Read more
From a multi-disciplinary perspective grounded in psychoanalysis, this book explores the manifestations of mind that distinguish humans from other species, culture, civilization and destructiveness.
List of contents
1. Introduction: The Mutually Enriching Contributions of the Psychoanalytic Theory of Mind and the Biological Theory of Evolution to Understanding the Uniqueness of Human Civilization and Human Destructivess 2. Homo Destrudo: The Manifestations of Human Destructiveness 3. Human Destructiveness in Mythology and Fiction 4. A History of the Contributions and Limitations of Psychoanalysis and Other Disciplines to the Understanding of Human Destructiveness 5. The Difference Between Humans and Other Primate Species: Complex Learning and the Accumulation and Intergenerational Transmission of Knowledge 6. The Theory of Evolution and its Limitations Comprehending the Human Difference 7. Revising the Theory of Evolution to Account for the Human Difference 8. The Unique Nature of Human Mind: Reflective Representational Thought 9. The Origins of Reflective Thought and Human Individuality During the Attachment-Separation Phase of Development 10. The Basic Principles Governing the Social Organization of Species 11. Human Social Organization in the Beginning: Inferences from Remaining Human Tribes 12. Evolution of the Human Social Difference Through the Acquisition and Intergenerational Transmission of Knowledge 13. The Developmental Origins of Individual Destructiveness: The Interaction of Biology and Learning 14. Individual Human Destructivess: From Failures of Self-Care to the Spectrum of Psychoses 15. Individual Human Destructiveness: Four Patients and a Former President 16. Social Destructiveness: The Clash Between Groups: Belief versus Belief, Belief verus Reflective Thought, and Reflective Thought verus Reflective Thought 17. Civilization and the Confusing Interaction of Constructive and Destructive Forces 18. Implications of a Psychoanalytic Understanding of the Human Difference Based on a Revised Theory of Evolution for Society and for the Fate of Our Species
About the author
Michael Robbins is a psychoanalyst, member of the American and International Psychoanalytic Societies, former professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and author of 5 previous books and more than 40 articles in refereed journals.
Summary
From a multi-disciplinary perspective grounded in psychoanalysis, this book explores the manifestations of mind that distinguish humans from other species, culture, civilization and destructiveness.
