http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/196148145

The psychoanalysis of the total personality the application of Freud's theory of the ego to the neuroses

"In elaborating upon the relations of the id, ego and super-ego to the neuroses and the psychoses, Professor Freud came to the very significant conclusion that the neurosis represents a conflict between the ego and the id (the instinctive needs); the psychosis between the ego and the outer world; and the narcissistic neurosis a struggle between the ego and super-ego. The differentiation of the mental apparatus into an id, ego and super-ego thus resulted in a clearer understanding of the dynamic relations within the mind. For in the same work Professor Freud saw fit to revise his views of the instincts. Hitherto when one spoke of the instincts one always thought of hunger and love but, hand in hand with the elaborations of the ego theories, Professor Freud distinguished two classes of instincts, one of which is the erotic or sexual instinct and the other the death instinct, the representation of which is sadism. The former or life instinct comprises not only the uninhibited sexual instinct and the impulses of a sublimated or aim-inhibited nature derived from it, but also the self-preservation instincts, which also belong to the ego. The latter or the death instinct has for its task the reduction of organic matter to the inorganic state. To continue further with these fascinating theories and problems of the various ego organizations and the life and death instincts as manifested in the neuroses and psychoses would lead us into fields that belong to the author. Numerous papers have been written in the effort to further elucidate some of the problems stimulated by Professor Freud, but none in my opinion has accomplished the task as well as Dr. Alexander in the present volume. The very title of the book shows the author's ambitious undertaking. Like many of us, Dr. Alexander must have been fired with enthusiasm on reading the "Ego and the Id" but unlike most of us he felt bold enough to apply these theories to a mass of interesting material. And yet Dr. Alexander makes very modest claims; in the introduction to this volume he tells us that his contribution to Professor Freud's problem of the neuroses consists in only one point, namely, in the general significance of the neurotic mechanism of self-punishment--the neurotic suffering--for the formation of the symptom. The reader will find that this was a task of great magnitude, excellently performed. "The Psychoanalysis of the Total Personality" offers a clear presentation of the development of the ego, its role in the neuroses and psychoses, and of the basic instincts of the neuroses and perversions. The author has the capacity for presenting difficult and intricate problems in a very lucid and simple way so that the book will be read with benefit and interest not only by psychoanalysts but also by jurists and intelligent laymen. A friendly relation with the author and a thorough understanding of the spirit of his work enabled Drs. Glueck and Lewin to make an excellent English edition of this volume"--Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

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