The Right to Narcissism: A Case for an Im-possible Self-love - Softcover

DeArmitt, Pleshette

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0823254445 ISBN 13: 9780823254446

Publisher: Fordham University Press, 2013

Synopsis

This book aims to wrest the concept of narcissism from its common and pejorative meanings― egoism and vanity―by revealing its complexity and importance. DeArmitt undertakes the work of rehabilitating “narcissism” by patiently reexamining the terms and figures that have been associated with it, especially in the writings of Rousseau, Kristeva, and Derrida.

These thinkers are known for incisively exposing a certain (traditional) narcissism that has been operative in Western thought and culture and for revealing the violence it has wrought― from the dangers of amour-propre and the pathology of a collective “one’s own” to the phantasm of the sovereign One. Nonetheless, each of these thinkers denounces the naive denunciation of “narcissism,” as the dangers of a non-negotiation with narcissism are more perilous. By rethinking “narcissism” as a complex structure of self-relation through the Other, the book reveals the necessity of an im-possible self-love.

About this title

About the Author:

Pleshette DeArmitt is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis. She is co-editor of Sarah Kofman’s Corpus.

Review:

“Deftly working at the intersection of philosophy, psychoanalysis, and literature, DeArmitt makes a fascinating case for self-love, or narcissism. With subtle and incisive readings of Rousseau, Kristeva and Derrida, DeArmitt shows the necessity for rethinking narcissism as an ethics of otherness.” (―Kelly Oliver Vanderbilt University)

A fascinating book. . . highly recommend. (―Choice)

“Pleshette DeArmitt's gem of a book, The Right to Narcissism, makes a cogent, timely, and well-crafted case in support of reclaiming the concept of narcissism from the pejorative meanings with which it has most commonly been associated for much of the modern era.” (―Elissa Marder Emory University)

About this edition

• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0823254445
• ISBN 13: 9780823254446
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208