The Concept of the Individual in Psychoanalysis

The Concept of the Individual in Psychoanalysis considers the different conceptions of the individual that are found in psychoanalysis according to the culture in which it operates, and its political structure.

Considering the origins and use of concepts including the Ego, the Self, the Subject, and the Person, Raul Moncayo integrates Lacanian analysis with Freudian and Jungian theory, philosophy, and religion. Moncayo expands on the concepts in different cultures and political structures, including English, French, German, and Chinese. The book also considers the concept of the self as used by Winnicott, Kohut, and Lacan.

The Concept of the Individual in Psychoanalysis will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and to academics and students of Lacanian and psychoanalytic studies.

“Where do the concepts of ego, self, person, and subject come from, and what presuppositions of knowledge do each and every concept invoke? Often used interchangeably without awareness of the theoretical, clinical, ethical, and even legal impasse as created by disenfranchising their terms from the traditions where they emerge, the specified application of the ego, the self. the person, and the subject are as endemic to English based general therapeutic practice as they are to the Anglo-Saxon Lacanian transmission.” - Tamara Dellutri, Lacanian psychoanalyst; founding member of Lacan/UK; member, Foro del Campo Lacaniano de México, IF-EPFCL

“Raul Moncayo’s interrogation of the concept of individual in psychoanalytic theory explores the notions of the “ego,” “self,” “subject,” and “person” as they operate within a Freudian-Lacanian ethics and clinical practice. Historically, these terms have remained confused in the psychoanalytic literature and have been utilized inconsistently across Jungian, object relational, critical theoretical, and Lacanian traditions. Moncayo provides a comparative analysis of the religious, philosophical, and psychoanalytic conceptions of these four terms while distilling along the way their specific place in the Lacanian clinic. Not merely a theoretical exposition, The Concept of the Individual in Psychoanalysis continues Moncayo’s “return to Lacan” by constructing a theory that situates the dynamic operation of these four aspects of the individual in Lacanian thought.” - Carlos A. Jimenez, PsyD, Psychological Associate; LSP, San Francisco

‘Where do the concepts of ego, self, person, and subject come from, and what presuppositions of knowledge do each and every concept invoke? Often used interchangeably without awareness of the theoretical, clinical, ethical, and even legal impasse as created by disenfranchising their terms from the traditions where they emerge, the specified application of the Ego, the Self, the Subject, and the Person are as endemic to English-based general therapeutic practice as they are to the Anglo-Saxon Lacanian transmission.’

Tamara Dellutri, Lacanian psychoanalyst; founding member of Lacan/UK; member, Foro del Campo Lacaniano de México, IF-EPFCL

‘Raul Moncayo’s interrogation of the concept of individual in psychoanalytic theory explores the notions of the "Ego," the "Self," the "Subject," and the "Person" as they operate within a Freudian–Lacanian ethics and clinical practice. Historically, these terms have remained confused in the psychoanalytic literature and have been utilized inconsistently across Jungian, object relational, critical theoretical, and Lacanian traditions. Moncayo provides a comparative analysis of the religious, philosophical, and psychoanalytic conceptions of these four terms while distilling along the way their specific place in the Lacanian clinic. Not merely a theoretical exposition, The Concept of the Individual in Psychoanalysis continues Moncayo’s "return to Lacan" by constructing a theory that situates the dynamic operation of these four aspects of the individual in Lacanian thought.’

Carlos A. Jimenez, PsyD, Psychological Associate; LSP, San Francisco

Raul Moncayo was born in Chile and first trained as a psychoanalyst in Buenos Aires. He obtained his PhD in social-clinical psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley and trained as an analyst at the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis, which he also helped found. He is the founder of the Chinese American Center for Freudian and Lacanian Analysis and Research.

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