilliance of his thinking, but also his commitment for life. He was for it” (p. 3). This inspiration exudes from the pages of this book.