The Human Difference: Evolution, Civilization – and Destruction

ISBN-13: 9781032580555 / Angielski / Miękka / 2023 / 180 str.

USA) Massachusetts Michael (Boston Psychoanalytic Society

Opis

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.

Recenzje

'In this major achievement Dr Robbins demonstrates the sweep of his scholarship in a stunning analysis of the human difference from other species with regard to mental structure, civilisation and destructiveness. He integrates psychoanalysis with evolution theory, primatology and sociology and examines manifestations of human destructiveness that have no parallel in other species such as murder, war, persecution and devastation of the environment related to the explosive increase in human population.'

Henry Lothane, clinical professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine

'Robbins penetrates the mystery of the leap from body to mind and explores the origins of civilisation and malignant human destructiveness. He explains Freud's limited understanding of biology and introduces the role of neoteny and dependency on caregives in the acquisition of a second mental process unique to humans. His experience in treating the psychoses helps Robbins to revise the theory of evolution and integrate it with psychoanalytic theory, offering a deeper understanding of human nature. Original and fascinating!' 

Riccardo Lombardi, MD, author of Body-Mind Dissociation and Formless Infinity

Spis treści

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

O autorze

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.