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On Ideas of “the Good” and “the Ideal” in George Eliot's Novels and Post-Kleinian Psychoanalytic Thought

On Ideas of “the Good” and “the Ideal” in George Eliot's Novels and Post-Kleinian Psychoanalytic... The American journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 59, No. 3, 1999 ON IDEAS OF "THE GOOD" AND "THE IDEAL" IN GEORGE ELIOT'S NOVELS AND POST- KLEIN IAN PSYCHOANALYTIC THOUGHT Margot Waddell The conflation of the "Good" with the "Ideal" has long muddied the waters of inquiry where matters of morality and ethics are concerned. This paper sets out to draw a distinction between the role of an abstract notion of the Good-in-itself—in speculative terms dangerously close to the "Ideal"— and the seeking after a good that is attainable, and in relation to which people may usefully live their lives. The paper draws on two areas that are at the same time distinct and interestingly similar: the novels of George Eliot and post-Kleinian psychoanalytic theory. Both George Eliot and psy- choanalysts may be said to be engaging with the problem of truthfulness in human affairs and with the role of that truthfulness in the growth and de- velopment of the individual. In each case, where "ideal" sanctions are in- voked, there is a price to be paid. In the novels it is paid aesthetically, since the intrusion of the ideal carries neither philosophical, nor personal, nor artistic conviction. In psychoanalytic terms http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

On Ideas of “the Good” and “the Ideal” in George Eliot's Novels and Post-Kleinian Psychoanalytic Thought

Waddell, Margot
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis , Volume 59 (3) – Oct 16, 2004
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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
Subject
Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1023/A:1021465510688
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The American journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 59, No. 3, 1999 ON IDEAS OF "THE GOOD" AND "THE IDEAL" IN GEORGE ELIOT'S NOVELS AND POST- KLEIN IAN PSYCHOANALYTIC THOUGHT Margot Waddell The conflation of the "Good" with the "Ideal" has long muddied the waters of inquiry where matters of morality and ethics are concerned. This paper sets out to draw a distinction between the role of an abstract notion of the Good-in-itself—in speculative terms dangerously close to the "Ideal"— and the seeking after a good that is attainable, and in relation to which people may usefully live their lives. The paper draws on two areas that are at the same time distinct and interestingly similar: the novels of George Eliot and post-Kleinian psychoanalytic theory. Both George Eliot and psy- choanalysts may be said to be engaging with the problem of truthfulness in human affairs and with the role of that truthfulness in the growth and de- velopment of the individual. In each case, where "ideal" sanctions are in- voked, there is a price to be paid. In the novels it is paid aesthetically, since the intrusion of the ideal carries neither philosophical, nor personal, nor artistic conviction. In psychoanalytic terms

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Oct 16, 2004

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