Books
The Prometheus Molds
An Introduction to an Evolutionary Psychology of the Self
In the Greek Mythology, Prometheus was a Titan that survived the formidable ferocious war between the Gods and the Titans. Prometheus had a vision and a dream: He desired to create a human being. Prometheus provided the newborn being with traits borrowed from the animal world to create human drives and needs. Prometheus borrowed some of the wisdom from Athene, to grant the newborn creature with a meaningful existence. He took some of the sparkling lights from the stars to form human high values and ambitions. Finally, Prometheus had stolen the sparks of fire from Helios chariot to enable the new human to create his human cultures. With this heritage human being forms, mental molds and paradigms to generate meanings in an existentially meaningless universe. The book describes and analyses concepts of the self and theories of the mind construed by prominent theoreticians. The author concludes that the self is conceived as the mental projection of the human organism and that the formation of paradigms of meanings is generated by natural selection and is the basic need of the human being. Consequently, it seems that the human being does not seek meaning as suggested by Victor Frenkel.
Beyond The Empty Mirror
In Zen-Buddhism the enlightened consciousness could metaphorically be represented by a mirror endowed by three main attributes:
- The mirror represents the world but has nothing of its own
- The mirror does not refuse any reflection
- The mirror is dynamic and in constant change within a world of never-ending transformations.
The Zen Mirror may be compared to the psychological mirror that does not reflect the truth or objective reality apparently presented by the care-seeker. The mirror offered by the therapist, named counter transference, involves the persona of the therapist as created by the car-seeker and the projection of his experiences during and beyond the therapy session. The meeting place between the care-seeker and the caregiver, the therapist, creates a new existential reality which is the gift of therapy to the care-seeker. The book deals with existential issues such as the value and meaning of life, the struggle with “internal demons”, determinism vs. free will, death and life, the desire for the “secure place” in a virtual world, and the split between good and evil. It also contains theoretical issues such as the secret of psychotherapy and the developmental spiral of the self. Other subjects are clinical issues such as the prevalence of the narcissistic personality in modern society, personal reflections and experiences by the caregiver, and many vignettes that demonstrate and illustrate theoretical ideas described in the book.