Self and Others

Self and Others is a psychological study by R. D. Laing, first published in 1961. It was re-issued in a second edition (1969), which (in Laing's words) was “extensively revised, without being changed in any fundamental way”.^[1]

The book formed part of a series of writings by Laing in the 1960s on the relationship of madness to the self within a social context or nexus,^[2] writings which created something of a cult of Laing at the time.^[3]

Structure

Self and Others is divided into two parts, called respectively 'Modes of Interpersonal Experience' and 'Forms of Interpersonal Action'. In the first part, Laing sets out from a critique of the Kleinian view of unconscious phantasy, as set out by Susan Sutherland Isaacs, for its lack of recognition of the interpersonal dialectics inherent in human experience.^[4] He also uses Kleinian thought to emphasize the omnipresence of social phantasy systems.^[5]

In the second part, Laing explored the extent to which an individual is or is not invested in their own actions, using ideas drawn from Martin Buber and Jean-Paul Sartre.^[6] He also extended the American concept of the double bind to cover the experience of the schizoid patient.^[7]

In both sections, Laing uses material from Dostoyevsky to illustrate his theoretical points.^[8]

See also

• Antipsychiatry
• David Cooper
• Existential psychotherapy