The Ego and the Flesh An Introduction to Egoanalysis [Paperback]

Is our ego but an illusion, a mere appearance produced by a reality that is foreign to us? Is it the main source of violence and injustice? Jacob Rogozinski calls into question these prejudices that dominate current philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the human sciences. Arguing that we must distinguish the true ego from the alienated and narcissistic construct, he calls for an end to egicide, or the destruction of the ego.Ego and the Fleshoffers a critique of the two masters of egicide, Heidegger and Lacan, along with a rereading of Descartes, who was the first to discover the absolute truth of I am. The book's main purpose, however, is to provide an entirely new theory of the self,egoanalysis, which reveals a divided ego-flesh. Constantly striving to attain unity, the ego-flesh is haunted by aremainder, whose role sheds light on various enigmas: the encounter with the other, the passage from hate to love, the death and the resurrection of the I. For ego-analysis is no mere theory: it opens the way to our deliverance.Jacob Rogozinski is Professor of Philosophy and Metaphysics at the Marc-Bloch University, Strasbourg. He is the author ofLe don de la loi: Kant et l'?nigme de l'?thique(1999) andFaire part: cryptes de Derrida(2005).This book criticizes theories, dominant today, that reduce the self to a simple illusion, proposing a new theory of the ego that allows us to better understand our existence and our relations with others. Against the grain of contemporary deconstructions of the subject, Jacob Rogozinski argues brilliantly for a return to 'the truth of the ego.' He develops an original egoanalysis that reveals an intermittent, incarnate and chiasmatic ego, or 'ego-flesh.' His is an impressive achievement, one that will raise anew the irreducible question to which philosophy must always return: 'Who am I?' [C]aptivating and thought-provoking . . . The book truly manages not merely to ask the question 'Who am I?' but also brillÀ