The wisdom of the ego
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The wisdom of the ego
Harvard University Press, 1995
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
One of America's preeminent psychiatrists draws on his famous Study of Adult Development to give us an exhilarating look at how the mind's defenses work. What we see as the mind's trickery, George Vaillant tells us, is actually healthy. What's more, it can reveal the mind at its most creative and mature, soothing and protecting us in the face of unbearable reality, managing the unmanageable, ordering disorder. And because creativity is so intrinsic to this alchemy of the ego, Vaillant mingles his studies of obscure lives with psychobiographies of famous artists and others--including Florence Nightingale, Sylvia Plath, Anna Freud, and Eugene O'Neill.
Table of Contents
* Introduction *1. Why Praise the Human Ego? *2. A Matter of Definition *3. Self-Deceptions of Everyday Life *4. Necessary Questions *5. How Can We Prove That Defenses Exist? *6. The Ego and Adult Development *7. Life Histories *8. The Ego and Creativity *9. Sylvia Plath: Creativity and Psychotic Defenses *10. Anna Freud: Mature Defenses *11. Eugene O'Neill: The Maturation of Defenses *12. Disadvantage, Resilience, and Mature Defenses *13. How Does the Ego Mature? * Notes * Acknowledgments * Credits * Index
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