psychoanalysis: Susan Schwartz PhD, Jungian Analyst, is a Plagiarist.

On October 6th 2025 an ethics committee at The Association of Graduates in Analytical Psychology (AGAP), to which Susan Schwartz belongs, found that

"By comparing passages, theories and interpretations from Ms. Schwartz’s later work with Dr. Pederson’s earlier writings on the same or similar subjects and given the acknowledged ongoing communications between the two prior to her publications, we conclude that it is more likely than not that Ms. Schwartz appropriated Dr. Pederson’s work without citation."

Susan Schwartz then brought in a lawyer-- not to argue the case based upon the evidence-- but instead to argue that the AGAP Ethics Committee lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the allegations and the executive committee agreed to this.

I am now posting the complaints that I made to the ethics committee so that others can see why I call Susan Schwartz a plagiarist.

Plagiarism in The Absent Father Effect on Daughters (2021) and ‘Narcissism – the refusal of twoness through sexual addiction and pornography’ (2022)

In her 2021 book and her 2022 article, Dr. Schwartz asserts that Narcissus or the narcissist is unable to love and appreciate differences in people and contrast this with Echo

“To comprehend the psychological, we must explore differences, the lack of belonging, loneliness, and our sense of isolation. The narcissist is self-absorbed… refusing relatedness to any other” (2021, p.133) “Narcissism in its singularity occludes relationship to… the other (2021, p.137) and in her 2022 article she writes that “Narcissus portrays an illusory self, unable to include any other or the feminine, while Echo invites dialogue and connection with her voice” (2022, p. 296). In contrast to Narcissus, she indicates that Echo symbolizes love and belonging:

“Our living demands inclusion rather than foreclosure on whoever or whatever is different. This requires the capacity to gather together the multiple personal and collective threads in the co-construction of belonging.” (2022, p. 300). Which represents the feminine. In contrast, “narcissism is associated with solipsism, egoism” (2022, p. 297). In 2021 book she writes: “Narcissism is characterize by possessiveness, the drive to prestige… envy and difficulty accepting average and natural limitations” (2021, p. 134).

In her 2021 book, Dr. Schwarts connects the masculine and feminine to constitutional bisexuality and cites Perelberg’s book ‘Psychic Bisexuality’:

“the animus is an irksome concept… this concept in its updated form includes the belief that we have both sexes within the unconscious processes, and these are not in themselves gendered (Perelberg, 2018)” (2021, p. 99). She also writes: “the concept of the animus recognizes the bisexual nature of the psyche” (2021, p. 101) and makes many references to the masculine and feminine in her book.

The problem is that Perlberg’s book in no way connects the feminine to belonging, loneliness, isolation, nor understanding differences in others. Nor does Perelberg connect the masculine to egoism, possessiveness, the drive to prestige, difficulty accepting limitations, or solipsism. Envy is the only thing mentioned in the book. Nor does she mention Echo or Narcissus.

Of course all of this is found in my work.

My 2015 book The Economics of Libido: the Superego, Psychic Bisexuality, and the Centrality of the Oedipus Complex. London: Karnac books

And

Psychoanalysis and Hidden Narrative in Film: Reading the Symptom. London: Routledge.

In it I identify that

“In the first chapter I examine the passive and active in psychoanalysis in Freud’s concept of psychic bisexuality. Here I examine Freud’s psychological remarks to translate his generic terms into common language and, in doing so, I seek to corroborate his views with the work of other major analysts. Ultimately, I argue that activity and passivity basically stand for egoism and altruism… (2015, p. 18)

“Psychic bisexuality provides a horizontal axis through which one asks if the person in question seeks power and admiration for their skills, knowledge, beauty, values, or judgement or whether he or she seeks oneness and approval for their hard work, self-sacrifice, their goodness, being interesting, or their style” (2015, p. 139)

The masculine and feminine in Freud’s is tied to activity and passivity:

“In human beings pure masculinity or femininity is not to be found either in a psychological or a biological sense. Every individual on the contrary displays a mixture of the character-traits belonging to his own and to the opposite sex; and he shows a combination of activity and passivity whether or not these last character-traits tally with his biological ones. (Freud, 1905, p. 219 fn; see also Freud, 1933, p. 105)” (2015, p. 4)

I take up activity and passivity as two poles in the personality and tie the passive one to belonging

“the two poles of personality: an active pole that registers competition, the desirability of power, and dynamics of superiority/inferiority, and a passive pole that registers the desire to restore harmony or oneness with others, the desirability of belonging, and dynamics of inclusion/exclusion” (2018, p. 6)

“Instead of conquering [like in the active pole], this pole—to love—directs the individual to raise up, or restore, the other who is down, or outside of the group, and establish harmony and enjoy “oneness” with them if they are a part of the group or happy (Freud, 1930, p. 66)” (2015, p. 6)

Instead of the egoistic power binary of on top/on the bottom, there is a “participation mystique” in oneness with the group and the binary of inside/outside. While the altruist retains union with the group difference or separation enters in the form of the object being outside of the group— literally being an outsider— and its need to be restored to the inside. (2015, pp. 102-103)

Now, I connect narcissism and echoism to psychic bisexuality in two ways.

The first comes from the recognition of primary narcissism as narcissistic libido or self-love and is a redundancy of egoism.

“the egoist… can be broadly characterised as narcissistic in the sense that he is self-absorbed and only has a “self-observation” for his own personal success. This leaves the individual open to narcissistic injuries (ego drives) and betrayals in sexual relationships (object drives) that can result in neurotic introversion of the libido to earlier stages that result in the person becoming less able to engage in work or love” (2015, p. 80)

This also applies to echoism.

The second is when people “identify with the parental imago and force their anxiety into another” (2015, pp. 29-30). I more regularly refer to this through projective identification:

“Projective identification (PI) is a concept in psychoanalysis that many analysts have a hard time defining and that is used differently by different schools. The use I give it is based upon Melanie Klein’s original use of it, as an operation in which both the bad and hated parts of the self, and potentially some of the good parts too, are projected into other people (Klein, 1975, p. 8). In effect, the person reverses the relation between himself and the parental imago (internal object), so that he acts the part of a parental-substitute to someone who represents the self imago (with its ambivalent relation to the parental imago.” (2018, p. 24)

“To switch places with the parental imago of perfection means that one no longer strives for perfection under the demands of the ego ideal because one is perfection. Similarly, when the altruist exchanges places with death she … moves towards its tensionlessness” (2015, p. 109)

I connect Freud’s tensionlessness to the death imago which I credit to Andre Green. However, I go beyond Green to connect death to not belonging and being an outsider. This is not found in Green’s work.

To identify with the death imago in echoism registers being outside of belonging and outside of life:

“The dead other can register as outside of life, but in higher levels of development it can register as outside of the social body through being ignored, marginalized, and not having what it is “normal” to have” (2018, p. 26)

The second type of identifying with the parental imago leads to the idea of defensive narcissism or defensive echosm:

So, Dr. Schwartz connects Echo and Narcissus to the feminine and masculine respectively. I connect them to the feminine and masculine.

Dr. Schwartz connects the feminine and masculine to bisexuality and I connect them to bisexuality.

Dr. Schwartz connects the feminine and echo to belonging and I connect them too.

Now, I will proceed with the material on the feminine, belonging, and echo before I later turn to the material around narcissism and the inter-relation between the active and passive poles of the personality.

As we saw, Dr. Schwartz writes about “the lack of belonging, loneliness, and our sense of isolation” in her 2022 article but also mentions “Feelings of aloneness” (2022, p. 73) in her 2021 book and has many references to loneliness there.

I express that identification with the death imago leads to being “outside of the social body through being ignored, marginalized, and not having what it is “normal” to have” (2018, p. 26)

“With the altruist, the object drive is best characterised as the drive to merge or resonate with another, and frustrations from the beloved would be followed by reactions of aloneness or abandonment as opposed to hate… the altruist feels like an outsider.” (2015, p. 9)

“a passive pole that registers the desire to restore harmony or oneness with others, the desirability of belonging, and dynamics of inclusion/exclusion” (2018, p. 6)

I write of those who “passive-altruistically want approval from, or to be well liked… and suffer feelings of aloneness or self-pity if this doesn’t occur.” (2015, p. 33)

I also write of “the self-pity of his loneliness” with a patient (2018, p. 38)

Instead of writing about being an outsider or outside of life as I do in echoism, Dr. Schwartz simply uses the synonym of alienation several times in her book.

The dictionary definition of alienation is “the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved.”

However, she still indirectly references my formulations by writing “Rather than being in life she becomes tied to the blank and depleted father” (2021, p. 30). She also uses “at a remove from life” (2021, p. 65). The italicized in life certainly conjures up the opposite, being outside of life.

As we saw, Dr. Schwartz writes of feminine as the ability “to comprehend the psychological, we must explore differences”

I write that:

“Just as there are differences in IQ there are also differences in EQ that Wittgenstein (2001) relates to “expert judgment” with those who possess little of it being called aspect-blind (p. 179, 182). At the bottom of the scale there are people who can only recognise hunger, sexuality, and basic needs as “driving” some of the behaviour of others. Then, in line with many academic theories, the idea of the will to power or egoism may be taken into account with the idea of wanting recognition, “to be on top”, revenge, or to have a legacy in one’s children or in lasting fame. The recognition of both egoistic and altruistic drives, as I mentioned in Chapter One always seems to be denied and to escape formalisation. I will return to this one-sided form of thinking again, but for now I want to consider the community of those with EQ. (2015, pp. 154-155)

“Among those who possess EQ and have everyday conversations about how someone was very embarrassed at the meeting, how someone is pretending that his recent break up doesn’t bother him but it clearly does, or that someone is “fake” and only pretending to be nice, sensation words must communicate meaning.” (2015, p. 155)

“Deutsch (1973) define the passive of the active-passive binary as “an activity directed inward” and see those of a predominately passive-feminine type as “absolutely independent in such thinking and feeling as relates to their inner life[;]… their capacity for identification [mimicry] is not an expression of inner poverty but of inner wealth” (Deutsch, 1973, p. 196). In contrast, she writes of the “masculinized” or active woman who no longer “draws her wisdom from the deep sources of intuition”, who has a “strictly objective approach,” and whose “warm, intuitive knowledge has yielded to cold unproductive thinking” (ibid., p. 298). The person with a passive side that was undeveloped or defended against, in Deutsch’s assessment, would lack both creative and spontaneous innovations and, for example, wouldn’t be a good manager and know what types of people (i.e., characters) can and can’t work together… On one hand it sometimes seems to me that I’m stating something very obvious in saying that people tend to be egoistic and others tend to be altruistic, that some have more IQ or EQ” (2015, p. 12)

“Very simply, there are active-egoistic people who are more power-based as evidenced in their competitiveness, desire to be admired, and ambition. In contrast, there are passive-altruistic people who are belonging-based and more cooperative, who desire to be in harmony with others, and who avoid conflict and are more engaged in empathy” (2018, p. 114)

Dr. Schwartz also links the issues of the absent parent to “Masochistic and unloving attitudes” (2021, p. 2) and references masochism several times in her book. For example, “The compelling power and attraction to her father as ideal leaves this daughter submissive, masochistic” (2021, p. 111).

Of course, I reference masochism throughout my work as well. As I already shared above, echoism is what I put forward to replace the term masochism:

“The complement to defensive narcissism in the altruistic pole of the personality is tied to masochism. Conceptually, I think it is better to use the complementary figure of Echo in the myth of Narcissus and contrast defensive narcissism and echoism, and save masochism to be paired with sadism as a specific kind of behaviour. Freud brings up defensive masochism (echoism) in several places in regard to hypnotism and love turning into fascination or bondage but, there is also an ego drive aspect of this in which we say someone is self-effacing, a people pleaser, a pushover, (etc.). I understand this to be what goes under the heading of “feminine masochism” in much of the classic literature.” (2015, pp. 17-18)

I refer to masochism many, many times in both my 2015 and 2018 books.

As I said, I cite Andre Green’s work and take up his idea of repairing the dead mother and incorporate it into altruism

“Additionally, attempts to “repair” the dead mother appear doomed to ambivalence allegedly because there is a thought that, once healthy, she would leave” (ibid., 164). (2015, p. 101)

“Instead of conquering, this pole—to love—directs the individual to raise up, or restore, the other who is down, or outside of the group, and establish harmony and enjoy “oneness” with them if they are a part of the group or happy (Freud, 1930, p. 66).” (2015, p. 6)

I also connect the restoration to the father and the father complex:

“While the altruist retains union with the group difference or separation enters in the form of the object being outside of the group— literally being an outsider— and its need to be restored to the inside. This can either be interpreted as compassion for a sibling or the idealisation of the leader who must be restored, just as the egoist can compete with siblings or the leader of the group.” (2015, p. 103)

It is only in advancing past the father complex that the altruist can begin to pursue her own self-interest:

“Just as traversing the father complex leads to the egoist feeling equality with other adults in the community instead of concerned with personal success or love, it establishes the altruist’s ability to be equal in regards to pursuing her self-interests” (2015, p. 108)

Of course, Dr. Schwartz also cites Andre Green on this and writes of the need of the girl to “repair or mourn her father” (2021, p. 36) and even uses the term I introduce: “The father complex brings out the possibility to restore a better inner father” (2021, p. 50)

Moreover, in her 2022 article she writes that “Eros is only functional as the erotic, not the relational” (2022, p. 295). In her 2021 book she writes of “Eros or relatedness” (2021, pp. 95, 97) and “eros, referencing the love related to intimacy and sex, turned into the solely erotic (2021, p. 140)

Of course I write about relatedness and literal sex in eros:

“Altruism, as the passive ego drive, can be defined by Freud’s concept of eros—before he later paired it with the death drive—as ultimately based upon “love for parents and children, friendship and love for humanity in general, and also devotion to concrete objects and to abstract ideas” (Freud, 1921, p. 90). Instead of conquering, this pole—to love—directs the individual to raise up, or restore, the other who is down, or outside of the group, and establish harmony and enjoy “oneness” with them if they are a part of the group or happy (Freud, 1930, p. 66)” (2015, p. 6)

“Analogously, sex becomes Eros in Freud’s work and a synonym for human connection or social energy in which sex is one relation and romantic love, familial love, friendship, etc. are other expressions (Freud, 1920, p. 50).” (2018, p. 80)

Additionally, Dr. Schwartz invokes the idea of a good object:

“The possibility of relating to the good object of a father has been denied and the only option is investment with the absent object of the father” (2021, p. 62)

“Her writings can be viewed as compensation for the loss of the good object” (2021, p. 152)

In my writings I also contrast the dead object that the altruist seeks to restore and the good object who is happy and part of a loving group or who fosters, guides, protects, and shows love for the child:

“Altruism, as the passive ego drive, can be defined by Freud’s concept of eros—before he later paired it with the death drive—as ultimately based upon “love for parents and children, friendship and love for humanity in general, and also devotion to concrete objects and to abstract ideas” (Freud, 1921, p. 90). Instead of conquering, this pole—to love—directs the individual to raise up, or restore, the other who is down, or outside of the group, and establish harmony and enjoy “oneness” with them if they are a part of the group or happy (Freud, 1930, p. 66).” (2015, p. 6)

“The good parental imago is a reference to the parental imago who would foster the individual and give approval and/or protection” (2018, p. 102)

“My patient had been in PI [projective identification] with the good parental imago, which is part of the passive pole of the personality. By taking the description of what her brother would think of her if she said no, and asking her to consider how she has felt like him with people in her life, this defensive position was reversed. She had not felt protected by her mother and, in PI, she took over the place of the good parent that she had needed her mother to be, while her brother played out the neediness that she defended against. Despite this defense, she appeared to partially put her friend in the position of parental-substitute and expressed this frustration, as a link to the original ego injury with her mother” (2018, p. 97)

“establishing the internal good object in Melanie Klein (1940, p. 153)” (2018, p. 178)

“longing for the good aspect of a paternal figure” (2018, p. 196)

“a parental function that gives them guidance and rules that they view as good” (2018, p. 196)

So on top of Echo being feminine, belonging, being an outsider or alienated, aloneness, isolation, masochism, bisexuality, and exploring differences in EQ, Dr. Schwartz would have you believe that she also independently came to the same conclusion that there is a good object involved and a drive for restoring the dead object!

III

It also gets much worse from here…

Dr. Schwartz also claims two types of the Puella: the “daddy’s girl” and the “as-if personality.”

I think my reader can guess that I also discuss two similar types on the passive pole of the personality.

Dr. Schwartz writes:

“the puella as a daddy’s girl is identified with and in thrall to the male” (2021, p. 118) and “her devotion to him” is emphasized (2021, p.110). “it is as if she forfeited her development to the father” (2021, p. 119) “her dutiful and compliant accommodations” (2021, p. 119)

“she clings to her childhood longings to believe he was good and the need to defend him” (2021, p. 119)

The Puella is a “maiden,” and associated with the “goddess Artemis” (2021, p. 118) and “detrimental effects occur when the daughter has to please or save the father (2021, p. 136)

Now compare this with my statements on the subject altruist type that also include Artemis, devotion, seeking to restore/save and an example of Anna Freud:

“In subject altruism, Artemis, the goddess of childbirth and the hunt, represents the body form. I have interpreted her interest in hunting, which would be a masculine occupation with the Greeks, as an expression of her devotion to carrying on the work or perfection of a love object. Her status as a virgin would indicate that she loved her father and has remain devoted to him ever since….. An example of this can be seen with Freud’s own daughter Anna, who, ensured that her father’s theories and approach lived on, although it also meant attacking those who may have been true to Freud’s ideas in spirit. Hermes, the messenger god of cunning wiles, is the mind form of subject altruism. His devotion to the family of gods instead of his own personal glory illustrates his service to an idea, the group, as opposed to a particular individual. The political activist who brings the messages and stories of marginalised groups to centres of power might be a contemporary example.” (2015, p. 21)

“The restorative impulses themselves are paired with loyalty as the function of the ego ideal. “Loyalty is more than an ordinary bond, more than an ‘object relationship’” Leon Wurmser (1988) writes, “it sets up the other as a beloved authority over oneself toward whom one has to keep faith. It is a kind of superego relationship and superego bond” (Wurmser, 1988, p. 387). The castration complex in the SA concerns the castration of the object who becomes the outsider. In the social realm the passive struggle to help less fortunate others—to help outsiders become insiders—is in evidence, while the loyalty to a specific person may mean that the altruist tries to assist his or her striving for perfection. In the first chapter this was discussed in the forms of taking up skills or knowledge the partner lacks, devoting oneself to carry on the object’s work or keeping their name prominent, or living their way of life and honouring them through this. However, as noted there, some of this comes from defensive operation against loss of the object.” (2015, p. 106)

Dr. Schwartz also writes that “idolizing the father adversely affects her confidence and promotes idealization of others” (2021, p. 120)

I conceptualize this within the active-passive binary and write of “a competitive and self-idealising pole that is “active-egoistic”, and a restorative and other-idealising pole that is “passive-altruistic” (2015, p. 3).

Dr. Schwartz writes

“in the role of daddy’s girl she pays an exorbitant price for her dutiful and compliant accommodations” (2021, p. 119)

“operating in the tradition of feminine passivity, many women stay dependent, immature and unaware, not knowing what they want or do not want and unable to express themselves “ (2021, p. 129)

“stuck in an idealization, the masculine/father remains in place and her sense of self-agency rests on shaky foundations” (2021, p. 110)

“unwilling to challenge or rebel against the father” (2021, p.111)

“if dominated by the masculine, the feminine suffers; desires are repressed, as the daughter avoids direction and choice” (2021, p. 101)

“detrimental effects occur when the daughter has to please or save the father to obtain a sense of parenting (2021, p. 136)

I similarly write about the subject altruist:

“Additionally, I point out that someone can masochistically put the desires of others before her own (subject altruism)… [this] is tied to “people-pleasing”, being “self-effacing” etc.” (2015, xvii)

“In the language of the ego ideal, which “demands perfection”, the active pole compels the individual to be perfect and compete with others and the passive pole compels the individual to devote himself to the perfection of the other and seek affection or approval (Freud, 1933, pp. 64–65; 1926a, p. 143)”. (2015, p. 5)

“Chasseguet-Smirgel, in an important article on the female oedipus and castration complexes, lays out the phenomenological plane, along with depth phantasies, for the subject altruist. Her general view is that for self-assertion is troubled for passive-altruists and secondary roles are the drive-based lot of altruistic women” (2015, p. 104)

I also quote Chasseguet-Smirgel (1970) on

“Far from being autonomous with regard to the object, she is closely dependent on it and is also its complement. She is the right hand, the assistant, the colleague, the secretary, the auxiliary, the inspiration for an employer, a lover, a husband, a father. She may also be a companion for old age, guide, or nurse. One sees the basic conflicts underlying such relationships in clinical practice” (2015, p. 105)

I draw attention to not challenging or rebelling against him through another Chasseguet-Smirgel quotation:

“Acting for oneself, being autonomous, creating for oneself meant possessing the paternal penis and thus castrating the father” (2015, p. 105)

I further cite her:

“I would readily see this as the source of one of woman’s main conflicts, that of being relative to men, just as nearly all of woman’s cultural or social achievements are. Women are said to produce few original works; they are often the brilliant disciple of a man or of a masculine theory. They are rarely leaders of movements. This is surely the effect of a conflict specific to women” (2015, p. 105)

I then sum up that “Just as the subject egoist defuses from the oedipal father imago to become competitive with friends and bosses, the subject altruist loses the ability to be assertive and her restorative drives come to the fore in “auxillary” positions” (2015, p. 105)

Even Dr. Schwartz’s connection of the material to the puella, like her use of alienation, is using a synonym for a position I already outlined. The puer and puella signifies what is child-like in the personality when it is not directly pathologized in something like a Peter Pan character who is actively defending against being grown up.

In my work, I argue for the position that some people don’t traverse the father complex to form a feeling of being an adult:

“While the oedipus complex represents the height of the individual striving for ideals of personal happiness in success or passionate love the subsequent father complex and latency stages concern the egoist forming “social ideals”. In the ego ideal of the father complex the egoist has the “self-observation” of being “grown-up” or “adult” with the goal of being respected as such by others who are regarded as equals in the community.” (2015, p. 72)

I argue that traversing the father complex represents the point where altruism comes into the egoist or active pole and egoism into the altruist or passive pole. This is relevant because Dr. Schwartz writes of how the “adequate relationship with [the father] provides… discipline and strength” (2021, p. 8). Without the good father “she gets discouraged and avoids the hard work necessary to get there” (2021, p. 119)

“Just as the subject egoist defuses from the oedipal father imago to become competitive with friends and bosses, the subject altruist loses the ability to be assertive and her restorative drives come to the fore in “auxillary” positions. Just as traversing the father complex leads to the egoist feeling equality with other adults in the community instead of concerned with personal success or love, it establishes the altruist’s ability to be equal in regards to pursuing her self-interests. In the father complex, the subject altruist develops guilt in relation to her self-assertion and owing it to herself to be more and wanting to be on top.” (2015, p. 105)

“The subject altruist who defuses returns to drives that place others first and becomes self-effacing or self-sacrificing of her desires for the desires of others. Guilt in the father complex is about being unfair to others in the egoist and “owing it to oneself” to have independence and be assertive in the altruist” (2015, p. 91)

Just as traversing the father complex leads to the egoist feeling equality with other adults in the community instead of concerned with personal success or love, it establishes the altruist’s ability to be equal in regards to pursuing her self-interests. In the father complex, the subject altruist develops guilt in relation to her self-assertion and owing it to herself to be more and wanting to be on top. Here the altruist would consider being a work group leader…”(2015, p. 108)

“The individual who has formed “genital” character through traversing the father complex has formed a post-ambivalent tie to others that anchors him against the regression of the libido from the oedipus complex. His ideal to be regarded by others as an adult means that he may retain some object constancy in his relationships and offset the sado-masochistic impulses that appear with defusion from the oedipus complex. Additionally, he may stay in a job that he doesn’t like or find satisfying for the sake of his family and to do his duty.” (2015, p. 80)

“for certain passive psychological types, for example, there is a desire to feel fostered by parental-substitutes. A mentor or stronger person’s approval is required to feel comfortable with using one’s skills or knowledge and one is open to an ego injury if one doesn’t feel supported by them” (2018, p. 95)

“I explain to her that parents have to pass on their “adultness” to their children, so that the children can feel confident about being adults and not like kids who feel like they are frauds or just pretending to be grown up. I point out that her mother never gave this to her, but if she doesn’t tell her mother that she can see through her, then she will let her mother keep this and will never feel “adult” herself.” (2018, p. 97)

It is clear that Dr. Schwartz simply took my work and tried to connect it to other people’s ideas where she could and where she couldn’t she simply uses my terms and ideas without crediting me.

Turning to the other puella type, what Dr. Schwartz calls the as-if character, it is very evident that it shares very little in common with Deutsch’s description and aligns with what I write on object altruism/echoism.

Let’s turn to the 1942 article that Dr. Scwhartz cites Deutsch, H. (1942) Some Forms of Emotional Disturbance and their Relationship to Schizophrenia. Psychoanalytic Quarterly 11:301-321. Here is what Deutsch actually says:

1. Deutsch contrasts the as-if character with hysteria and places it developmentally as a schizoid type. She defines this as “impoverishment of the total personality”

“The question must be raised as to how the tendency of 'as if' personalities to identification with current love objects differs from the same tendency in hysteria. The great difference between the latter and the 'as if' disturbance lies in the fact that the objects with which the hysterics identify themselves are the objects of powerful libidinous cathexes. Hysterical repression of affect brings freedom from anxiety and so represents a way out of the conflict. In 'as if' patients, an early deficiency in the development of affect reduces the inner conflict, the effect of which is an impoverishment of the total personality which does not occur in hysteria” (1942, p. 317)

“The type justifies the designation 'schizoid', whether or not schizophrenia later develops” (1942, p. 320)

2. The as-if character is defined for their normalcy.

“The first impression these people make is of complete normality.” (1942, p. 303)

“If it is a woman, she seems to be the quintessence of feminine devotion, an impression which is particularly imparted by her passivity and readiness for identification” (1942, p. 304)

3. The issues is that their normality is uncanny and strikes one as automaton-like or it is a total adherence to a group philosophy or ideology but which can easily be changed

“the 'as if' individual the suggestibility must be ascribed to passivity and automaton-like identification” (1942, p. 305)

“Completely without character, wholly unprincipled, in the literal meaning of the term, the morals of the 'as if' individuals, their ideals, their convictions are simply reflections of another person, good or bad. Attaching themselves with great ease to social, ethical, and religious groups, they seek, by adhering to a group, to give content and reality to their inner emptiness and establish the validity of their existence by identification. Overenthusiastic adherence to one philosophy can be quickly and completely replaced by another contradictory one without the slightest trace of inward transformation—simply as a result of some accidental regrouping of the circle of acquaintances or the like” (1942, p. 305)

“all these relationships are devoid of any trace of warmth, that all the expressions of emotion are formal, that all inner experience is completely excluded. It is like the performance of an actor who is technically well trained but who lacks the necessary spark to make his impersonations true to life” (1942, p. 303)

“to understand the way of feeling and manner of life of this type forces on the observer the inescapable impression that the individual's whole relationship to life has something about it which is lacking in genuineness and yet outwardly runs along 'as if' it were complete” (1942, p. 302)

4. Dr. Schwartz writes: “Deutsch herself described “a spasmodic, if skilled representation of a prototype without the slightest trace of originality” (2021, p. 61). However, this is in regards to creating art and shows Dr. Schwartz trying to make Deutsch’s work align with what she wants it to say:

“when they pursue their not infrequent impulses to creative work they construct, in form, a good piece of work but it is always a spasmodic, if skilled, repetition of a prototype without the slightest trace of originality” (1942, p. 303)

Dr. Schwartz claims: “This personality type was typified as inauthentic, although social and able to assume expected appearances, seemingly capable of warmth, but with stunted emotional depth” (2021, p. 61)

In contrast Deutsch writes

“To the analyst it is soon clear that all these relationships are devoid of any trace of warmth, that all the expressions of emotion are formal, that all inner experience is completely excluded” (1942, p. 303)

Deutsch doesn’t describe them as inauthentic but as “Completely without character, wholly unprincipled, in the literal meaning of the term, the morals of the 'as if' individuals, their ideals, their convictions are simply reflections of another person, good or bad” (1942, p. 305) and “The identification with what other people are thinking and feeling, is the expression of this passive plasticity and renders the person capable of the greatest fidelity and the basest perfidy. Any object will do as a bridge for identification” (1942, p. 304)

5.Dr. Schwartz also “links it with the puella archetype in Jungian analytical psychology and the personality of narcissism” (2021, p. 62). I will return to this aspect when I later look at narcissism.

In contrast Deutsch only writes of the passivity of this character and not narcissism

“The passivity of this patient as the expression of her submission to the will of another seems to be the final transformation of her aggressive tendencies… like the child for whom everything can proceed without friction if it but obey. Both the persistent identification and the passive submission are expressions of the patient's complete adaptation to the current environment, and impart the shadowy quality to the patient's personality.” (1942, p. 310)

6.Dr. Schwartz claims the as-if personality engages in “deception to self and other” and feels like a “fraud” (2021, p. 65)

In another article, Deutsch herself vigorously contrasts people with imposter personality who lie and pretend with the as-if character who is “not aware of their disturbance”

Deutsch, H. (1955) The Impostor—Contribution to Ego Psychology of a Type of Psychopath. Psychoanalytic Quarterly 24:483-505

“Quite the contrary. Jimmy always turned to external reality to gratify his narcissistic needs. His emptiness and the lack of individuality in his emotional life and moral structure remind us furthermore of the 'as-if' personalities. In contrast to these, Jimmy's ego did not dissolve in numerous identifications with external objects. He sought, on the contrary, to impose on others belief in his greatness, and in this he often succeeded. His only identifications were with objects which corresponded to his ego ideal—just like the impostor Hewitt, only on a more infantile level. Another difference is that the 'as-if' patients are not aware of their disturbance, whereas Jimmy, while firmly pretending that he was what he pretended to be, asked me again and again, sometimes in despair: 'Who am I? Can you tell me that?'” (1955, p. 497)

This isn’t a matter of arguing with Dr. Schwartz’s shoddy scholarship, but showing that she didn’t take her as-if personality from Detusch but from me, (along with Echo, belonging, the good object, eros, bisexuality, etc. etc.)

Now I will begin my case that Dr. Schwartz’s as-if personality plagiarizes my account of object altruism/echoism that she has tried to pass off as Deutsch’s as-if personality.

First, Dr. Schwartz’s most succinct definition of the as-if character is: “By putting on a performance and acting as-if, the needs for love and attention get obfuscated in a deception to self and other” (2021, p. 65) and “desiring closeness, she is a performer, assuming she must always be ‘on’ (2021, p. 123)

I define object altruism/echoism as:

“someone can masochistically put the desires of others before her own (subject altruism) or masochistically desire the approval of others or have the need to be liked or be seen as interesting by others (object altruism)” (2015, xvii)

I’m also clear that it’s deception in the sense that it is self-conscious imitation:

“Freud writes that being loved is “near to narcissism” but, again, one must pay attention to the phenomenology. Just because a person talks a lot and seems to draw a lot of attention it doesn’t mean that they are establishing their power or dominance. Here qualities like charm, endearment, exuberance, or style are in order. Self-consciousness in the non-philosophical sense of attempting to make oneself interesting through a subculture or imitating someone is an illustration of the echoism, or pains one will go through, to be regarded as interesting for others.” (2015, p. 18)

Portraying oneself as what she thinks others might find interesting (but also in other ways) in order to get emotional holding is obviously a deception:

“the object altruist hysteric attempts to get emotional holding, by making herself unique which can manifest as portraying herself as what she thinks is interesting or edgy, being vulnerable, or by being sexual”( 2015, p. 26)

In no way does Dr. Schwartz’s material match Deutsch’s. Deutsch does not say the as-if character is self-consciously deceptive, Deutsch does not describe it as a performance. Deutsch does not describe the type as derived from the desire to be loved, this is all from my work

Second, Dr. Schwartz uses the term poseur and terms inauthentic and dramatic:

“Syndney exhibited a flair for the dramatic… she called her presentation ‘the poseur’ and often felt like a fraud and worried about being found inauthentic” (2021, p. 65)

I also express this as wanting to be “interesting, exciting, or authentic” (2018, p. 26). If someone is trying to be authentic or interesting then, by definition, it is inauthentic.

I call the object altruist/echoist hysteric “dramatic” in pathology:

“However, what can be endearing or charming in health can become dramatic and sloppy in pathology.” (2015, p. 26)

Now, let’s look at the dictionary entries for poseur/poser:

Brittanica

poser

[count] disapproving

: a person who dresses or behaves in a deceptive way that is meant to impress other people

He's not really interested in rap music. He's just a poser.

Merriam-Webster

poser

disapproving a person who dresses or behaves in a deceptive way that is meant to impress other people

He's not really interested in art. He's just a poser.

If the poser is pretending to be interested in rap music or art is this not “attempting to make oneself interesting through a subculture”? (2015) as I express.

Is the poseur not self-consciously trying to portray themselves as interesting?

Third, Dr. Schwartz writes “Their talents are there but the follow-through often remains elusive” (2021, p. 64)

I write about how the object altruist/echoist can be dilettantes because they are lacking in egoistic drives and moving from one group to the next:

Similarly the desire to establish one’s uniqueness, inspire others, and generally because of the other’s delight can cause the OA hysteric to move on from one person to the next to seek approval. In Sachs “One of the motive factors in the formation of the super-ego in women” (1929) we are given a classic portrait of the OA hysteric. However, Sachs emphasises the dilettantism of the OA, whose potential lack of egoistic drives mean that skill and knowledge aren’t mastered, without an eye for the strengths in EQ or spontaneity that the OA may posses. (2015, p. 26)

Fourth, in the puella type of as-if character Dr. Schwartz writes

“the woman who is fascinating, has a free and child-like vitality, lights up a room and performs for the adulation of others” (2021, p. 122) as well as talking about “her natural bent towards the creative and edgy” (2021, p. 48)

I write

“Here qualities like charm, endearment, exuberance, or style are in order.” (2015, p. 18)

“[they] seek to cause delight and restore the group to good spirits” (2015, p. 21)

“the need to be liked or be seen as interesting by others” (2015, xvii)

“The object altruist is concerned with individuality and whether it’s through humour, charisma, or the ability to inspire others there are many entertainers who similarly lack talent diversity in their art (i.e., play the same role in acting) or have too much diversity (i.e., change with fashion and don’t mine their own passions in music). They succeed because they cause delight in others, not because they have the talent to really represent different types of people or their own feelings.” (2015, pp. 19-20)

“the desire to establish one’s uniqueness, inspire others, and generally be the cause of the other’s delight” (2015, p. 26).

“the OA hysteric attempts to get emotional holding, by making herself unique which can manifest as portraying herself as what she thinks is interesting or edgy, being vulnerable, or by being sexual”( 2015, p. 26)

I also talk about the creativity of the altruist

“creative and spontaneous” (2015, p. 12)

“the strengths in EQ or spontaneity” “wit” (2015, p. 26)

“the peculiar mimicry of the artist in being able to make his ideas about things similar to them and then being able to re-create these ideas—back to the outside world—anew, in the form of words, materials, colors … In the final analysis, the same roundabout way that is characteristic for the wish fulfillment of the artist in general” (2015, p. 10)

“Helene Deutsch (1973) defines the passive of the active-passive binary as “an activity directed inward” and see those of a predominately passive-feminine type as “absolutely independent in such thinking and feeling as relates to their inner life[;]… their capacity for identification [mimicry] is not an expression of inner poverty but of inner wealth” (Deutsch, 1973, p. 196)” (2015, p. 12)

Fifth, “The persona that the puella wears is part of her unusual charm” (2021, p. 122)

As I wrote above, I reference charm

“Here qualities like charm, endearment, exuberance, or style are in order” (2015, p. 18)

“his wit or charm” (2015, p. 19)

Moreover, what is “unusual” comes from a reference to subculture and can’t be the usual dominant culture:

“attempting to make oneself interesting through a subculture” (2015, p. 18)

“Apollo, the god of music, healing, prophecies, and poetry, typifies the mind dimension of the object altruist. He illustrates a more esoteric ability to gain the approval of others by touching something deeper in them than the Dionysian approach. This person wants to guess your astrological sign or write you a sonnet to be interesting and cause you delight.” (2015, p. 21)

Sixth, She writes that this Puella is “focused on fitting in with others” (2021, p. 121) and “unable to find a sense of belonging” (2021, p. 122)

I write:

“Although the will to power is arguably involved in this [attempting to be interesting], the sense of belonging has much more emphasis in the motivation.” (2015, p. 18)

As I’ve shown above, exclusion and not having belonging and being outside of the social order as an outsider is the definition I give to the death imago:

“a passive pole that registers the desire to restore harmony or oneness with others, the desirability of belonging, and dynamics of inclusion/exclusion” (2018, p. 6)

In an example of object altruism I wrote that the patient “wanted to fit in and hang out with the older crowd” (2018, p. 125)

Seventh, “Puella wears a mask to hide the real behind layers of actions and images to garner approval” (2021, p. 122)

I use approval as the main term for altruism in contrast to the egoist/narcissist who wants admiration.

“he or she seeks oneness and approval for their hard work, self-sacrifice, their goodness, being interesting, or their style” (2015, p. 139)

“the approval the altruist needs.” (2015, p. 114)

The idea of a mask or image just seem like synonyms for “attempting to make oneself interesting through a subculture or imitating someone” (2015, p. 18)

Eighth, Dr. Schwartz writes that the “The adaptation of mimicry, the protective fictions, and the need to be an imposter began early” in her 2022 article (2022, p. 291).

Deutsch doesn’t mention seeking approval, issues with belonging, unusual charm, edginess, lighting up a room and performing, lack of follow through on talents, inauthentic and dramatic, and deceptively being a performer… all of this is either what I directly say or a restatement of my position.

Deutsch does mention mimicry with her as-if personality, but as seen above, I cite Deutsch to argue for its centrality for the passive pole on which object altruism/echoism is located.

“Along with IQ there is EQ (emotional intelligence) and the ability, through mimicry, to intuit the feelings of others by our bodies’ resonance with their bodies (“the look” in their eyes and face or tone of their voice)” (2015, p. 12)

“Freud’s work provides an implicit basis for this difference between activity and passivity in the instinct of mastery and the instinct of mimicry.” (2015, p. 10)

“Mimicry here represents a desire for connection that exceeds sexuality as well as exceeding imitation of human bodies to express emotion and a larger “sensibility” in colour, shape, music, and words. Freud also goes into detail about the instinct of mimicry’s role in humour, caricature, parody, and travesty in Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious(Freud, 1905a, p. 200). Sexuality clearly unifies individuals but even if the instinct for mimicry is conceived of as arising from the repression of sexuality, then sexuality must already have in it a tendency for union that is more that is more than a need for bodily contact” (2015, pp. 10-11)

Now I’d like to turn to more references in Dr. Schwartz’s work that are highly idiosyncratic and extend the proposition that there is no way that she had not read my work before writing her book and article.

Dr. Schwartz cites Susan Kavaler-Adler on the demon lover

“’a demonic father figure takes possession turning the creative into images of self death’ (Kavaler-Adler, 1993)” (2021, p. 54)

“The absent father is part of what propels the daughter to be susceptible to what is called the demon lover” (2021, p. 56)

I also cite Susan Kavaler-Adler on the demon lover

“Susan Kavaler-Adler examines this territory of codependent relationship and also goes into problems with creativity with her concept of the demon lover com- plex. Following Fairbairn (1952), she discusses a bad primitive imago or internal object that registers at the magnitude of a demon or “devil” (p. 69). Kavaler-Adler (1993, 1996) describes several characterological manifestations of this relationship and brings in valuable cultural examples from women writers and their “muses.” In one note, that is close to my example above, she writes, [n]ot only is the power of the woman split off, but the sexual and aggressive impulses that she has trouble containing can also be split off and projected onto the man, lending to the woman an exaggerated form of innocence. As with Rank’s nineteenth-century double, Kavaler-Adler writers that “death is the inevitable fate of the woman who is attracted to her demon lover” (ibid., p. 16)”. (2018, p. 60)

As seen, I also cite Andre Green and a couple of other authors Dr. Schwartz cites, but what makes this citation of Kavaler-Adler damming is that Dr. Schwartz goes on to mention two important things from the same book that she could get from nowhere else.

The first remark is that she mentions a patient who shows “The rift in the constitution of her identify marked a split between a demonic persecuting double” (2021, p. 146)

Right after I cite Kavaler-Adler, I point out the parallel between the demon lover and the demonic double:

“There is an obvious resonance of the body-based double [or doppleganger] with the two variations of narcissistic object-choice. Instead of desiring someone who looks like one, shares certain interests, has a similar background, etc., the double looks like and resembles the protagonist. It shows up and either thwarts the protagonist’s plans/ dreams or enjoys success or romantic conquests in front of him. Instead of a demon lover that relates to the object drives, we have a demon that relates to the ego drives or work relations. Additionally, the double is also linked to bad or “evil,” impulses and is readily associated to being a demon that haunts the protagonist or is his “curse.” (2018, p. 60)

Moreover, in Dr. Schwartz’s 2022 article she mentions that “the narcissist cannot accept a partner as autonomous, only as a narcissistic object” (2022, p. 297). “Relationships are narcissistic collusions and impede individuation” (2022, p. 297).

In my work I criticize Kavaler-Adler for not conceptualizing how the demon lover is comprised of

“The second form of Freud’s narcissistic object-choice shows up clinically as the projective identification of either the active or passive pole…” For example, “I have had many female patients begin treatment by telling me that they want to leave the man who is either cheating on them, using them, threatening them, or giving them emotional or physical abuse. With such patients, I had previously tried to analyze their different motivations or fears. This was done with the thought that maybe they didn’t think they could do better than this man, that they might have had their self-esteem ruined, or that they were altruistically sacrificing themselves for him. Even after a session that seemed to go well, a patient might have expressed the idea that she would leave him, kick him out, or separate, but invariably she did not, or she allowed him to come back later if she did… There are many different defenses that are in play in abusive relationships, but two techniques highlight the second version of narcissistic object-choice involved in some of them” (2018, p. 54)

I also cite Jung on individuation and “the tension between the active-egoistic and passive altruistic poles creating higher syntheses, as symbolically recognised by Jung (1944) in his work on alchemy and individuation” (2015). I also refer to needing the tension between the two poles: “The synthesizing activity and creativity is something different than just having a good memory, and as Freud (1914a) points out, the lack of the ability to sublimate can lead to an ego injury for those with an ego ideal that demands that they make an ambitious contribution to their field of work. However, without the memory and without the drive to make such a contribution, those with creativity may not reach the standards of good work to have their ideas recognized in their profession.” (2018, p. 179)

With the projection of one of the poles onto the object then individuation is obviously impeded since the tension between the two poles is lost.

I also go on to write more on this in a 2021 article that also predates Dr. Schwartz’s 2022 article.

“In previous work, I have similarly come to thoughts about putting one’s passive belonging pole in objects (Pederson, 2015b, 2016, 2018, 2020a). As a more concise, structural formulation, I would say that just as the echoist enjoys his own power and perfection in the narcissistic object, the narcissist enjoys his own belonging and death in the echoistic object. The narcissist doesn’t cultivate relations with others who won’t increase his power transactionally (i.e. those who don’t give him ties to important people, admiration, or grant him “narcissistic supplies”). He doesn’t care about just belonging and fitting in. By projecting death into the object, I mean the status of symbolic death in being an outsider, in feeling weird, “too much,” “out of touch,” low class, (etc.). Or, alternately, I equate it with the psychic death of the echoist in which parts, or the whole of his personality or body are outside of life, which sees him depersonalized, empty, feeling lost, unable to properly access cognitive functions, or lacking preferences or desires of his own^{^[1]}. To put his feelings of “not belonging” or loneliness into others creates an inverse tendency of the narcissist in wanting to give the impression of “exclusivity” in being of higher class, important, and an insider.” (2021, p. 78)

Dr. Schwartz is simply reporting on what she found in my work and can’t go further with elucidating anything without making this plagiarism extremely obvious.

Additionally, in her 2021 book Dr. Schwartz writes that in the as-if person “there is a fear of being pinned down, of entering space and time completely (2021, p. 120)

Just as she mentions the narcissistic object, the good object, etc. with no citations and no context, her mention of space and time similarly hangs in the air.

Of course I make space and time a central part of my argument in both my 2015 and 2018 books. In contrast to the horizontal axis of bisexuality, they comprise the start of the vertical, superego axis of the personality:

“that Freud and other classical analysts provide the foundation for four different levels of being that correspond to the auto-erotic, the narcissistic, the anal, and the phallic stage. They in turn correspond with the subjective encounter with Space, Time, the Superlative, and Prestige and are rooted in Freud’s conception of negativity underpinning the transference and sense of perfection or death in the parents” (2015, xviii)

Above, I already gave a quotation about the object altruist that has a similar casual reference to them: “the Appollonian type may identify with more esoteric ideas or tastes separated in time or space from one’s group.” (2015, p. 22). Interestingly Dr. Schwartz doesn’t follow the normal usage of time and space but instead uses space and time, which is the order I plot the two in.

Dr. Schwartz also refers to internal space rather than using the common term “internal world”: “The repressions, misalignments and lacks from the past take up her internal space” (2021, p. 27)

I, of course, use internal Space in my work since it directly references the four level structure I referenced above:

“Additionally, there are people in PI [projective identification] at this stage who feel as though they must appear as god-like, and can never admit to, or apologize for their mistakes. Their grandiosity, in many cases, is not overt and is only perceived indirectly, by the way their internal Space makes them so sensitive to any criticisms. In contrast, I have also worked with passive-altruists who feel like they must be mind readers and anticipate the desires of their parent (or substitute) in an omnipotent way, and have a symbiotic relation to the internal Space of their object” (2018, p. 162)

“I will take up this early relation and show how psychopathology shows up in both external and internal Space” (2018, p. 44)

“This principle means that the infant has to separate what is part of its internal Space (i.e. what is imaginary), and what exists in external Space, and will really nourish it.” (2018, p. 70)

“I take this masturbatory aspect of internal Space to illustrate the basic set up of the first of Freud’s four stages, the auto-erotic stage.” (2018, p. 158)

Not being content to plagiarize my entire horizontal axis of bisexuality, narcissus and echo, the dead object as outsider, the good object, individuation between the two, etc. etc. etc., Dr. Schwartz even has to bring in my vertical axis. Moreover, what just show up as allusions here becomes even more brazen in her 2023 book on The Imposter Syndrome where she doubles down on this plagiarism and takes even more of my work!

Dr. Schwartz also mentions “absence,” “emptiness,” and “depersonalization” in multiple places (too many to cite her) as I do. However, what I wish to focus on is her references to “the psychological introjection of negative self-images” (2021, p. 153) and how “Without a nurturing paternal figure, this daughter can be susceptible to invasion by negative images” (2021, p. 167). This is a major idea that I introduce in my 2018 book!

I write of how “The unconscious is comprised of thing-presentations that relate to the parental and sibling imagos that make up the superego” (2018, p. 35) and that following ego injuries from parents or parental substitutes this leads to “Working with the introjection of symbols and images into bodily zones will show up in many of my vignettes” (2018, p. 12).

“The salience of projecting out images and symbols, and introjecting them, came from the importance of pre-verbal cognition in psychoanalytic thought. For example, Ferenczi (1952) discusses how symbols are underwritten by a mimetic relation in which the child “learns to represent by means of his body the whole multifariousness of the outer world” (p. 228). This means that a person can “feel” his or her way into the form of both human and non-human objects and things. A weeping willow tree, for example, can remind one of the shape of a human body that is downcast in sadness. A tree with sharp angles and a gnarled form can produce a feeling of evil or fear. We feel into forms, and although the mimetic sense varies from person to person, there is ample evidence for its existence” (2018, p. 34).

“The central example that Freud (1917d) gives of this is in melancholia, in which a jilted lover introjects her angry, debased view of the beloved and begins to self-revile herself in a way that he or she would have reviled the lover. As mentioned above, it is also common that instead of this kind of defense, the ego injury itself is what is repeated or transferred to new objects. A bad imago will be created and it will be transferred to every new relationship in either her love life, work life, or in her friendships, or cause ambivalence with the parent or sibling who was the prototype of the relation” (2018, p. 35).

“The introjection of an image might make sense to a non-analyst, if it concerns the physical comportment and/or physiognomy of another human. However, in psychoanalysis psyche–soma parallelism suggests that the body can be broken down, displaced, condensed, etc. as much as the mind can be. In doing this work, I have had people introject colors and whiteness, sounds, images of musculature without skin, different feelings of heat and coldness, black holes and nothingness (absences), fire, electricity, geometric shapes, rain and clouds, landscapes, and more.” (2018, p. 36)

I don’t know how to express to you the shock I had when I read Dr. Schwartz’s work and saw how much she had stolen from me…

Now, turning to Dr. Schwartz’s remarks on narcissism my reader won’t be surprised that there is also incredible overlap in this area.

Returning to my opening quotation from Dr. Schwartz, she writes:

“The narcissist is self-absorbed… refusing relatedness to any other” (2021, p. 133) “Narcissism in its singularity occludes relationship to… the other (2022, p. 137) and she also writes that “Narcissus portrays an illusory self, unable to include any other or the feminine, while Echo invites dialogue and connection with her voice” (2022, p. 296).

First, I use self-absorbed in relation to narcissism a dozen times in my work. Here are a few examples

“the subject egoist who defuses in the castration complex to become self-absorbed and care only for his or her own success or power” (2015, p. 91)

“The active-egoistic individual who hasn’t surmounted the oedipus complex is what we call “self-absorbed.” He only cares about his own success or passionate love” (2015, p. 47)

“While oedipally the egoist is concerned with his success, love, and happiness, in the father complex his advance to morality can still see him self-absorbed in regard to his individual guilt.” (2015, p. 70)

“After the resolution of the oedipus complex the individual is still “self-absorbed”.” (2015, p. 73)

“In summary, the egoist who doesn’t perform the instinctual renunciation to enter the father complex/genital phase can be broadly characterised as narcissistic in the sense that he is self-absorbed and only has a “self-observation” for his own personal success” (2015, p. 80)

In regard to “refusing relatedness to any other,” below my reader will see how I connect the narcissist’s love to possessiveness and control, but more broadly there are two things at play here.

First, I have shown that the passive pole concerns altruism and eros and that this is expressed as impulses to belong or be devoted to an object and restore them.

I also define defensive narcissism and echoism as repressing the opposite pole. The economics of libido views “the individual to be comprised of different egoistic and altruistic motivations, and the failure to compete with or restore others as defensive or pathological” (2015, p. 94)

So, in defensive narcissism the narcissist would not show impulses for belonging, devotion, and the EQ for understanding differences would no longer develop because I aligned these with the passive-altruistic pole that is defended against. Also, above, I showed how this is often projected into the object.

Second, I also write that narcissistic relationality is connected to objects that are extensions of oneself.

Narcissism “can show an “active-affectionate type, altruism and affection appear only for one’s children or those who are under one’s power, who are seen as extensions of oneself. This altruism and affection wouldn’t be mistaken for the compassion and enjoyment of tenderness, cuteness, sentimentality found in the altruistic pole” (2015, p. 22)

Along with self-absorption Dr. Schwartz also writes that “Narcissus portrays an illusionary self.” In her 2022 article she also writes “Integration is difficult when living in a state of singularity, needing to appear perfect and without flaws. Through façade and illusion, he uses image to replace being seen or seeing the real” (2022, p. 289).

Compare this to my statements:

The “narcissistic individual can be capable of an impressive ability to relate with others, but he or she may be “self-absorbed” and harbor illusions that he is more important, special, or exceptional in society than he really is” (2018, p. 67)

“They often give me the impression that they would rather remain perfect—which is an illusion that can only be kept up by not doing anything, or through always blaming others” (2018, p. 137)

I also give a clinical example in which I write: “After a moment of silence, she adds that her mother ‘can’t handle being wrong’ and that “she has to be perfect.’” “Client reports feeling strong “relief” from the feeling that ‘something might actually be there,’ behind her mother’s perfect image.” (2018, p. 97)

“An ambitious person will find the content of his ambition given by his historically determined political-economy and even if cultural values encourage competition among all people of that culture, he will still be driven to go beyond what is the norm. Feelings of jealousy and an economic emphasis on self-consciousness in regard to his “image” will set him apart from others” (2015, p. 2)

I also write about how the narcissist “ends up seeming “slick,” “too polished,” and the attractive confidence gives ways to vanity (2018, p. 173)

Dr, Schwartz also writes of “the illusion of omnipotence and manic excitement” (2022, p. 294). Of course I mention both of these in defensive narcissism:

“It is possible to usurp the place of the parental imago and become one’s own ideal. Freud discusses this usurpation in the psychopathology of mania (Freud, 1917d, pp. 253–255; 1921, pp. 131–133)” (2018, p. 20)

““omnipotence” or grandiosity similarly belongs to the parental imago of perfection and is not the natural state of the infant or child. Here is another example of using ego and object statements to undo the usurpation of the parental imago of perfection in PI” (2018, p. 26)

As she does in her 2022 article, in her 2021 book Dr. Schwartz holds “narcissism has to do, not with self-love, but self-hate” (2021, p. 132). However, in her 2022 article, she also includes inferiority as a synonym with it as I do: “Although healthy narcissism can contain self-esteem and a good and loving feeling towards oneself, it becomes disturbed when fraught with inferiority” (2022, p. 134)

In my work I discuss the individual, in this case the egoist, striving for recognition and admiration to get self-esteem or narcissistic (i.e. self-love) libido:

“the subject egoistic libidinal position in which competition with others to gain recognition or admiration for one’s skills or intellectual potency is the major source of self-esteem (or “narcissistic libido”).” (2015, p. 36)

“the superego also has a “direction-giving” aspect in which the phase specific parental image of perfection “demands perfection” from the ego (Freud, 1914b, p. 94; 1923b, p. 34; 1933, p. 65). The ego ideal measures the performance of the ego and object drives so that the subject egoist experiences triumph in social or romantic success or feels self-contempt or inferiority in failure.” (2015, p. 53)

In other places I directly use self-hate as a synonym for self-contempt or inferiority:

I mention “ego ideal tension (i.e., inferiority, self-hate)” in the active pole defended against in narcissism (2015, p. 100). And “the failure to live up to one’s ambition directly relates to feelings of inferiority, self-hate” (2018, p. 22) “The ego ideal references these levels of authority and the corresponding sense of inferiority, self-hate, or self-criticism of increasing magnitudes that one feels for not attaining the success that these authorities possess” (2018, p. 7).

Dr. Scwhartz also uses my formulation of perfection as well: “A complexity of intricate challenges confronts the narcissist. The psyche and body are bombarded with the defeating thoughts… because nothing will ever be perfect enough” (2021, p. 138). She also uses illusion here just as I do “illusory relationships and without involvement with living objects” (2021, p. 135)

Now compare my statements about the repetition-compulsion and illusion:

“These repetition-compulsions of the pleasure principle offer the promise of great satisfaction, as noted above in Klein’s description of “tremendous and never-ending oral gratification”. Although they don’t twist reality so noticeably as paranoia does, the implicit idealisation of the ego or object’s abilities or worth is an illusion. These illusions, as we’ve seen, are based upon the drive’s negative existence and also still reference the father-imago in defused rivalry with a father-substitute. Narcissistic triumph may result in intense pleasure as the incest taboo/difference between the generations is crossed in a social or sexual relationship but it loses its lustre. Witticisms such as “I don’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member” illustrate the sense of betrayed illusion once one attains a goal. Happiness was supposed to follow when one got the girl or job one wanted, but it didn’t stay” (2015, p. 114)

“In the castration complex self-esteem is no longer regulated because the ego ideal is an individual ego ideal and is suffused with feelings of inferiority. Although a sense of “narcissistic triumph” may occasionally be felt in defusion—when the ego coincides with the ego ideal—“it is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon” (Freud, 1930, p. 76). The individual feels that he is as powerful as his father imago for a spell, but the negative quality of the drive means that it quickly goes away.” (2015, p. 98)

In her most overt statement, Dr. Schwartz writes that: “Narcissism is characterize by possessiveness, the drive to prestige… envy and difficulty accepting average and natural limitations” (2021, p. 134). She also adds: “Narcissism is associated with solipsism, egoism” in her 2022 article (2022, p. 297).

Of course I speak to each one of these points in my work but I will leave egoism out since it was already covered in the first section in the contrast to altruism.

Possessiveness

“This results in an idealisation of and affectionate feelings towards the love object where before sensuality and aggression was dominant over affection (Freud, 1921, p. 111). Preceding the oedipus complex, the egoist wanted to posses or control the sexual object” (2015, p. 55)

“The egoist is no longer willing to be under the father-substitute and, essentially, strives to possess the phallus himself or become his own father in what Freud recognises as the social manifestation of the castration complex by citing Alfred Adler’s “masculine protest” (Freud, 1914b; Freud 1937).” (2015, p. 98)

“possessing or controlling the object in earlier development” (2015, p. 104)

“The impulses to control/possess the object” (2015, p. 23)

“There is a parallelism between the ego drive and the object drive. Just as an active-egoist may be possessive of his “girl,” or jealous of the attractive partners of peers, he can also be possessive regarding his reputation as competent or being among the intelligent or skilled at work and be “jealous” of another’s promotion.” (2018, p. 121)

“Once we go past this point, then mythological language is what gives a sense for the “inhuman” quality of the jealousy. For example, there are many men I have worked with who have many girlfriends or who are having many affairs, but who become very jealous with the thought that one of “their” women might be having a dalliance with another man. This begins to show a part–object relation to women. This kind of person has entered a mythological plane in which he is comparable to a mythological ogre who is terrible and cruel to his harem or severely limits their life. But, this can still go deeper. I have worked with several women who have had jealous boyfriends who locked them in a house and forbade them from spending time with any man, woman, or even a pet. This kind of possessive, jealous person is comparable to a dragon or some creature from mythology that jealously possesses a woman (often with other “treasures”) and cares nothing for her desires. She is only allowed to live in her fantasy life or daydreams in its treasure trove.” (2018, p. 71)

Prestige

“So long as this double tie is in place the individual is on the path of acquiring prestige in his community or culture.” (2015, p. 57)

“Social ontology provides a vertical axis though which one asks if the person in question is working around issues involving prestige and their reputation in the community” (2015, p. 139)

“Instead, the dependency upon the parents is continued as dependency upon their internalised images, or imagos, that mediate the individuals relation to father-substitutes in the community based upon their superior strength or potency or their greater reputation or prestige” (2015, p. 31)

“Freud (1914a) observes that just because someone has an ambitious ego ideal, this does not mean that he or she will have the power to sublimate and achieve the desired Prestige or authority.” (2018, p. 117)

“the difference between the generations can be recognized in any culture in which there are elders or leaders with more Prestige and neophytes who are held in lower esteem. On one hand, the esteem seems rational because the elders will have more experience and therefore skills or knowledge that the neophytes will want to learn. On the other hand, there is a tension between this formulation since Prestige is sometimes due to belonging to a higher class, caste, or “noble” family that has nothing to do with their skills or knowledge. A person can triangulate with both types, and will often transfer superiority in abilities or knowledge to those who occupy structural positions of power through their name or class.” (2018, p. 116)

“the popular usage of narcissism directly references someone who measures himself as important, or as someone who should be important in the human environment” (2018, p. 22)

“Generally, the [narcissistic] individual regards himself—his knowledge, skill, or wisdom—as superior to those who have more prestige or social authority. He becomes competitive with his cohort or others in the work-group and no longer able to admire their skill and “put the work first”. Defusion of the ego ideal means that the individual loses his regulated supply of self-esteem (narcissistic libido). The ego ideal that loses its “double tie” to a father-substitute, becomes an individual ego ideal that is suffused with inferiority no matter how well it’s concealed” (Reich, 1990, p. 23, 81, 180).” (2015, p. 58)

“However, Prestige isn’t just someone’s status in the community but also can be based upon an individual competing with another and seeing his superiority in comparison. What is important here is that it’s possible to see that those in higher positions of authority aren’t always more skilled or knowledgeable, so that transference is seen not to be mediated purely through language. In defusion, the individual appears to have chosen to take back some transference, which we could identify as respect, from those with prestige in the community or authority in the workplace. As Reich (1990) notes, we see in these cases the inability to take “subordinate positions in the rank and file” and criticisms regarding the work group leaders (Reich, 1990, pp. 123, 217–218).” (2015, p. 98)

Envy and jealousy.

Dr. Schwartz also writes of “envy, idealization, competitiveness… with the wish and apprehension of being the object of envy” (2021, p. 138)

I write of:

“The ego ideal determines the level of a person’s ambition and “demands perfection,” or that one live up to this level, or face inferiority tensions and jealousy/envy regarding others.” (2018, p. 128)

“I often work with both by complimenting the patient or expressing surprise that he did not become more successful or recognized in his life, or by agreeing with him about the idiocy in the world. Once you give this “mirroring” to the patient, or “join his defense,” as Hyman Spotnitz (1969) calls it, the patient can begin to get more personal and bring up his anxieties and inferiority feelings on his own. As opposed to trying to give one the impression that he does not have personal problems. Sometimes he will begin to bring you into his more personal thoughts of envy, reactivity, and discuss the “haters” in his life.” (2018, p. 156)

“the ambitious individual who is driven to strive for the admiration of others and needs to have the reputation of belonging to the intelligent, skilled, or eminently competent class of people in their places of work, or in the community, will feel jealousy towards peers who he see as superior or have inferiority tensions if he does not accomplish goals that they do.” (2015, p. 55)

“The ambitious person is “driven” to be successful and will suffer inferiority, or jealousy if he isn’t admired by others as successful or having the potential to be.” (2015, xv)

“As Freud highlights, jealousy can occur even though the sexual object doesn’t cheat, but is merely seen to admire another man.” (2015, p. 7)

“Freud is drawing our attention to the fact that people have characteristic ways of approaching the world and that a person can’t simply change his way. You can’t tell someone whose “economy of libido” is built around finding romantic love that he should stop wasting time and focus on advancing in his career and that he’ll find love after he achieves some success. The nights of studying and working alone aren’t backed up by anticipatory feelings of power or the ability to imagine the admiration or jealousy of others. Such a person doesn’t find satisfaction in competing with peers; rather, he is driven to find someone whom he can idealise, find his happiness in making his significant other happy, and feel his self-worth by being loved in return. Similarly, the ambitious person isn’t free to simply choose to base his life around love. He experiences jealousy when peers receive a better position, make more money, have a more attractive sexual partner than him, or when his possession of these things is threatened by someone who he feels is more potent.” (2015, p. 2)

“Feelings of jealousy and an… emphasis on self-consciousness in regard to his “image” will set him apart from others.” (2015, p. 2)

“difficulty accepting average and natural limitations”

“The ambitious person may compete with others to be the best warrior in one culture and be jealous of another man’s corner office in another, but the social relations are the same. An ambitious person will find the content of his ambition given by his historically determined political-economy and even if cultural values encourage competition among all people of that culture, he will still be driven to go beyond what is the norm” (2015, p. 3)

The first stage of defusion, which I align with phobos, indicates the fear of taking a father-substitute in what is classically termed the castration complex. The egoist is no longer willing to be under the father-substitute and, essentially, strives to possess the phallus himself or become his own father in what Freud recognises as the social manifestation of the castration complex by citing Alfred Adler’s “masculine protest” (Freud, 1914b; Freud 1937). (2015, p. 98)

“rebellion or defiance that uncritically dismisses authority. For example, the high school dropout who feels that there is nothing important to learn in school and that he is smarter than everyone else, is no hero” (2018, p. 52)

“Another client gives me a flying dream. He is an addict and when he mentions flying “high” I think of relating it to his addiction. However, when he begins talking about “not being limited by gravity” and “defying gravity,”” (2018, p. 159)

“It is the valorization of “naked self-interest” in capitalism, which issued from the technological infrastructure of the previous political economy, which allowed women new freedoms. Social life was such that the narcissists who did not care about bad reputations in the community were allowed to flout such traditions, without the community forcing them to toe the line” (2018, p. 99)

“As mentioned above, the “complete freedom” of the lost boys references “no parents” and “no rules” and even the name lost boys references runaway boys or boys who do not have parents (i.e. self-chosen orphans). We have seen how the lost boys’ “complete freedom” also registers as a disregard for even the most basic rules of society.” (2018, p. 189)

“He will lie and cheat if he believes he will get ahead by it and doesn’t feel the claims of justice or fairness to be normative. Freud (1916) has described such individuals as the “exceptions”.”(2015, p. 47)

Solipsism

“Rank matches this to the stage of narcissism in psychosexual development, but he expands on this stage to also include things like the idealism/solipsism of certain types of philosophers who believe that the external world may be something that just exists in their own minds” (2018, p. 49)

Along with philosophical solipsism I refer to a mystical one that involves the creation of the otherworldly that is not objective but their own private experience as part of narcissism too:

“a mystic may appeal to a metaphysical eternal moral order in the subjective experience of the conscience. However, they do so as if different religions, moral orders, and revelations didn’t exist from culture to culture… The mystical errors here fall short of observing the importance of the sign” and go back to… a solipsistic world view” (2015, p. 162)

“The stages of primary narcissism concern ways of life that are linked to worldviews that surround immortality (an afterlife/the supernatural) or some view of a perfect, Timeless place” (2018, p. 170)

“A return to Freud’s structural theory, in which complexes are anchored in the stages of superego development, is used to carefully plot and explain the social nature of the superego and its relation to authority in society (secondary narcissism) and the otherworldly (primary narcissism).” (2018, p. i)

Now, I’d like to return to Dr. Schwartz’s link of the as-if personality to narcissism.

If my reader recalls, I showed that Dr. Schwartz’s characterization of the as if personality did not match Deutsch’s description but very much aligned with I had written on object altruism/echoism.

However, Dr. Schwartz also mentions that the as-if personality also links to “the personality of narcissism” (2021, p. 62)

In her 2022 article she more explicitly links it to being “an imposter,” “fraudulence” (2022, pp. 291, 290, 296)

As we’ve seen, Deutsch describes the as if character as passive, the person seeming normal but possessing an element of an uncanny, automaton quality about it, and when she writes about the imposter she does so in contrast to the as-if personality.

As we saw, the imposter is described as narcissistic and pretending but Deutsch writes that the as-if personality is “not aware of their disturbance.”

So the question is, if this has nothing to do with how Deutsch described the as-if character, then where is Dr. Schwartz getting this from?

Dr. Schwartz refers to the idea of wearing a mask a dozen times over in her 2021 book and several times in her 2022 article. She also refers to image just as much.

I’ll ask my reader to consider how I’ve written about narcissism:

“The subject egoist may deceptively present himself to others as having the potential to be greater than father-substitutes. By impressing others and trying to have them believe he is powerful he is able to believe it himself, but secretly fears being unmasked as a fraud (McDougall, 1974)” (2015, p. 58)

“In the realm of the ego drives, pursuing one’s career or being proud of some skill or knowledge in a field of interest can leave one similarly open to being humiliated by someone who attempts to unmask one as grossly incompetent or inferior” (2018, p. 143)

I quote a long passage from Joyce McDougall on narcissism:

“He gets the diploma without passing the examination. But this is his bitter reward—he keeps it on condition that he never uses it. Nevertheless the fraudulent diploma, stolen from a repudiated father . . . [makes him a] paper king with an imitation scepter, [and] he must thereafter protect this identity and convince the others that his illusory world is real. Of necessity he must deceive them—the public, his sexual partner, and, finally, himself—in the same way that, in fantasy, he deceived the father. From there on the fear of being unmasked and punished for an unnamed crime becomes a consuming preoccupation. He must keep a close control on everything. Thus the fear of losing control is added to the anxiety of losing his fragile identity. He fears losing control, not only of himself, but also of the Other, the anonymous spectator, in whose eyes the false identity must be maintained. The image of the Other, projected onto the world of men, renders the public, all the Others, a constant threat to his position as chosen king” (2018, p. 131)

“Feelings of jealousy and an… emphasis on self-consciousness in regard to his “image” will set him apart from others.” (2015, p. 2)

“make a name for himself” and be his own father or place his name behind the authority of those with status, prestige, or who lead a work-group or ‘family’. In the former choice, the individual may become a workaholic who ‘must’ be regarded as the more skilled than others, or he may deceptively try to appear as successful by buying status conferring commodities or trying to win public opinion by talking about his superiority (Reich, 1990, p. 23, 81, 180; McDougall, 1974, p. 292)” (2015, p. 99)

When I write defensive narcissism I also use the expression to usurp:

Merriam-Webster defines this as:

to seize or exercise authority or possession wrongfully

Cambridge Dictionary defines this as:

to take control of a position of power, especially without have the right to

If someone wrongfully or without right has power then are they not a fraud? An imposter?

My reader has seen that I contrast the self-conscious deception of the object altruist/echoist with power. Wanting to be interesting or wanting to be the center of attention to tell a story or read someone’s palm is different than wanting to impress others with how much money you make or how much weight you can bench press, or how strong, smart, beautiful, refined, or more spiritual you are:

However, to the extent that her as-if character is sometimes described with elements of power instead of belonging, I also hold the position that there is also active-altruism/echoism and passive-egoism/narcissism.

“as I’ll explore in the third chapter, the oedipus complex represents a developmental point at which the egoistic and altruistic poles have intermingled to the point of being nearly balanced. However, a passive-aggressive type, who doesn’t get angry or demand others to do what he wants but, instead, tries to prey upon their guilt or pity, demonstrates egoism and aggression but its form is much different than the open aggression and demands found in the egoistic pole. Conversely, in an active-affectionate type, altruism and affection appear only for one’s children or those who are under one’s power, who are seen as extensions of oneself. This altruism and affection wouldn’t be mistaken for the compassion and enjoyment of tenderness, cuteness, sentimentality found in the altruistic pole.” (2015, p. 22)

“once we acknowledge that wanting to appear moral isn’t the same as feeling equal to others, nor possessing the guilt conscience, we can go beyond pure instrumentality to say that the subject egoist is driven to want to appear moral. Because of the intermingling of the two poles, the descriptions of both the subject egoist and altruist need to be rounded out by noting two more tensions in the superego. Additionally, this allows me to get rid of the redundancy of passive-altruistic in order to say that this tendency could be called active-altruism.” (2015, p. 107)

I don’t write about active-object altruism but I conceptually indicate it. However, as we will see, Dr. Schwartz’s examples of as-if narcissism just continue to follow the conceptual types that I lay out in my work. This might make my reader wonder why I am bringing this up? I am doing so because I want to give an example of the passive-egoism because it is emblematic of the lengths of Dr. Schwartz’s plagiarism.

“To complement this, the subject altruist, in being driven to love and be kind to others can encounter a lot of mistreatment with a response that can resemble being egoistic. However, passive-egoism will never appear as the ambition, need for admiration for one’s abilities, etc. as it does in the egoist, just as affability, mildness, and sweetness can only be a thin veneer in active-altruism. In passive-egoism the goal of perfection is often much more explicit than it is with active-egoism. However, the perfectionism and “hard-working” aspect is clearly joined up with wanting to be seen as such by the father-substitutes at the job site and there is anxiety about disappointing them. Even to the extent that this is eclipsed by some surliness, for those who can’t see past this “grumpy” cloak the altruist’s behaviour in the work group will still give him away” (2015, p. 108)

This should be compared with Dr. Schwartz’s remark on the daughter who “long ago she drew a magic circle around herself, knowing she had to be self-sufficient. She may have withdrawn intra-psychically and interpersonally acts raw, prickly, and sensitive to others (2021, p. 79)

The example of wearing a cloak vs. drawing a circle around oneself make the same point, and calling someone surly vs prickly are synonymous.

Though I was initially hesitant to include this example, after I reviewed the staggering number of items in which she uses the exact same term or expression as me it turned around in my head. Instead of throwing it into the “extras document” with many other passages, I’ve decided that it shows how comprehensive her plagiarism is.

From Echo to Narcissus, from space to time, from the good object to the dead object, from belonging to alienation, from the introjection of negative images into the body to the restoration of them, from individuation to narcissistic object choice, all these things that I have created or brought together in my work, she uses casually without having done any of the scholarship nor any of the thinking of how things are inter-related. I don’t know how I can convey how infuriating it is.

Returning to the Puella and its narcissistic types, My reader has seen my comparison to the two types on the passive pole: the subject altruist and the object altruist that go with the daddy’s girl and as-if personality. Here is my comparison with what Dr. Schwartz calls “the Virgin girl:”

“never able to be young enough, thin enough, smart enough, the puella is caught by pressures promoting the unattainable’ (2021, p. 128)

I write about

“as much as a person can be narcissistic about her physical and/or intellectual potency she can also be narcissistic about her “looks”, attractiveness, or her ability to make or judge beautiful things. We could say that the former, the subject, conquers and that the latter wants to be the object of the subject and “be conquered”. The object egoist tries to make herself the object of the subject (the cause of his desire) whose potency reflects the potency of her beauty. She may put obstacles in the way of her suitor, feigns indifference, and generally “make him work” for her attention or affections. This conserves some of the insight of Freud’s remarks on the narcissism of women but allows for a completely different stance to emerge from the altruistic pole” (2015, p. 17)

“narcissism can be expressed through how a person is merely interested in sex and is unable to love, because ideals like permanent youth, beauty, or superlative success are valorized.” (2018, p. 85)

Moreover, I do a study of the object altruist version of the histrionic hysteric and I compare it with the compulsive hysteric that references object egoism. Regarding the object egoist’s form of hysteria I write:

“What I have in mind for this is the impression when sitting with a patient that she has a sense of self-respect or pride derived from the feeling that her physical beauty and/or aesthetic or spiritual refinements are special or superior to those of others. Jacobson cites the “uncommon narcissistic pride in their ‘inner values,’ their moral integrity, the high level of their standards, [and] the relentless strength of their ideal values which turn out to represent, unconsciously, their ‘inner penis’ in such women” (Jacobson, 1954b, pp. 118–119)” (2015, p. 24)

“Karl Abraham doesn’t describe the phenomenology of his patients but recounts common object egoistic phantasies in his patients:

in some of our patients we come across phantasies which refer to the possibility of a recognition of the man and to the formulation of conditions under which the patient, after their fulfilment, would be prepared to reconcile herself to her femininity. I mention first of all a condition I have met with many times; it runs: “I could be content with my femininity if I were absolutely the most beautiful of all women.” All men would lie at the feet of the most beautiful woman, and the female narcissism would consider this power not a bad compensation for the defect so painfully perceived… (Abraham, 1922, pp. 25-26)

Although Abraham relegates these phantasies to responses to the castration conflict instead of seeing them as motivations that still exist in healthy states, this is his "depth interpretation. However, there are still object egoists who we can judge to be motivated by the desire to be viewed as sexually attractive, or as someone you wish you could win the love of” (2015, p. 25)

Dr. Schwartz makes remark on this egoistic/narcissistic or power based type in other places too:

“a need for achievement, the perfect look, and the pressure of hyper-functionality” (2021, p. 69)

“the perfect and appealing persona” (2021, p. 66)

“the pressure to have complete success, every day, even in the smallest details; no slips allowed (2021, p. 69)

“She assesses herself to be either inferior or superior to others” (2021, p. 70)

“Life can no longer be avoided or hidden with perfectionism” (2021, p. 70)

I take up perfectionism and these issues in my 2018 book where I talk about “the compulsive personality who is in PI with the proto paternal imago” (2018, p. 137)

“As Lowen (1994) and Kurtz (2007) point out in their rigid and industrious/ over-focused types, this is someone who gives the impression of being more “adult,” putting too much into work life, and being prideful. The more general drive to perfection becomes transformed to perfectionism in this move” (2018, p. 135, emphasis mine)

“Freud (1921) draws our attention to the binary of people with a high ego ideal and people with a low ego ideal. In the latter, “the ego has often preserved its earlier narcissistic self-complacency . . . [and] the individuals concerned . . . give an impression of greater force and of more freedom of libido” (pp. 129–130). In other words, such an individual shows more confidence, without necessarily having all the skills, knowledge, or expertise that others do. Additionally, this can translate into the individual feeling entitled to be a boss, leader, or authority figure even when others are more competent, or into making a virtue of risk-taking and following one’s gut, without having all the available facts or training. Others are often impressed by such an individual’s confidence. Often the rhetorical approach of the individual with a low ego ideal will resonate more than someone who tries to reference competence in the field by getting into the details. In contrast, an active individual with a high ego ideal has a more developed sense of shame. This sense of shame is related to conscientiousness, a sense of wanting to be seen as competent in one’s field of work, or anxiety that one’s work will be judged as inferior or found wanting” (2018, p. 6,emphasis mine)

“Rather, they usually feel entitled to be in those positions and can inspire others to have a similar confidence in them. The person with a full or high ego ideal has to earn self-esteem through performance and conscientiousness. He or she worries about being judged as incompetent and wants to make a good impression on the boss.” (2018, p. 129, emphasis mine)

“In the high ego ideal, there is a binary of wanting to be viewed as competent in one’s field of work that is contrasted with the PI that involves assuming the parental imago of ideal conscientiousness (i.e. one’s way of working is the best or right way). (2018, p. 135)

Dr. Schwartz makes further comments on the aloofness of narcissism that can go with this:

“little reliance or trust…always aloof and untouchable” (2021, p. 56)

“the shield of aloofness… comes across as inauthentic. Her words might be right, but the feeling is off. The shell is attractive and fascinating, but something is missing” (2021, p. 138)

“aloofness, the need to remain untouchable to avoid hurt. Her lack of connectedness, her coldness and guardedness distances her from others and although off-putting, comes from a sense of fragility” (2021, p. 129)

She exudes brittleness, an aura of aloofness and stiff veneer behind which she exists in a lofty and untouchable domain where the world is observed (2021, p. 128)

“she may present a rude or cold and harsh façade; she avoids reciprocity in relationships” (2021, p 123)

“the pressure to have complete success, every day, even in the smallest details; no slips allowed (2021, p. 69)

As I’ve already shown, I have the position that the narcissist’s superiority covers up his inferiority, self-hate.

I also write about narcissists who give the impression of “seeming ‘slick,’ ‘too polished,’ and the attractive confidence gives ways to vanity” (2018, p. 173)

“Feelings of jealousy and an… emphasis on self-consciousness in regard to his “image” will set him apart from others.” (2015, p. 2)

“I’ve had narcissistic patients who…promise themselves they would never be vulnerable in love or trust someone with their secrets” (2015, p. 42)

I cite Reich on the compulsive woman who “will be obstinately silent or behave in a cold, haughty way towards the analyst.” (2015, p. 26)

I mention those who are “cold and aloof in primary narcissism” (2018, p. 67), narcissists “at this stage who feel as though they must appear as god-like, and can never admit to, or apologize for their mistakes. Their grandiosity, in many cases, is not overt and is only perceived indirectly, by the way their internal Space makes them so sensitive to any criticisms.” (2018, p. 162), “They often give me the impression that they would rather remain perfect—which is an illusion that can only be kept up by not doing anything, or through always blaming others” (2018, pp. 136-137), “withdrawal of ego interest from others, but not as severe as in psychosis,” and “a schizoid economy of libido that makes him have a greater connection to the contents of his internal world than to the external world,” (2018, p. 94) and “the “attitude of detachment” (2018, p. 160) in schizoid narcissism, “The standard schizoid personality disorder will see the sacrifice of the object drive relation of his body to another’s, so that there is an affect block and no registered desire for a relationship” (2018, p. 162),

Dr. Schwarts writes that this “puella is driven by the desire to be seen, to be the best and most loved” (2021, p. 128)

I write of “one pole consists of the person’s most basic ambitions, goals and self-esteem, which develop out of the young child’s grandiosity and exhibitionism being mirrored and affirmed.” (2015, p. 29)

“Edgcumbe and Burgner’s differentiation of the phallic-narcissistic and the phallic-oedipal. Regarding the former, they give the example of “a pretty, dainty, beautifully dressed child, who appeared feminine and self-satisfied . . . [and who] knew well how to make an entrance and become the center of attention, and soon became known as “the little princess” (Edgcumbe & Burgner, 1975, p. 176).” (2018, p. 132 )

I also reference the drive to be ‘the best’ in egoism-narcissism quite a bit:

“The trait of ambition references going beyond one’s community and registering in higher social hierarchies in which one seeks to be “the best.”” (2018, p. 117)

“However, ambition can still deepen past this point of wanting to be the best. The ambitious person may want to attain a level of being a name that is immortalized in history or to be “the best there ever was.” (2018, p. 117)

“Thus, being seen as knowledgeable or skilled in the community expands to being seen as “the best,”” (2018, p. 157)

“In the ego drives, one is firmly chasing success and the imperative to be the best in the power hierarchies of external Civilization.” (2018, p. 169)

“This means that as far as the subject egoist has transference to someone that doesn’t involve magical abilities but considers them as “the best”, “the smartest”, or “the most powerful” in relation to all other people” (2015, p. 125)

In her ultimate definition of narcissism, Dr. Schwartz also writes: “On closer observation, at the heart of narcissism is a lack of warmth” (2021, p. 136)

I’m sure my reader can guess that along with identifying some types of egoism-narcissism as cold and “serious, stern, austere, steely, hard, formal, disciplined, having a commanding presence, an authoritative presence, or cool” (2015, pp. 6-7 ) I also write how “In common language we can contrast altruism as affable, genial, friendly, amiable, kind, gentle, good natured, good humoured, or warm”(2015, p. 6)

Thus, in my account of narcissism, when the passive pole is defended against, the egoist loses its warmth which is why I write: “The active individual moves from seeming cold and aloof in primary narcissism, to possibly giving the impression of being “cool” and socially desirable in secondary narcissism” (2018, p. 67).

I hope my reader can see that this is no small issue of plagiarism. Dr. Schwartz has referenced every corner of my work in her own.

Then, after meeting me, she actively lied about her past publications, continued to solicit my work while not sharing her own, and in my complaint on her 2023 book I will show you that she doubles down on all this and plagiarizes all the new work I had shared.

Works Cited

Pederson, T. C. (2015). The economics of libido: Psychic bisexuality, the superego, and the centrality of the oedipus complex. Karnac Books.

Pederson, T. C. (2018). Psychoanalysis and hidden narrative in film: Reading the symptom.Routledge.

Pederson, T. C. (2020). Narcissism, echoism, perfection, and death: Towards a structural psychoanalysis. The International Journal of Controversial Discussions. Issue 2: 226-302 https://ijcd.internationalpsychoanalysis.net

Pederson, T. C. (2021). The singular object of the oedipal stage and earlier component Objects’ The International Journal of Controversial Discussions. Issue 4: 51–90 https://ijcd.internationalpsychoanalysis.net

[1] Depending on the phase of the narcissistic defense, the narcissist can also put spontaneity, feeling, empathy, and other traits associated with belonging into the object (Pederson, 2020). However, certain narcissists definitely retain these traits and use them to manipulate or attract others.

psychoanalysis

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Susan Schwartz PhD, Jungian Analyst, is a Plagiarist.

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