This thesis uses Buddhist thought and the Buddhist theory of the construction and defense of self to help organize and understand psychoanalytic theories of the self. It begins with a summary of Theravada Buddhist thought, followed by a review of the Mahayana critique of Theravada thought. Viewing the self as an internally contradictory set of concepts, Mahayana thought understands self belief as a universal, necessary, and important part of experience, but also sees it as a delusion, a defended construction which causes suffering.
The thesis uses this Buddhist perspective to critique psychoanalytic theories of the self. Differing psychoanalytic theories are understood as articulations of the different aspects of self belief, and the theoretical differences between them are regarded as exemplifications of the contradictions inherent in self belief--particularly the way in which the self seems both central and ephemeral. The self theories of Freud, Hartmann, Federn, Erikson, Jacobson, Mahler, Kernberg, Sandler, Kohut, Lichtenstein, George Klein, Schafer, and Eisnitz are reviewed in turn. Freud's thought and Ego Psychology are understood as implicit theories of the self as illusion. The difficulty such theories have encountered in articulating the sense of personal agency at the core of self feeling has led to increasing attempts to develop a psychoanalytic theory of self, attempts which often, however, fall prey to errors of self reification, and the internal contradictions of self belief.
The final chapters of the thesis argue that Mahayana Buddhist thought can provide an overall intellectual framework to help organize differing psychoanalytic theories into a comprehensive theory of self. They also present arguments that Mahayana thought: (1) Can help articulate a psychoanalytic view of the self as fluid and rapidly changing; (2) Implies that experiences of merger and non-separation do not end in childhood, but constitute a major, ongoing part of adult experience; and (3) Can help show a way to integrate a more organized view of the fear of death into psychoanalytic theory. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of parallels between the processes of psychoanalysis and of long-term meditation.
