Narcissism and the varieties of self-love

In Freud's group psychology, the leader alone retains his primary narcissism. Each member of the group loves the leader, while the leader loves himself.

 

Chapter 5 of Vengeance in Reverse recalls how Jean-Pierre Dupuy deconstructs this schema: the leader's love for himself is not self-sufficient–it is fed by the crowd of others who love him.

 

In Freud, Judge of Sigmund, we reread Freud in the light of Rousseau. The leader's blissful indifference is Rousseau's amour de soi; the members of the crowd must surmount the jealous self-regard dubbed amour-propre in Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques.

 

We show that Freud ends up retracing the path which led Rousseau from the state of nature to the social contract–with the leader standing in for the general will!