Table Of Content‘Mark Leffert has shown himself to be the most creative analyst writing
today. In this book, in keeping with his other innovative contributions,
he demonstrates that modern psychoanalysis is intimately linked with
developing knowledge in the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, psychol-
ogy and existential thought. The new work extends and enriches our
understanding of psychoanalysis as does none other in the contemporary
literature. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the life of the
mind.’
Theodore Jacobs, training and supervising analyst at the New York
Psychoanalytic Institute and the New York University Psychoanalytic
Institute
‘Leffert elegantly guides us through multiple personal and social mean-
ings to place contemporary psychoanalysis in the context of human evo-
lution and development. He integrates phenomenology, existentialism,
and confronting death. This book offers the reader a profound synthetic
cognitive adventure and is strongly recommended for all clinicians and
minds interested in modern psychoanalysis.’
Peter Loewenberg, professor emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles
Psychoanalysis, the Self,
and the World
This book takes psychoanalysis into the 21st century, examining issues of
existentialism, postphenomenology, social media, and death and death anx-
iety that have gone largely ignored in the psychoanalytic and psychothera-
peutic literature.
Using an interdisciplinary perspective, Leffert explains that it is impos-
sible to close the door of the consulting room. The therapeutic relationship
is invaded by the outside world and its relationships for both patient and
therapist and cannot be isolated from these influences. Drawing on richly
detailed case studies, Leffert demonstrates how the internet, social media,
and the metaverse have changed and expanded the self in ways that could not
have been imagined in the last century. In turn, Leffert acknowledges recent
advances in the neurosciences and addresses the lack of engagement with
their implications for theories and practices of therapeutic action. Finally, the
ways in which death and death anxiety impinge on the self, which have also
gone mostly undealt with in psychoanalytic literature, become an important
focus of this book.
As a novel exploration of interdisciplinary connections, this book will be
of use to both scholars and practitioners of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis,
social network theory, philosophy, and neuroscience.
Mark Leffert was educated in medicine, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis in
New York and California. He has maintained a practice of psychotherapy
and psychoanalysis in Del Mar, Minneapolis, and, currently, Santa Barbara.
He has been on the faculty of five psychoanalytic institutes and has been a
training and supervising analyst at four of them. He is the author of six prior
books and several papers.
Psychoanalysis, the Self,
and the World
Postphenomenology, Consciousness,
and Death
Mark Leffert
Designed cover image: Untitled, Mark Leffert, Mixed Media, 2005, Photo
by Author
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Mark Leffert
The right of Mark Leffert to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Leffert, Mark, author.
Title: Psychoanalysis, the self and the world : postphenomenology,
consciousness, and death / Mark Leffert.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023.
| Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022029203 (print) | LCCN 2022029204 (ebook) | ISBN
9781032394008 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032394015 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003349556 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis. | Self. | Psychotherapy.
Classification: LCC BF175 .L446 2023 (print) | LCC BF175 (ebook) | DDC
150.19/5--dc23/eng/20220705
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022029203
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022029204
ISBN: 978-1-032-39400-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-39401-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-34955-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003349556
Typeset in Garamond
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
For my Grandchildren, Sarah and Adam
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 So Why Do We Need Philosophy Anyway?: Phenomenology,
Postmodernism, and the Plague in the Psychoanalytic
Workplace 17
Introduction 17
Phenomenology 22
Existentialism 30
The Plagues 31
The Postmodern Turn 40
To Sum Up 46
2 The Evo-Devo of Phenomenology and Prephenomenology 53
Introduction 53
Evo-Devo 56
Paleoanthropology, the Evo-Devo of Human Mental Hardware:
An Archaeology of the Self 58
Prephenomenology 64
Becoming Us—The Passing of Prephenomenology and the Advent
of Phenomenology 69
The Devo of Phenomenology 74
3 Postphenomenology and Its Evo-Devo 85
Introduction 85
A Brief History of Postphenomenology 87
Postphenomenal Neuroscience and Its Evo-Devo 91
