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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78273-0.txt b/78273-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0565f45 --- /dev/null +++ b/78273-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9565 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78273 *** + + PSYCHOPATHOLOGY + AND POLITICS + + By + HAROLD D. LASSWELL + + Assistant Professor of Political Science, The + University of Chicago; and author of _Propaganda + Technique in the World War, etc._ + + + _“From him who has eyes to see and ears to hear + no mortal can hide his secret; he whose lips are + silent chatters with his fingertips and betrays + himself through all his pores.”_ + --An Old Physician + + + THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS + CHICAGO · ILLINOIS + + + COPYRIGHT 1930 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED OCTOBER 1930 + _Second Impression May 1931_ + + COMPOSED AND PRINTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS + CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +An understanding of political life can be sought by examining +collective processes distributively or intensively. In my _Propaganda +Technique in the World War_ (New York and London, 1927), I undertook to +analyze the factors which modified collective attitudes by examining +the symbols to which many millions of people had been exposed, without +paying heed to the order in which these symbols entered into the +experience of any particular person. In this preliminary treatise +on _Psychopathology and Politics_, I am likewise concerned with the +factors which impinge upon collective attitudes, but the method of +procedure is radically different. It is no longer a question of +inspecting the symbols to which innumerable individuals have been +exposed; the present starting-point is the lengthy scrutiny of the +histories of specific individuals. The procedures and findings of +psychopathology are relied upon for the purpose in hand, since they are +the most elaborate and stimulating contributions to the study of the +person which have yet been made. + +Candor enjoins me once more to express my indebtedness to my former +teacher and present chief, Charles E. Merriam, of the University of +Chicago, who some time ago sensed the importance of psychopathology for +political science, and who has been willing to encourage my own forays +in the field, without, of course, feeling bound to indorse my results +either in principle or in detail. Through him it became possible to +have facilities for special work with Professor Mayo, of Harvard +University, whose perception of the bearing of psychopathology upon the +understanding of social life is bearing fruit in novel and important +experiments in business. The tenure of a Social Science Research +Council Fellowship (1928-29) made it possible to continue my studies +abroad. + +Circumstances have thus been such as to bring me in contact, sometimes +fleeting and sometimes prolonged, with men who represent divers +standpoints in psychopathology. Many of these have kindly placed +their minds and their facilities at my disposal, and I hereby return +thanks for the generosity and patience with which they treated an +inquiring, if somewhat innocent, investigator. No one who knows the lay +of the land in modern psychology, deeply pitted by the trenches and +shell-holes of battling schools, will imagine that all the men whom +I am to name see eye to eye with one another, or that they will look +with equanimity upon the results of my explorations. To name them is, I +hope, not unduly to incriminate them. + +Among those from whom assistance has been received are to be included: +Dr. William Healy, Judge Baker Foundation, Boston; Dr. William A. +White, superintendent of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C.; +Dr. Ross Chapman, superintendent of Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, +Towson, Maryland; Dr. Earl D. Bond, superintendent of the Pennsylvania +State Hospital, Philadelphia; Dr. Mortimer Raynor, superintendent of +Bloomingdale Hospital, White Plains, New York; Dr. C. MacFie Campbell, +superintendent of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Boston; Dr. Harry +Stack Sullivan, formerly of Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital; Dr. +N. D. C. Lewis, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; Dr. Samuel W. Hamilton, +Bloomingdale Hospital; Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, Bloomingdale Hospital; +Dr. F. L. Wells, Boston Psychopathic Hospital; Dr. Edouard Hitschmann, +Vienna; Dr. Paul Federn, Vienna; Dr. Alfred Adler, Vienna; Dr. Wilhelm +Stekel, Vienna; Dr. S. Ferenczi, Budapest; Dr. Theodor Reik, Berlin; +Dr. Franz Alexander, Berlin (now of the University of Chicago). My +colleagues, Dr. Stewart B. Sniffen and Professor Leonard D. White, made +valuable suggestions during the process of editing the manuscript, +several of which I adopted. + +Permission to quote freely from my previous publications was received +from the editors of the _American Political Science Review, American +Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, +International Journal of Ethics_, and from the University of Chicago +Press and the Chicago Association for Child Study and Parent Education. + +I wish especially to express my gratitude to those who cannot be +singled out by name, but whose co-operation in submitting themselves to +prolonged scrutiny was of the greatest possible help. + +It ought to be pointed out that the cases actually cited are only +a fraction of those which I have examined, or which I have in my +possession. Only enough cases have been abstracted to serve the +purposes of exposition, to supply a background for the theoretical +material. The obscurities which result from an unlimited multiplication +of “little Willie stories” have been sought to be avoided by curtailing +their number and their extent. + +The first part of the book proceeds in rather dogmatic fashion, and +this no doubt tends to obscure the highly unsatisfactory nature of +the materials and methods of contemporary psychopathology. The later +chapters are given over to the critical and constructive discussion of +these matters, and should fully indicate the highly provisional, though +potentially significant, character of the whole. + + H. D. L. + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. Life-Histories and Political Science 1 + + II. The Psychopathological Approach 15 + + III. A New Technique of Thinking 28 + + IV. The Criteria of Political Types 38 + + V. Theories of Personality Development 65 + + VI. Political Agitators 78 + + VII. Political Agitators--_Continued_ 106 + + VIII. Political Administrators 127 + + IX. Political Convictions 153 + + X. The Politics of Prevention 173 + + XI. The Prolonged Interview and Its Objectification 204 + + XII. The Personality System and Its Substitutive Reactions 221 + + XIII. The State as a Manifold of Events 240 + + APPENDIX + + A. Select Bibliography 268 + + B. Question List on Political Practices 276 + + Index 283 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +LIFE-HISTORIES AND POLITICAL SCIENCE + + +Political biography as a field of political science has long been +relied upon to furnish a vivid corrective to the overemphasis laid upon +the study of institutional “mechanisms,” “structures,” and “systems.” +The legal and customary position of the House of Commons, the House of +Lords, the monarch and the electorate, as expounded in the commentaries +of Gneist and Dicey, suddenly take on new meaning when viewed through +the lens of Morley’s Gladstone, Strachey’s Victoria, or Lee’s Edward +VII. The German imperial system of Laband is more fleshly and less +transcendental when one has studied the lives of Bismarck or William +II. An institutional account of the constitutional development of the +United States without a life of Marshall and a life of Lincoln would +be but the dregs of a rich and ebullient history. Political science +without biography is a form of taxidermy. + +When the tumultuous life of society is flayed into precedents and +tanned into principles, the resulting abstractions suffer a strange +fate. They are grouped and regrouped until the resulting mosaic may +constitute a logical and aesthetic whole which has long ceased to bear +any valid relation to the original reality. Concepts are constantly +in danger of losing their reference to definite events. Notions like +liberty and authority require a new birth of meaning after they +have followed the tempting path of abstraction but a little way. If +conceptions are to serve and not to master the mind, their terms of +reference must intermittently undergo the most rigorous scrutiny. + +The use of “institutional” categories in describing political life is +indispensable, but the publicists who employ them have little to say +about the “personal” influences which modify the expected behavior of +“legislatures,” “executives,” and “judiciaries.” It is no news that +“leadership” is an important variable in predicting the course of +events, but the standard treatises on politics have next to nothing to +offer about the traits of various kinds of agitators and organizers, +and nothing to say about the kinds of experiences out of which these +differences arise. + +This limitation holds for the books about the theory of the state +and of politics which are written by Englishmen like Sidgwick and +Laski, Americans like Garner and W. W. Willoughby, and Europeans like +Jellinek, Schmidt, Kjellén, and Kelsen. No doubt these men possess +or have possessed a living sense of political realities. Of Sidgwick +it is related that he was wonderfully adept in entertaining his +circle for hours with incisive comments and amusing anecdotes about +public men. But of this “humanity” of politics there is little to +be found in what he wrote. Political biography has been relied upon +chiefly to convey a sense of the unpredictable in human affairs, and +to adorn an after-dinner tale. At its best, political biography has +contributed to an understanding of the factors which differentiate one +human personality from another. But it is no secret that the literary +biography or autobiography omits or distorts much of the intimate +history of the individual, and that many of the facts which modern +investigators have found to be important are numbered among the missing. + +Where is it possible to secure a supply of life-histories in which +the usual conventionalities are ignored, and which are taken by +specialists in the sociological, psychological, and somatic influences +which play upon the individual? There exist in modern society sizeable +collections of such material which have hitherto been accorded slight +attention by students of social science. I refer to the case histories +of those individuals who have been ill, and especially those who have +been cared for in hospitals and sanitariums.[1] + +The richest body of psychological and sociological facts is found +in the files of the institutions for the care of the mentally +disordered, although the material available in general hospitals is +of value. The case history of a patient in a good mental hospital +is a document to which many have contributed. There is a report +of the physical condition of the patient as it is revealed in the +routine examination on his admission to the institution. This may be +supplemented by transcripts of previous and subsequent examinations. +There is also to be found the rating attained by the subject on several +general-intelligence and special-aptitude tests. There is a report of +the preliminary interview and the diagnosis by the psychiatrist. This +is amplified by a summary of the proceedings at staff conferences to +which the patient is presented, and which is attended by the whole +body of physicians and psychiatric social workers attached to the +hospital. The usual routine is for the physician and social worker +in charge to present a summary of the case, to introduce the patient +for observation, and to engage in general colloquy upon the diagnosis +and therapy after the patient has been escorted out of the room. +The patient may be brought before several staff conferences for +the purpose of discussing whether he is in a condition permitting +of release, parole, or transfer. During his stay in the institution +the nurses, as well as the physicians who make rounds, add their +descriptive comments upon his behavior. The social service department +gets in touch with relatives and acquaintances and prepares a +biography of the subject. Occasionally the patient will volunteer an +autobiography, which is filed with the general record. Correspondence +with individuals who have interested themselves in the case will often +disclose valuable details. The exhibits frequently include letters +written by the patient before, during, and after his illness, together +with published works, drawings, paintings, and plastic productions. In +some instances the record of a single patient who has been admitted, +released, or transferred becomes very voluminous. + +It is due to the growing emphasis upon the importance of understanding +the personality as a functioning whole that modern medical men are +willing and anxious to assemble data about the behavior of the +individual in his family, business, and recreational relations. Such +facts are often useful to the physician in making his diagnosis and +in deciding how to handle the patient. The modern emphasis upon the +rôle of reverie in developing one’s traits and interests has led +to the inclusion of data about night dreams, daydreams, ambitions, +grievances, enthusiasms, and loyalties of the subject. Not infrequently +the productions of the patient are recorded in his own words by a +stenographer who is present during certain interviews with physicians. +All these psychological and sociological data increase the significance +of the case record for the individual who studies it for the purpose of +understanding the total developmental history of the person. + +Sometimes the case histories concern people who are without mental +disorder, but who have, for one reason or another, been committed for +observation. The German government was not the only one in the late war +which sometimes resorted to the expedient of avoiding the appearance of +internal dissension by referring pacifists to a mental hospital. The +records of the kind obtained under these circumstances are often of men +and women without pathology, and serve to control the conclusions which +rest on the study of pathological cases. + +Quite often the specifically pathological features in the record of a +sick person are very meager. Thus, one prominent politician, the mayor +of a large city, was brought to a mental hospital suffering from an +alcoholic psychosis,[2] delirium tremens. He was only “insane” (to use +a nonscientific term) when he was passing through this acute alcoholic +episode, and was soon released. But the record of what he said and did +during the delirium casts a brighter light on the deeper motivations +of his political career than many pages of conventional biography. The +hallucinations and delusions which he experienced were not entirely +stereotyped for the disease. Since he was no longer able to maintain +his repressions, his inner fantasy life came out in the clear, and his +personality structure stood revealed. Another politician showed nothing +abnormal except a propensity for collecting women’s shoe heels, which +he found sexually stimulating. He came to the medical psychologist +to be freed from his fetishist perversion, and in so doing he made +possible the preparation of a document which intimately revealed the +origin of certain political interests. From the point of view of the +political scientist the most valuable parts of his history happened +to be quite far removed from the narrowly circumscribed pathological +symptoms. + +The value of some records is enhanced by the fact that, besides the +pathological productions of the patient, they contain much information +which is volunteered by the person when he is himself again. Some +forms of mental disorder show recurrent intervals of disturbance and +normality, and during the “clear” interludes the patient is quite +competent to furnish autobiographical data. Often the “remissions” in +the individual’s condition extend over several years, although they +may be momentary. Another form of mental disease is characterized by +the fact that the sufferer’s difficulties center about a single system +of ideas which, if left untouched by the interviewer, permits him to +be dealt with as an ordinary individual. It should be evident from +the foregoing that, contrary to popular impression, the histories to +be found in institutions for the care of the sick are by no means +exclusively confined to pathological subjects or to the merely +pathological aspects of the person. + +Some of the life-histories which are summarized in this monograph come +from mental hospitals. Others have been collected from volunteers who +were outside mental institutions and who were aware of no serious +mental pathology. They have been undertaken on the understanding that +our knowledge of human nature in politics would be advanced if “normal” +individuals were studied with the same care which is often bestowed on +the abnormal. + +So the book includes persons who are “sick” and persons who are “well.” +In the main the material is printed for the first time. There are no +retrospective interpretations of historical personages. The chief unity +of the study lies in the fact that it is restricted to politically +interesting people who have been studied while alive by specialists +under conditions of unusual intimacy. + +The purpose of this venture is not to prove that politicians are +“insane.” Indeed, the specifically pathological is of secondary +importance to the central problem of exhibiting the developmental +profile of different types of public characters. Our job is not to +catalogue the symptoms at the expense of the main patterns of the +personality. We have not finished when we know that a modern Rousseau +suffered from paranoia; that a modern Napoleon has partly atrophied +genitalia; that modern Alexanders, Caesars, and Blüchers are alcoholic; +that a modern Calvin is plagued by eczema, migraine, and kidney stones; +that a modern Bismarck is hysterical; that a modern Lincoln shows +depressive pathology; that a modern Robespierre displays a eunuchoid +habitus; or that a modern Marat suffers from arthritis, diabetes, and +eczema. “Psychopathography” is legitimate and useful, but pathography +is not our aim.[3] + +Nor is it the purpose of this book to make a hit-and-miss collection +of isolated anecdotes about the relation between early experiences +and specific political traits and interests. Not that this sort of +thing is not a liberalizing experience. Our conventional schemes of +“political motivation” seem curiously aloof from the manifold reality +of human life when we discover the private basis of public acts. John +B, to choose a random instance, is a busy, aggressive, and successful +salesman who spends a great deal of time and money on the care of the +blind. He takes time away from his business to serve on the board of +governors of institutions for the blind, and he handles many financial +campaigns on their behalf. Measures looking toward the improvement +of public or private care for these unfortunates are certain of +his support before legislative committees, on the platform, and in +personal conference. The study of his early memories finally revealed +the incident in which his ardent interest in the blind was rooted. +When he was between three and four years of age, his little sister +pulled an eye out of his favorite cat, and he was terribly distressed. +His concern for the safety of his pets was the original drive toward +protective work for the blind which matured into his adult activity. +It would be possible to fill many pages with reports of “critical +experiences” of this kind, and their importance is far greater than is +usually supposed. + +If diagnostic labels and isolated anecdotes do not satisfy us, what do +we want? The answer can be succinctly stated thus: We want to discover +what developmental experiences are significant for the political traits +and interests of the mature. This means that we want to see what lies +behind agitators, administrators, theorists, and other types who play +on the public stage. Can we conceive the development of the human +personality as a functioning whole, and discern the turning-points +in the growth of various patterns of political life? Can we uncover +the typical subjective histories of typical public characters? Can we +place this subjective history in relation to the physical and cultural +factors which were developmentally significant? + +Even this ambitious project does not exhaust the scope of this study. +We want to see whether the intensive investigation of life-histories +will in any way deepen our understanding of the whole social and +political order. The life-story of a Hottentot or an American reveals +the concrete reality of images and moods as they are experienced +seriatim by those whose life is caught up in the web of violently +contrasting cultures. The trained student of society discerns a wealth +of culture patterns whose full meaning in human experience can only be +revealed by securing the subjective history of those who are exposed to +them. In some cultures the child is slapped, switched, and beaten; in +some cultures the child is rarely the target of corporal punishment. +Does this mean that the children in the first culture will harbor +revenge and welcome violence in social life? In some cultures, parental +control is negligible from the fourth to the fourteenth year, and in +other cultures supervision is strict and continuous. What difference +does this make in the developing view of the world in successive +generations? Those who are within the same culture are exposed to many +minor variations in social practice, and we may hope to ascertain the +consequences of these differences for the minds of those who undergo +them. + +This book is in harmony with a trend which has been growing in strength +in the social sciences. Social science has been moving toward the +intensive study of the individual’s account of himself. This is a +movement which is poorly conveyed by the phrase, “an interest in human +biography,” because the term “biography” is full of irrelevant literary +and historical connotations. The person’s own story is not a chronology +of everything he thought and did, nor is it an impressionistic +interpretation of what he experienced. The life-history is a natural +history, and a natural history is concerned with facts which are +_developmentally_ significant. The natural history of the earth is not +a rehearsal of every event included within the series, but a selective +account of major changes within the series. Dated events matter, but +they matter not because they have dates but because they mark phases. +When biography is treated as natural history, the purpose is to pick +and choose the principal epochs of development and to identify their +distinctive patterns. + +The study of life-histories as natural histories is a very recent +phenomenon. The social sciences have barely begun to exploit this +approach. It is of very great significance that Comte, after spending +a lifetime in the preparation of his great system, finally saw +that the capstone was missing, and at the time of his death was +frantically trying to improvise it. His projected treatise was to +deal with personality development and differentiation (_La morale_). +It was never finished. There is something symbolic of the history +of the social sciences in this story of Comte’s long preoccupation +with institutions, his belated recognition of the possibilities of +personality study, his hurried effort to make good the omission, and +the fragmentary nature of the results achieved. Social science is in +the belated-hurried-fragmentary phase of growth.[4] + +Comte’s fragment was never expanded by French sociologists. The +comparative morphology of culture became all-absorbing, and this was +concerned with the pantomime of what men did, and sporadically with +what men thought. Comte executed his earlier volumes only too well. +When the mental processes of primitives came to be studied by Durkheim +and the Durkheimians, these “primitive mentalities” were examined for +the sake of revealing highly abstract “forms” of thought, and not to +reveal the individual sequence of human experience under different +social conditions. The efforts which have been made to fill the gap +have rested upon no massing of empirical data and have been fortified +by no critical reflection on the methodological problem of improving +the reliability of the data. The most promising sign of the times +in France is the synthetic approach to social psychology which is +sponsored by Blondel at Strassbourg. + +In Germany the social scientists were so occupied with the _Streit +um Marx_ and the triumphs of the comparative historical school that +a comparative morphology of subjective histories, if one may indulge +the phrase, did not arise. The prodigious influence of Kant in the +direction of multiplying epistemological subtleties stereotyped a +penchant for high abstraction in the consideration of psychological +phenomena. The great successes of the physical sciences seemed to +rest upon the ruthless division and re-division of phenomena until +they became amenable to manipulation and control. The combination of +Kantian acuteness with scientific atomism was capable of producing the +extremes of physiological psychology and the obscurantist revulsion +against submitting the sacred mystery of personality to the coarse +indignity of exact investigation. Curiously enough, the modern era of +personality study was introduced as a protest against the laboratory +emphasis, and meant a capitulation to the spirit of scientific +irreverance. Personalities could be compared and typologized. The +pioneer was Dilthey, the philosophic historian; but neither he nor +those who followed him collected and published actual accounts of +intimate subjective experiences. Sociological overemphasis on the group +was only partially compensated in Simmel’s theoretical exposition +of individuality, but there was no happy synthesis of category +and fact in his work. The field ethnologists neglected to assemble +autobiographical accounts, and only the fine sensibilities of Vierkandt +made possible the utilization of fragments for the sake of comparing +the inner life of primitive man with that of modern man, a task which +was performed with rather more subtlety than by the French. The early +social psychological impetus of Lazarus and Steindhal produced vast +collections of folk-lore materials, but the task of threading folk lore +and folk ways onto the developmental history of representative persons +remained undone. + +The great innovator in the subjective field was Freud. His book on +dreams is one of the most unique autobiographies in history, and his +publications set the pace for those who wanted to record the actual +outpourings of the unrestrained human mind. Here at last was a truly +scientific spirit who recorded everything of which the human mind +was capable, and looked at it critically in the hope of finding the +laws of mental life. He broke through the irrelevant barriers of +conventionality and brought dark continents of data into the light of +inquiry. He proposed theories which were supposed to be tested by the +data, and devised a special procedure for securing data. + +The scientific habilitation of the anonymous, intimate life-history +document as a source for the study of culture was especially the work +of William I. Thomas. He and Florian Znaniecki undertook and completed +their remarkable study of _The Polish Peasant in Europe and America_. +One volume was devoted to a long autobiography which included the most +intimate facts in the life of a Polish immigrant to the United States. +The work of Thomas left an abiding stamp on American sociology through +the department at the University of Chicago. Franz Boas, dean of +American ethnologists, has been keenly interested in the primitive’s +story of himself, and has collected and urged the collection of many +such documents. Paul Radin published the life-story of a Winnebago +chief in 1916. The importance of “the boy’s own story” was early +recognized by William Healy in his study of delinquents, and has been +extended in every direction. + +So, in stressing the value of the study of the concrete sequence of +individual experience for political science, we are expressing a +trend of interest which is already well founded in social science. +Our quest for full and intimate histories has led to the exploitation +of a relatively new source of material, the case-history records of +hospitals. It has led to the application of psychopathological methods +to the study of normal volunteers as a control on the inferences +drawn from the institutional cases. It has led to a detailed study of +the prolonged interview technique as a method of personality study +(especially psychoanalysis), and to the formulation of improved methods +of investigation. It has led to the statement of a functional theory of +the state, a theory which springs directly from the intensive scrutiny +of actual life-histories, and the realization of what political forms +can mean when seen against the rich background of personal experience. + +These studies are admittedly incomplete. The documents relied upon +suffer from various shortcomings which have been specified in detail +at an appropriate place. The number of documents on hand is limited. +Caution would counsel deferred publication of even these materials. +But the many objections to publication have been outweighed by certain +positive advantages. The publication of such a collection of materials +will serve to familiarize the professional students of government with +the kinds of fact and interpretation which are now current among the +specialists in important fields of study. Familiarization is especially +necessary in dealing with personality histories because some of the +material is unconventional and invariably produces initial emotional +difficulties among unsophisticated readers. But science cannot be +science and limit itself to the conventional. Some of the facts are +not pretty, and they are not the topics of polite conversation. But +the medical scientists who dabble with the excretions of the human +body for the sake of diagnosing disease and understanding health are +not bound by the limitations of banality and gentility in their work. +And if political science is to become more of a reality and less of a +pseudonym, there must be discipline in dealing objectively with every +kind of fact which is conceivably important for the understanding of +human traits and interests. + +Familiarization, then, is one function of this set of studies. Another +purpose is to set up tentative hypotheses about personality growth +on the basis of available materials. The mere statement of these +hypotheses about the growth of agitators and administrators will +sharpen investigation. Perhaps those who have direct access to better +histories will be impelled to use them in checking and revising the +working conceptions herein set out. + +The general scheme of presentation begins with some chapters which +sketch the psychopathological standpoint in its historical setting +and which review the current criteria of political types. Then comes +selected life-history material. The concluding chapters discuss +the bearing of personality studies on general political theory and +criticize existing methods of study. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL APPROACH + + +One of the standing obstacles in the path of personality research +is the difficulty of describing the personality as a whole at any +given cross-section of its development. In despair at the myriad +difficulties of the task, academic psychology has long evaded the +issue and concentrated its attention upon the minute exploration of +detached aspects of the individual. The manuals of physiological +psychology are full of painstaking accounts of how atomized aspects of +the individual’s environment (the “stimuli”) modify the reactions of +selected parts of the individual. What these manuals characteristically +omit is a workable set of conceptions for the classification of the +phenomena which are the objects of investigation in personality +research. It is impossible to found a science of geology without +inventing terms to distinguish plateaus, plains, mountains, and +continental blocs, even though all these phenomena possess the common +attributes of “matter.” What matters for the geologist is how the +differences and not the likenesses come to pass. Much of the academic +psychology, in its quest for precision and prestige, has quit studying +the problem with which it is ostensibly engaged, and has substituted +a minor field of physiology therefor. In so doing, it has lost any +criterion for testing the relevance of the results of particular +researches for the understanding of personality because it has no +master concepts of personality. + +The psychopathologist has never been able to evade the necessity of +summing up the personality as a whole because he has been compelled +to make important decisions about the future of the personality as a +whole. The psychiatrist must continually decide whether John B and Mary +C will, if released from careful supervision, commit suicide or murder, +or whether they will be dependable members of the community. Thus the +clinician has found it imperative to search for signs which have high +predictive value in relation to the major social adjustments of the +individual. + +The psychopathologist has had the great advantage of seeing many +trends of the personality which are normally subordinated to other +trends when they have escaped from control and achieved Gargantuan +proportions. The clinical caricature throws into imposing relief the +constituent tendencies which make up the functioning person, and draws +attention to their presence and their processes. “Normality” involves +a complicated integration of many tendencies, a flexible capacity to +snap from one mood, preoccupation, and overt activity to another as +the changing demands of reality require. The pathological mind, if one +may indulge in a lame analogy, is like an automobile with its control +lever stuck in one gear: the normal mind can shift. One has a queer +feeling as one passes around the wards of a hospital for the custody +of the more seriously disordered patients that if one could assemble +the scattered parts of the mind that one could create at least a single +supermind. There in one corner is a melancholic who is stuck in the +mood of despondency; in another corner is a manic who is expansive +and elated; elsewhere is a man whose self-esteem has achieved cosmic +dimensions; in the back wards is a deteriorated mind in perpetual +repose. Every conceivable nuance of preoccupation and mood with which +we are normally familiar seems to be dissatisfied with its minor rôle +in a healthy integration, and intent upon autocratic mastery of the +mind. The clinical caricature draws attention as sharply as possible +to the components of the healthy mind. So every theory of pathological +manifestations must presently become expanded or assimilated into a +comprehensive account of human psychology. + +The gross clinical material reveals the intimate interrelationships +between soma and psyche. The patient who suffers from obsessive ideas +may find relief from obsession by showing hysterical symptoms; and +hysterical symptoms may clear up, only to make way for obsessive +symptoms. “Pure pictures” are almost pure theories. The patient who is +suffering from a definite organic lesion may complicate his troubles +by “worry,” and “worry” may be one of the factors in bringing about a +physical disease picture. There is evidence that psychological factors +are among those significantly operating in such diseases as common +colds, asthma, catarrh, hay fever, hyperthyroidism, gall-bladder +trouble, gastro-intestinal ulcers, irregular menstruation, and sexual +impotence. + +Fresh vitality has come into modern psychology from the clinic. The +psychopathological approach has gradually vindicated itself as more +and more of its conceptions find a permanent place in the vocabulary +of psychology and social science. Modern psychopathology is itself a +recent development, and undoubtedly the most revolutionary figure is +Sigmund Freud. + +The spectacular and influential nature of Freud’s work is sufficient +justification for devoting some space to a brief account of his +standpoint and his innovation in method. As we shall have occasion to +illustrate, his method is of more general application to practical +problems of political research and political practice than is usually +understood. + +When Freud was a student in the University of Vienna, the triumphal +progress of microscopic methods of studying cellular structure was +sweeping all before it. Congeries of mental symptoms in the living +were frequently found to be correlated with the discovery of certain +definite cerebrospinal lesions on autopsy. The future seemed to +rest wholly in the hands of those who used the dissecting knife and +the lens. Before Freud graduated from the University, he became +demonstrator to Brücke, the eminent physiologist; and he labored in +the laboratory of Meynart, the distinguished psychiatrist of his day. +Freud’s first publication was a result of laborious laboratory work. + +While materialism reigned, psychological phenomena were degraded to +the status of trivial epiphenomena. But at this very time a revival +of psychogeneticism arose in French psychiatry under the impetus of +Charcot. Charcot had achieved eminence in pathological anatomy before +he turned in middle life to the study of mental maladies. By 1883 he +had demonstrated the possibility of producing hysterical symptoms +by means of ideas (verbal stimuli). Time and again he hypnotized +individuals and produced muscular contractures, hypersensitivity, and +hyposensitivity, together with allied symptoms of hysteria. + +Breaking away from the laboratories of Vienna, Freud journeyed to the +Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris to work with Charcot, where he stayed +from the autumn of 1886 to the spring of 1887. Here he was thrown in +touch with the current of ideas which was giving concrete content to +the notion of the “out of conscious” and its dynamic consequences for +human behavior. Pierre Janet was busily accumulating the observations +which were published to the world in 1889 under the title, +_L’automatisme psychologique_. Early chapters appeared in the _Revue +philosophique_ as early as 1886. + +Freud had just missed a spectacular rise to fame when he failed to +recognize the anaesthetic possibilities of cocaine in surgery. He +published a review of the literature on cocoa; and a young Vienna +colleague, Koller, struck by some of the data which Freud had +assembled, announced the discovery in 1884 which immortalized his name +in medical history. Freud pondered for many years on why the idea +should have eluded him, and perhaps his desertion of the laboratory was +due to his sense of partial failure. + +In Paris he acquired a point of view which was bound to bring him into +conflict with the materialistic pundits of Vienna. Hypnotism was itself +looked upon as an artifice of charlatans. Wagner-Jauregg reflected the +ruling tradition when, only a few years ago, he said, “The trouble +with hypnotism is that you never know who is pulling the other +fellow’s leg.” Freud was met by derisive laughter when he announced +at the Medical Society of Vienna that male hysterics were to be found +in Paris. For hysteria, as one of the pedants reminded him, was +philologically derived from “hysteron,” meaning uterus, and therefore +couldn’t possibly occur in males. This was an echo of the days when +hysteria was supposed to be due to a migratory uterus and women were +turned upside down to bring it back in place. + +In 1881 and 1882 Breuer had treated a girl suffering from hysteria, +and his interest was renewed in the case in conversation with Freud. +Breuer remembered that when he treated the patient under hypnosis, she +recalled the first episode in which a symptom had appeared, related +it with every evidence of excitement, and discovered on waking that +the symptom had disappeared. Breuer and Freud began to study hysteria +from this point of view and published their results. Charcot had +demonstrated that ideas could cause hysteria; Breuer had found that the +discovery of pathogenic ideas could cure hysteria. + +In 1889 Freud returned to France, this time to the other center of +hypnotic research, Nancy, where Liébeault and Bernheim were doing +remarkable things. Freud here saw something the full significance of +which did not at once dawn upon him. + +A subject was hypnotized and given a “post-hypnotic suggestion” to +raise an umbrella at a certain signal after coming out of hypnosis. +The subject was then awakened from hypnosis, and presently, when the +stipulated signal was given, obediently raised the umbrella, although +still inside the room. When asked why he raised the umbrella, _he +said that he wanted to see whether it was his or not_. Thus did he +rationalize (a concept later developed) the gratification of an impulse +_which he did not himself at first recognize_. When challenged to +explain himself, he merely produced a plausible interpretation of his +own conduct. + +The immense significance of this train of events is great enough. It at +once raises the searching question: To what extent are we in ignorance +of our own motives and accustomed to improvise merely plausible +explanations of and to ourselves? But an even more notable phenomenon +occurred. _If the subject was asked again and again to try to remember +why he raised the umbrella, he sooner or later recalled (to his own +surprise) that he had been commanded to do it._ + +The full import of this observation did not instantly dawn on Freud. +But he continued to have difficulties with the patients whom he sought +to hypnotize. They sometimes held out against his suggestions, even +though they had accepted them many times before, and seriously impeded +the progress of the search for the traumatic episode. He gradually +abandoned hypnosis, leaving the patient in a waking state in a relaxed +position with instructions to report every incident connected with the +early appearance of the symptom under investigation. Vestiges of the +hypnotic technique remained as late as 1895, when he would still lay +his hand on the patient’s forehead as a stimulus to recollection. + +This method also encountered crippling difficulties. A patient would +sometimes lie for hours without saying a word, totally unable to +recover a relevant reminiscence. To meet this obstacle, Freud presently +hit upon the simple expedient upon which he thenceforth relied. He +instructed the patient to say anything and everything that popped in +his head, regardless of its propriety, logic, or triviality. + +Freud found that all ramblings of his patient could furnish him with +clues to the underlying and unavowed impulses of the sufferer. He +became able to guess the nature of the buried episode in which the +impulse had received its present type of manifestation. Thus the +patient might begin by saying that she had seen a red-headed man in the +street and that she always despised red-headed men--except of course +her dear brother. Day after day apparently random allusions would build +out the picture of her great interest in anything reminiscent of her +brother’s looks and acts, all of which would be bitterly condemned. But +if she were asked directly, she would maintain that her brother was a +fine, upstanding man, and a credit to the family. + +The analyst, after listening to the eddies of talk, and noting the +patterns along which they seemed to whirl, would presently locate +a hidden rock beneath the innocent surface of the stream--in this +case, an unacknowledged load of hatred against her brother. Bit by +bit, stories of real or fancied childhood tyranny would come floating +along the stream. Then suddenly, amid tears and violent gestures, +might come the story of a long-forgotten incident which involved an +intimate aggression on the part of the brother. The patient, manifestly +relieved, might speedily recover from her hysterical disabilities and +return to the active responsibilities of life. + +Freud’s theory of what he saw began modestly enough, leaned heavily +upon Charcot, Bernheim, and Breuer, and was mostly founded upon +observations made upon patients who were handled by hypnosis and not by +the new procedure which later was called psychoanalysis. He published a +contribution to the theory of the psychoneuroses in which he laid down +the proposition that a distinction could be drawn between one group, +the anxiety neuroses, which depended on mental conflict, and the actual +neuroses, which were not due to mental conflict but to masturbation and +coitus interruptus. In the first case, mental energy was converted into +bodily symptoms, and in the latter case bodily energy was supposed to +be converted into bodily symptoms. In Freud’s early articles there is +little to forecast the course which he was to follow as his brilliant +imagination viewed the behavior of the individual from the new vantage +ground which he had discovered.[5] + +Whether his particular theories survive or fall, the standpoint which +he achieved by ruthlessly applying his method is of the greatest +value. His method, which grew from the necessities of an exasperated +physician, led him _systematically to treat every manifestation of +the individual as part of a related whole_. Freud’s mental set had +been furnished by the data of hypnosis, which seemed to show that +patients suffer from reminiscences. When he dropped hypnosis and tried +to force recollections, his mental set had not altered, for he was +still in search of the original, the traumatic episode. When he asked +his patients to say anything that came into their heads, he was still +hunting the elusive memory of a definite early experience. But quite +without realizing it, his original mental set had widened, and with +momentous consequences for his own subsequent development. If one were +given to exaggerations, one could say that the world of psychological +investigation had suddenly begun to turn on a new axis. + +What was the nature of this new mental set? Intently watching his +patients, not for word for word accounts of what had happened, and +looking upon everything else as “irrelevant,” Freud learned to look +for meanings and not for reports. Every dream, every phrase, every +hesitation, every gesture, every intonation, every outburst began +to take on significance as possible allusions to the “traumatic” +episode. Allusions to hated objects, reminiscent of a brother, failure +to mention a hated sister until days had passed, although other +members of the family had been passed in review--every deviation from +comprehensiveness--was eagerly scrutinized for the clue it might afford. + +The technique of therapy consisted in using clues to facilitate the +patient’s search for relief. The problem was to discover the nature +of the patient’s conflict and to volunteer interpretations for the +sake of helping the patient to dare to bring into full consciousness +the unavowed impulse which had once frightened his socially adjusted +self into frantic repression. This involved the interpretation of the +symptom as a compromise product of the patient’s ideal of conduct; and +the out-of-conscious impulse, which, though denied access to the full +consciousness of the sufferer, possessed enough strength to procure +partial gratification. The symptom was thus a symptom of conflict +between the socially adapted portion of the self and the unadapted +impulses of the personality, and the symptom was a compromise between +partial gratification of the illicit and partial punishment by the +conscience. The particular form of the “conflict” depended upon the +traumatic experience and the antecedent history of the individual. + +Far more important than these therapeutic elaborations is the shift +in standpoint which made them possible. Since Freud was on the search +for the literal by way of the symbolic, he raised hitherto neglected +manifestations of human behavior to the dignity of significant symbols, +wrote them out, and introduced them into the literature of human +behavior. There could be no sharper illustration of the prepotency of +“mental set” for the seeing of “facts” than the difference between +the clinical reports of Freud and Janet. Freud, convinced that the +eluctable energies of the organism could betray themselves in every +image and in every gesture, painstakingly recorded the dreams and +day-fantasies of his patients. Janet, who continued to assume that +dreams were nonsensical confusions attributable to the diminished +tension of the sleeping organism, seldom made any allusion to dreams. +His pellucid description of grimaces, gestures, sentiments, and +theories of his patients led back to relatively recent moments when the +patient failed of adjustment. This failure of the patient to mobilize +his energies in smooth adaptation to the exigencies of social reality +was then imputed to a defective biopsychical mechanism, to a lowered +“psychological tension,” due to a miscellany of possible causes, among +which was mentioned “the exhaustive effects of emotional excitement.” +Therapy consisted in restoring the capacity of the individual to +mobilize and deploy his energies at the highest “levels” of adjustment. +This was to be achieved by a variety of means--by hypnotic suggestion, +rest in a simplified environment, and the usual repertory of the +psychotherapist. + +But the golden flash of psychological insight eluded Janet. At bottom +he had little respect for the concrete reality of the mental life of +his patients. Although he talked the language of psychogeneticism, it +had a poor and not a rich connotation in his mind. I think this is +due to his too exclusive reliance upon hypnotism, for the mental set +of the hypnotist is derogatory to most of the concrete productions +of the patient. The patient, one feels with a shrug, will presently +come to the important experience; why take the superimposed material +too seriously? Then, too, the patient may be put in order by direct +command. Janet relates with some pride how people in the waiting-room +of his office would marvel when a woman, bent nearly double, would be +admitted into his sanctum, presently to emerge, erect and cured--until +the effect wore off. + +Freud learned a new respect for the concrete reality of mental life in +his concentrated effort to divine the hidden conflict without resorting +to hypnosis. His weakness as a hypnotist was in a sense the beginning +of wisdom. A patient who is deeply hypnotized is but infrahuman. +Barring commands which do violence to the moral code of the individual, +the subject will passively execute the commands of the hypnotist. The +patient descends from a complicated “nearly normal” person to a waxy +caricature of a human being. The unhypnotized patient of Freud is in +relatively full possession of all the resources of the ordinary waking +self, and must be dealt with as a complex human being. + +The widest gateway to psychoanalytic development became the study +of dreams. And here again we are dealing with something which came, +not from laborious reflection upon underlying concepts, but from the +urgencies of the clinical situation. Just as we found that Freud had +taken up a new post of observation in practice before he discovered +its implications in theory, we find that in such a detail as the +investigation of dreams, his theoretical preoccupations contributed +less than his everyday necessities. Freud’s patients continually thrust +their dreams upon him; and he, now in pursuit of clues to what lay +behind, presently took them seriously, and found in them many helpful +indications of unspoken things. He would assist the free-fantasies of +the patient by asking what came into his mind about any detail of the +dream, and he attentively followed the long chains of superficially +meaningless associations. + +It began to appear that Freud had stumbled upon, and then brilliantly +elaborated the possibilities inherent in, a new way of using the mind. +He trained his patients in a technique of free-fantasy which they +could subsequently use for themselves as a supplement to the logical +technique which society ostensibly tries to foster. It at once appeared +that he had discovered a method of thinking which was applicable far +beyond the confines of the clinic and which could be added to the +repertory of the mind. + +The interpretation of dreams was the bridge which brought Freud from +the confines of the clinic to the analysis of the whole psychology +of individual development. The dreams of patients and the dreams of +non-pathological persons showed such homogeneity of symbolism that +the gap between the “normal” and the “sick” seemed to close. Popular +lore already furnished a clue to dreams as wish-fulfilments, whether +found in the “well” or “ill,” but popular lore also treated them as +reminiscences, prophecies, and omens, or as confusions, depending on +the transitory context of the moment. Freud had a double orientation +in dealing with the individual. He regarded him as motivated in the +present by impulses which eluded his own consciousness. He regarded +these motivations as having achieved their present form in concrete +historical events in the life of the individual. The nature of the +present could be made clear to the conscious mind if the organizing +episode could be recalled. This recall could be greatly facilitated by +paying special attention to the “irrational” or non-adjustive aspects +of the person’s present conduct. The “irrational” would seem rational +enough if the unacknowledged motives were made manifest, and if the +historical as well as the contemporary allusions were sought after. +Sooner or later the unrecognized motives would disclose themselves in +consciousness, if the individual waited attentively; but the process +could be greatly helped by using a different style of thinking than the +logical. + +No one has more dramatically and repeatedly shown the limitations (as +well as the advantages) of logical procedures of thought than Freud. +No one has made a more important contribution to the technique of +supplementing logical thought by other methods of thought than Freud. +This is the aspect of Freud’s work which has immediate and constant +relevance to political as to every other sort of thinking, and to which +it is important to devote more extended consideration. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A NEW TECHNIQUE OF THINKING[6] + + +The prevailing theory is that men who make important decisions in +politics can be trained to use their minds wisely by disciplinary +training in the practices of logical thought. Legal training is +supposed to mold the mind to ways of dealing with the world which +subordinate whim to principle. Formal instruction in the social +sciences is intended to equip the mind for the detached consideration +of social consequences, and everyone agrees that this implies a +large measure of self-awareness for the sake of reducing the play of +prejudice. + +The nature of logical thought has been carefully examined by an array +of able writers. Their conclusions may be provisionally reported by +saying that logic is a guided form of mental operation. It is not +something marked off from impulse, but a progressive elaboration +and differentiation of impulse. It proceeds by the affirmation of a +starting-point, which is in fact a vague indication of the goal to be +reached, and develops by the criticism of the material which appears +in consciousness according to its relevance to the end in view. If +the judge begins by wanting to settle a controversy consistently with +precedents, he has indicated in advance the shadowy outline of the +desired termination of his efforts. If an administrator wants to reduce +complaints against his handling of the postal service, he starts with +a different mental set from the judge, but, like the mental set of the +latter, his first act is to bring into view the state of affairs which +he hopes to find when he quits thinking. He is accustomed to guide the +operations of his mind by this preliminary characterization of the +terminus sought. No thinker can haul into the center of attention the +material which indicates how the terminal situation is to be attained. +The thinker must wait attentively for whatever appears. If he wants +to deal with such a simple practical matter as getting to the railway +station, and his mind continues to fill with images of the one he left +behind him, his accustomed means of asserting control is to reiterate +the practical end and to hope that he can “keep his mind on” taxicabs +or autobusses. Alternating with periods of reiteration and expectancy +and illumination are episodes of “No” and “Yes,” which evidence the +existence of guided thought. + +It would be misleading to stop with this formal description of the +characteristics of logical thinking. Logical thinking is not a +hocus-pocus to be applied here and there and everywhere. The previewing +of events presupposes familiarity with the sorts of events to which +the previewing relates. It usually involves analysis of the contingent +future in the light of analogies with the past, which is simply a +means of refining general familiarity through systematic methods of +inspecting reality. General knowledge of lending and borrowing must +be supplemented, for many purposes, by detailed examination of the +quantitative dimensions of various routines. The precise nature of the +relationship between changes in the rediscount rate and the price of +call money requires analysis far beyond impressionistic familiarity. + +There need be no illusion that the specification of the terminal +situation provides an immovable constant for thought. We can imply, as +we have implied, that logical thinking begins by sketching a figure on +the canvass and leaves the details to be filled in during the course of +the thinking. But the starting-point is often subject to many shifts, +and the initial sketch is more or less subject to remaking. The judge +who starts in pursuit of consistency-with-precedent characteristically +must add conformity-to-principles-of-policy. A plurality of ends is +always involved, and usually appears. + +Everybody knows that the pluralism of ends goes far beyond “official” +ends. A sophisticated and discerning judge may discover an embarrassing +conflict in the controlling precedents, and cast about for other social +purposes than conformity-to-precedent to guide him. He may scrutinize +the principal economic, cultural, and political changes in the society +in which he operates, and discern the appearance of a new set of rising +dominant values, and decide to diminish the cost of social change by +seeking to facilitate their introduction. If this hypothetical judge +believes that he should not consciously enact his private prejudices +into law, and if the social values are so confused that uncertainty +rules, the judge is well advised to flip a coin (in chambers) and +govern his decision accordingly. If the judge finds himself favorably +disposed toward any alternative to begin with, he will take himself +as an object of investigation to determine the extent and origin of +his prejudice. His logic thus involves the use of self-scrutiny for +the exposure of private values which load the dice for or against +a particular point of view. Besides the values which are “public,” +there are complicating values which are the residue of one’s “private” +history. + +All these points are stressed in greater or less degree in the current +writing on the use of the mind. The avowed purpose of our professional +schools is to increase the amount of logical reflection in the world, +and the set complaint is that people somehow or another manage to think +very clumsily. In spite of our best efforts to disseminate logicality, +people are always “letting their prejudices run away with them,” even +when they have a baggage of good intentions. + +The stock alibi for the failure of the schools to improve the +character of thinking among those who hold positions of power is +that the human mind offers a perverse opacity to the rays of reason. +Somehow or other our training doesn’t take; but this is attributed +not to the deficiencies of logic but to the resistances to it. All +this is reminiscent of the reply of the Christian to the taunt that +Christianity has failed. He says that Christianity isn’t to blame, but +the lack of it. The logicians say that the cure of bad logic is more +and better logic. If the human mind refuses to be educated, that’s just +too bad. + +Our thesis is that our faith in logic is misplaced. Exclusive +emphasis upon logic (even where logic is adroitly used) incapacitates +rather than fits the mind to function as a fit instrument of reality +adjustment. + +The supposition that emotional aberrations are to be conquered by +heroic doses of logical thinking is a mistake. The absence of effective +logic is a symptom of a disease which logic cannot itself cure. We have +been misled by supposing that the mind can rely upon a single technique +of operation when this isolated technique has serious limitations. + +A totally different technique of thinking is needed to get on with +the task of ridding the mind of the distorting results of unseen +compulsions. Since our schools have found no place for the cultivation +of this additional technique of thinking, our judges and administrators +and policy-makers are turned loose on the world armed with faith in +logic and incapable of making their minds safe for logic. Logical +thinking is but one of the special methods of using the mind, and +cannot itself achieve an adequate inspection of reality because it is +unable to achieve self-knowledge without the aid of other forms of +thinking. + +The technique of free-fantasy offers many points of contrast with +logical thinking. It is unguided rather than guided association. From +a given starting-point, no effort is bent toward the exclusion of the +trivial, the trite, the embarrassing, the filthy, the nonsensical. The +mind is permitted to run hither and yon. It is hospitable to everything +which germinates in the mind, and is subject only to the effort to +steer clear of the molds of logical thinking. There is no specific +definition of an objective, and no intermittent intervention in the +flow of material to register its pertinence or impertinence to this +rather specific objective. + +Free-fantasy is not to be confused with free word associations which +begin with simple stimulus words and end when the first few words +which pop into the mind are put down. Free-fantasy is not a momentary +relaxation of selective criticism, but prolonged emancipation from +logical fetters. + +Free-fantasy differs from the ordinary daydream, the night dream, and +the visions which arise in sleeping or waking by the circumstance that +it is embarked upon with the vague, generalized purpose of rendering +available new subject matter for logical thought. The frequent +interventions which characterize logical procedures are suspended, +the better to serve the ultimate purposes of reality adjustment. +Daydreaming which is not used for this general purpose does not +represent a technique for using the mind. + +The ultimate paradox of logical thinking is that it is self-destroying +when it is too sedulously cultivated. It asserts its own prerogatives +by clamping down certain restrictive frames of reference upon the +activity of the mind, and presently ends in impoverishing the activity +which it purports to guide into creative channels. It becomes +intolerant of the immediate, unanalyzed, primitive abundance of the +mind, and by so doing destroys its own source. + +More seriously, too, for the mind which is engaged with social life, +logical procedures exclude from the mind the most important data about +the self. Directed thinking, whether about the self or something +else as an object, is impatient of the seemingly trivial, and this +impatience with the seemingly trivial is the rationally acceptable +guise in which the impulse to avoid rigorous self-scrutiny gets itself +accepted. The mind which is freely fantasying produces distasteful +evidence of the facts about the self which the socialized self wants to +avoid. This is why free-fantasy is not learned by rote, but achieved +through trying experiences, usually under prolonged supervision. + +There are wide individual differences in acquiring the technique +of free-fantasy. Logical controls are often so gradually released +that progress is almost imperceptible for several weeks of daily +contact with a psychoanalytic interviewer. Frequently, of course, +the logical controls fall away quite rapidly, and the exposure of +the underlying preoccupations proceeds apace. Freud developed the +technique, and drills his subjects, largely in relation to their +dreams, but this is in no sense its exclusive application. The purpose +of the psychoanalytic interview is not served if the patient is merely +relieved of a few annoying symptoms; its purpose is to equip him with +a means of handling his mind which will enable him to go it alone. In +developing the free-fantasy procedure, Freud added a powerful tool +to the repertory of those who would use their mind with some hope +of disentangling themselves from the compulsive domination of many +vestigial remains of their “private” histories. + +It is quite possible to train people to use the free-fantasy method +with considerable success and to outfit them with a device which they +can use in the ordinary problems of professional and private life.[7] +The instances which I shall presently adduce are from the fantasies +which were produced by a judge in the course of a series of interviews +which he undertook after his curiosity about the method had been +aroused by the therapeutic treatment of a member of his family. Any +specific allusions are disguised. + +One day the judge commented at the beginning of the interview that +a certain attorney irritated him in some unexplained way. He found +himself acutely conscious of his own prejudice against the man, and +in trying to deal fairly with him often leaned over backward and +showed him an embarrassing favoritism in sustaining his objections. +There was always a struggle to hold the balance even. This seemed to +indicate the conspicuous operation of some unrecognized set of motives +in relation to this particular individual. The judge, who was already +partly skilled in the use of free-fantasy, began to report whatever +came into his mind at the mention of the attorney, without regard to +logic or scruple. “Cigar smoke ... black cigar ... vile and pungent +and stuffy ... corridor ... courtroom ...,” and so on and on. The word +“corridor” reappeared several times in the course of his associations, +and the interviewer initiated a new chain by using the word as a +stimulus. After some time, there came up a vivid memory of an incident +in the corridor of the law school where the judge had studied. A +fellow-student, who was a man with a great reputation as a promising +mind, dropped cigar ashes by accident on the judge’s overcoat. The +judge remembered his angry impulse to “sock” the offender, an impulse +which he instantly subdued, and that he accepted the apology, which +seemed to end the incident. Associations were continued to find why the +brilliant rival had so incensed the judge, and the trail led back to +certain incidents and reveries in early adolescence, but this material +is not relevant here. The connection of his hostility toward his former +rival with the attorney before him was due to one of the attorney’s +mannerisms, which recalled the way the student had flecked ashes +off the end of his cigar. When this tie was exposed, the compulsive +animosity and the overcompensatory reactions disappeared from the +attitude of the judge in relation to the attorney. + +Another illustrative detail may be taken almost at random from the +record. On one occasion the judge began to enumerate the three +principal alternatives which lay before him in deciding a pending case. +He remembered two of them but hesitated several seconds before the +third came into his mind. This led him to remember that he had often +casually noticed that this third possibility seemed to elude him, +although on reflection he felt that it deserved as much attention as +the other two. He began spontaneously to relax and report everything +that crossed his mind, and produced a long string of catch phrases +from law and politics like “freedom of contract,” “life, liberty, +and pursuit of happiness,” “freedom of speech and assembly.” He +presently noted that a picture was forming of one of his old law-school +classrooms. He felt that someone was just about to speak to him, and +had to resist the temptation to turn around. Then there came across +his mind a long series of incidents in which one of his law professors +was the principal figure. This teacher was reputed to possess a +mastermind and a caustic tongue; and the judge, though he had always +wanted to make a great impression on him, had met with no particular +success. The professor had a habit of using his most ironic tone of +voice when he spoke of “this freedom of contract.” Now it happened +that the attorney who was arguing for alternative No. 3 before the +court pronounced the word “freedom” with unction. This aroused in the +judge’s mind the ironic tone of the old professor’s voice, and this +in turn brought back the rather humiliating failure he had been in +his efforts to impress the professor. He now exhibited a tendency to +repress everything connected with the episode, including the attorney’s +argument. + +The world about us is much richer in meanings than we consciously +see. These meanings are continually cutting across our ostensible +criteria of judgment, and compulsively distorting the operations of +the mind whose quest for an objective view of reality is consciously +quite sincere. Good intentions are not enough to widen the sphere +of self-mastery. There must be a special technique for the sake of +exposing the hidden meanings which operate to bind and cripple the +processes of logical thought. With practice one may wield the tool +of free-fantasy with such ruthless honesty that relevant material +comes very quickly to the focus of attention which we call “waking +consciousness.” + +It would be possible to fill many volumes with illustrations of the +hitherto unseen meanings which have been discovered by men and women +who have learned to use the free-fantasy technique. They have often +been able to find how and why their emotions tended to be aroused +favorably or unfavorably toward individuals of their own or the +opposite sex who exhibited certain traits, and to understand why they +tended to choose certain secretaries, to sponsor certain protégés, and +to be impressed by certain witnesses and attorneys. They have been +able to inspect the phraseology of law, politics, and culture, and to +extricate themselves from many of the logically irrelevant private +meanings which they read into it. + +Freud developed the technique of free-fantasy well over a quarter of +a century ago, but it is still beyond the pale of the schools. Our +professional and graduate schools make no effort to readjust their +methods to fit the minds of future men of authority for self-knowledge. +The sententious admonitions to “know thyself” are no adequate +substitute for special discipline in the ways of self-understanding. + +We have tried to cure the failures of logical training by homeopathic +doses of sermonizing, rather than by the discipline of supplementary +techniques of using the mind. The mind is a fit instrument of +reality testing when both blades are sharpened--those of logic and +free-fantasy. Until this fundamental proposition is adequately +comprehended, the professional training of our judges, administrators, +and theorists will continue to furnish discipline in self-deception +rather than self-analysis. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CRITERIA OF POLITICAL TYPES + + +The free-fantasy method of exploring the mind is of very general +application to the problems of life. In particular we are interested +in examining the results of its use for the purpose of laying bare the +natural history of personality growth and differentiation. All sorts of +politicians are met with in society, and our special task is to relate +the selection of these adult rôles to certain critical experiences in +individual development. But before we can proceed farther, we need +to examine the nature of the criteria which are currently used in +identifying various political types. + +The popular speech of every state and neighborhood swarms with names +for varieties of political behavior and types of politicians. The study +of political differences may very well begin by sifting the common +vocabulary. Some of the popular images are derived from experience with +government officials. Within the last hundred years the policeman has +appeared over Western Europe, and a history of the popular conception +of his rôle could be written around terms like “bobby,” “cop,” and +“_Schupo_.” Whatever differences in dress, manner, social position, +and common humanity are supposed to exist between a “civil servant,” a +“_Beamter_,” and a “_fonctionnaire_,” there are common lineaments in +the composite stereotype. A thick chapter in human experience could be +entitled “The Bureaucrat,” wherein would be recorded the innuendo of +popular comment on a necessary evil. The “legislator” is identifiable +through all the detailed contrasts between the “congressman,” the +“M.P.,” and the “M.d.R.” + +The popular tongue is rich in expressions which fill out the +official cast of characters in the political drama by peopling the +public stage with figures whose traits are essentially irrelevant +to their office. There are men of ideas--“anarchist,” “socialist,” +“liberal,” “communist,” “conservative.” There are men of ideas and of +action--“reformer,” “revolutionary,” “martyr.” The history of American, +British, French, German, medieval, Graeco-Roman, and every civilization +could be written for the sake of showing how the carriers of public +power figured in the eyes of the various groups within and without the +culture. + +This profusion of types in the popular firmament of politics is +supplemented by the types which have been isolated by serious students +of culture, who have sought to impose order upon the life of the past. +Among the political forms which have been described by the historians, +the “benevolent despot” of the eighteenth century, the “demagogue” of +Athenian democracy, the “prince” of the Italian Renaissance, and the +“despot” of the oriental empires spring at once to mind. The masterly +sketch of the evolution of the public official with which Max Weber[8] +has enriched social science is, it is to be hoped, the forerunner of +many elaborate studies. The traits and arts of political leaders have +been most systematically handled by Aristotle, Machiavelli, Robert +Michels, Christensen, and Charles E. Merriam.[9] + +These typologies, whether popular or scientific, possess several +features in common. They may converge to what is practically the same +picture. When W. B. Munro described the “reformer,” he filled out the +popular image which arose in the American mind at a certain phase +of American political evolution.[10] Practically every scientific +conception is a refinement and generalization of some term in general +circulation, though with local connotations. + +The scientific and the popular typologies may include the same kinds +of fact as their starting-points. The fact of supposed political +conviction gave rise to the “liberal,” but it is a far cry from the +rather shadowy lines of the popular image to the finely wrought +lineaments of Ruggiero.[11] The means employed in encompassing +political objectives christen the “lobbyist,” “propagandist,” and +“agitator.” The idea that private motives are not merged in public +motives is carried in “renegade,” “sorehead,” and “tyrant.” The idea +that private motives have been firmly fused into public purposes is +one connotation of the “martyr.” The fact of informal ascendancy is +celebrated in the “boss.” In the “bureaucrat” it is implied that the +office has molded the man, and that the office tends to attract those +especially likely to develop such qualities. The Western European idea +of a judge almost necessarily refers to a functionary who carries +certain paraphernalia and proceeds with ceremony. The leanness of the +“fanatical agitator” figured in the popular mind long before Kretschmer +gave it his scientific blessing.[12] + +Both popular and scientific conceptions range from the particular to +the general. The British “election agent” is closely bound to a recent, +special social setting. The “leader” keeps a stable nucleus of meaning +for the description of a social rôle among widely separated peoples in +widely separated periods. + +Popular and scientific conceptions are at one in that they may present +developmental and not merely descriptive implications. The notion of +a lean and bitter agitator is not entirely a static, cross-sectional +description of a fortuitous juxtaposition of traits, but a hypothesis +that bodily irritations operate dynamically to foster the selection of +forms of activity which enable the individual to give rather free vent +to his animosities. + +Both popular and scientific types may be taken as objects of study +to determine the factors in their formation. The popular idea of a +“reformer” in America bears a certain photographic resemblance to +actual personalities who figured as public advocates of restrictive +laws. It is possible to study the process by which the stereotype of +the lean and spinsterly kill-joy arose, and to see why it persisted. +Every body politic has its gallery of political mummers, and +political history needs to be rewritten to explain the unique and +the typical qualities of these popularly conceived rôles. Stuart A. +Rice has developed a technique for the identification of contemporary +stereotypes of this kind.[13] Rice took photographs of a senator, a +bolshevik, and a bootlegger, and after obliterating the names asked +various test groups to tell what designation best fitted each picture. +By examining the erroneous identifications, it became possible to +detect the mental pattern popularly associated with the class name. + +An interesting contribution to social science would be the detailed +examination of the factors affecting the rise and fall of those +political typologies which have been seriously proposed by scholars. +The exaggerated picture of the omnipotent leader drawn by Carlyle no +doubt had something to do with Carlyle’s sexual impotence and his +compensatory idealization of the potent; but the popularity which this +exaggeration enjoyed among certain classes of English society was due +to the dislocation of older economic institutions and the rise of +threatening collective ideologies. The new business enterpriser felt +the intoxicating vanity of the self-made man, and the decayed landlords +felt the necessity of individualistic protests against the age of +cities and machines. + +Suppose we examine in more detail the intellectual structure of +scientific political types. This requires special attention to the two +terms involved, the “political” and the “types.” Two ways of defining +the “political” are current in social science. I will speak of them as +the “institutional” and the “functional” methods of definition. Within +any community there are many patterns of activity whose form and whose +magnitude may be singled out for study. There is the production and +distribution of material goods and services; the main patterns by which +these operations proceed can be called the economic institutions of the +community. There is the settlement of disputes, and the defense and +extension of interests which are believed to be collective; these are +the political or governmental institutions of the community. In the +same way religious, charitable, and a host of other institutions may be +discerned. + +These institutionally derived categories fall short of clarity and +comprehensiveness. Some social processes occur within the framework +of every institutional process. Thus the settlement of disputes is +a prominent characteristic of government as we know it; but it is +not, and never has been, and cannot by the nature of things be, a +monopoly of government when government is defined as an institutional +division of social labor. No institution ever quite monopolizes the +function which it most distinctively exercises. But this need not +lead to confusion. When the settlement of disputes is a prominent +function of one group in society, and there is no other group which +participates in the same function in the same degree, there is no +hesitation in deciding to call the first group the “governors” and to +call the patterns according to which they are selected and operate the +“political or governmental” institutions of the community. If there is +a rival adjuster of differences, the distinction is by no means clear, +as when the “church,” “business,” and the “state” are rivals. Perhaps +the governors can be identified by finding who it is who handles the +coercion employed in defending or extending communal enterprises, +though this criterion may from time to time fail to differentiate. +But, on the whole, these doubts are marginal doubts. Ordinarily it is +possible to find a division of labor and a set of sentiments which +can be called the “government of the state.” The marginal instances +call attention to the fact to which allusion has been made, the +fact that no “institutional” process quite monopolizes the function +which it most distinctively exercises. It is therefore advisable to +describe communal processes by two sets of terms, one of which refers +to “institutions” and the other to “functions” which are found within +the various institutional frameworks. Much of the literature of +social science consists in terminological quibbles about the “proper” +words to use in this institutional or functional sense, often without +appreciating the essential nature of the matter at issue. It is, of +course, of the highest importance to understand the difference, and of +minor importance to agree upon the words with which to describe the +distinction. + +From what has been said, it is clear that a word like “political” may +be given an “institutional” or a “functional” meaning in a particular +context, and that--and this is the most important consequence--any +contribution to the understanding of the “institutional” process is a +contribution to the understanding of the wider “functional” process, +and the reverse. In this resides the unity of the social sciences. The +apparent disunity arises from the differences in starting-point of +particular inquiries. One begins with a series of phenomena which are +selected from a single institutional process, and another begins with +a series of phenomena which are selected from several institutional +processes according to some functional conception. + +This unity of destination and disunity of starting-point is abundantly +manifested in the scientific study of human behavior. The specialist +on some phase of the political process, institutionally conceived, +who is asked to classify the types of political behavior, devises +his categories on the basis of the institutional processes which he +knew best. It would be possible, were it worth the effort, to pass in +review the typologies which have been propounded from time to time +by specialists in executive organization, public administration, +judicial administration, legislation, political parties, propaganda +and conspirative organizations, political revolution, nationalism, +imperialism, interstate methods of adjustment (war, diplomacy, +conference, adjudication, mediation, arbitration), and all the other +topics in political science. + +At first glance, the functional method of defining political types +would seem to lead to even greater congeries of categories than the +institutional method. From the functional standpoint politics is found +wherever, to use the older terminology, “wills” are in conflict. This +implies that intensely political manifestations in society are not +confined to government officials and parties, but to banking houses, +manufacturing enterprises, distributing services, ecclesiastical +organizations, fraternal associations, and professional societies. +It is probable that the most aggressive, power-lusting individuals +in modern society find their way into business, and stay out of the +legislature, the courts, the civil service, and the diplomatic service. +If this be true, the student of political personalities will find the +most interesting objects of study in J. P. Morgan and Company, in the +United States Steel Corporation, and among the clerical or educational +or medical politicians. + +It follows from what has been said that the study of politicians who +are chosen from a single institutional process makes a contribution +to the general study of politicians in every institutional process, +and that the conscious abstraction of categories until they are +comprehensive opens a wider range of exact comparison. This may +eventuate in an actual simplification of some fundamental conceptions. +Of course, institutional processes differ in the scope which they give +to certain human drives. Today the church offers less opportunity for +the use of physical violence than it did in the sixteenth century, and +very much less opportunity than the police force, the private detective +agency, or the political gang. + +The advantages of comprehensiveness and possible simplification have +been sacrificed by the political scientists of the schools because +they have conceived their task in too narrow a spirit. They have +been slow in studying the manifestations of human nature in politics +because they have been saturated with sectarian pride in legal and +philosophical distinctions; or they have checked their theories with +their coats, and plunged into technical work. A body of theory which +interacts fruitfully with philosophy, law, and technology is still very +poorly developed. The formal sociological systems have been sacked for +“premises” but neglected for hypotheses. (Witness the exploitation of +the concept of “solidarity” in recent juridical theory.) The task of +the hour is the development of a realistic analysis of the political in +relation to the social process, and this depends upon the invention of +abstract conceptions and upon the prosecution of empirical research. +It is precisely this missing body of theory and practice which Graham +Wallas undertook to supply in England and which Charles E. Merriam +has been foremost in encouraging in the United States. It is the +deficiency which led Catlin to propose to substitute what I would +call the “functional” for the “institutional” definition of the field +of political science.[14] This necessarily implies a new respect for +the possibilities of using the ingenious suggestions to be found in +the sociological systematists, a new curiosity about diverse ways of +approaching events, and a new sympathy for parallels to institutional +phenomena. + +Various obscurities can be removed if we generalize our terms +from the narrowly institutional to the broadly functional plane. +Terms like “statesman” and “despot” were minted of the metal of +political experience in communities where the high road to power was +governmental. It is true that in Athens it was difficult to draw very +sharp lines between governmental and other forms of communal activity, +on account of the intimate interlacing of all institutional processes. +Nevertheless, terms like “statesman” and “despot” came to refer to +forms of political activity in a narrowly institutional sense, and such +is their connotation today. + +But this connotation requires generalization and revision. The road to +power in our civilization is by no means an exclusively governmental +highway, for technical implements have scattered authority and created +an industrial feudality. The directors of large corporations have to +make decisions which are far more important for the daily happiness of +mankind than most of the decisions of governments. Since government is +so largely the agent of corporations, the government is hardly master +in its own house. + +The concept of the statesman has long carried the implication that +anyone who exercises social power outside the government is in hot +pursuit of an exclusively private advantage. Is this any longer +tenable? Is there not such a thing as the “institutionalization of +business” which arises when a given enterprise plans to operate +indefinitely and is thus forced to calculate its interests over long +periods of time? One of the major elements in this calculation is the +necessity of taking precautions against a withdrawal of favor on the +part of the community at large. This is the core of the political way +of thinking, and assimilates the policy of aggregations of private +power to that of the state which is guided by statesmen. It is timely, +therefore, to disentangle the concept of statesmanship from its +historical association with a single institution. + +Some of the many senses in which the “politician” is used may be +disposed of by drawing a clean distinction between the “business +man” and the “politician.” The business man may be defined as one +who pursues a private advantage with little regard for conceptions +of public right. The politician, in the here-selected “best” sense +of the word, uses persuasion on behalf of his conception of public +right. The politician pursues a genuine integration of interests in +the community; the business man is satisfied with a compromise among +competing private interests. The importance to political theory of the +distinction between integration and compromise has quite properly been +stressed by Mary L. Follett.[15] An integration of interests is the +solution of a conflict in such a way that neither “party” recognizes +that so much has been won and so much has been lost in the outcome. +It represents a reinterpretation of the situation in a sense which +renders the old line of battle, the older definition of interest, +irrelevant. It is illustrated when a wage controversy is disposed of by +the decision to try to divide the advantages of economies in production +which may be brought about through new co-operative procedures. The +essence of the contrast between integration and compromise is that +between a synthesis and a trade. The politician is a discoverer of +inclusive advantages, and the business man is a higgler for special +advantages. Whether, as Adam Smith said, an invisible hand shapes a +social synthesis from the general pursuit of private profit, we do +not have to decide upon here. The contrast is between the conscious +objectives of the individuals concerned. It should be observed that +politicians are not limited to government and that business men are not +limited to private ventures. The “boss” is one form of the business +man in government; the director of a large private concern may be a +politician in the sense used here.[16] + +Having drawn a necessary distinction between the institutional and the +functional meaning of the “political,” we are in a position to discuss +the “type” concept. A “type” is a relation, and we may classify types +according to the relations chosen. Political types may be set up on a +three-fold basis: by specifying a nuclear relation, a co-relation, and +a developmental relation. + +What is meant by the choice of a nuclear relation may be illustrated +by the concept of the _Machtmensch_ as elaborated by Eduard Spranger +in his _Lebensformen_. Spranger, the distinguished educational +psychologist of the University of Berlin, has developed a morphology +of personality on an original basis. Dilthey, it will be recalled, +ushered in the modern era of typological inquiry in his famous address +before the Berlin Academy of Science.[17] Dilthey selected forms of +distinguished cultural activity and posited trait-constellations +to fit. By the process of abstracting from many concrete fields of +achievement, he finally built up his description of the sensual, +heroic, and contemplative types. Most eminent political figures +naturally fall in the second category. Spranger’s approach has much in +common with that of Dilthey. He proceeds on the hypothesis that all +possible valuational dispositions are shared by all men. By inspecting +human culture, Spranger comes to the conclusion that six distinctive +cultural fields have materialized six valuational dispositions in +man. Thus the cultural activities having to do with wealth production +correspond to the economic value tendency. Science corresponds to the +theoretical, art to the aesthetic, religion to the religious, the state +to the power tendency, and society to the love tendency. Spranger goes +on to deduce the attributes of each personality in which one value +tendency predominates, and traces out the implications for each field +of activity of the predominance of this tendency. Thus the political +man is the one whose principal value is the pursuit of power. The +essence of power is understood to be the capacity, and usually the +will, to impose one’s own values as permanent or transitory motives +upon others. The political man in science tends to substitute rhetoric +for truth and to use ideas as forces (in the sense of Fouillée). In +economics the political man tends to reach his ends by diplomacy and +negotiation, by intimidation or violence, or by other political means. +In art the political motive leads to efforts to impress by flamboyant +decorative display. In social life the political motive, with its +forcible urge toward self-aggrandizement, must usually disguise itself +in fostering the interests of some collectivity. The god of the +political man in religion is a god of might who requires mighty men to +serve him. + +In developing his image of the _homo politicus_, Spranger is +fully aware that his “pure” type seldom exists. The bold, frank +aggrandizement of self is rarely tolerated in society, for “the +greatest power manifests itself as collective power,” and the man +who cherishes power must achieve some measure of socialization or +he is outlawed. Although in principle no warm-hearted lover of his +fellow-men, he must keep his contempt to himself or feign expansive +sentiments of group loyalty. Indeed, self-deception is perhaps the +rule, for the political personality with a strong artistic component +possesses a florid imagination which dramatizes his personal history +and subordinates all reality to ambitious plans. It seems to me that +Spranger does not sufficiently stress this aspect of the political man, +this large capacity for playing the impostor upon himself and others. + +The gist of Spranger’s generalization of the political man is +schematically expressible in terms of desire-method-success. The +political man desires to control the motives of others; his method may +vary from violence to wheedling; his success in securing recognition in +some community must be tangible. These are the nuclear relations which +are essential to the type definition. + +Naturally there are a number of necessary annotations to be made on +this formula. Sometimes the man with a thirst for power is unable to +indulge and quench his thirst, for his physical and social equipment +may be too meager. And how are we to appraise results? _Wer regiert +denn?_ Power over others is partially exercised by every living being; +but in any hierarchy of the powerful, some are on the lowest tier, if +current social criteria be applied. The bedridden, complaining wreck +may be of no significance except as a burden upon the care of a single +nurse. Accepting the current values of society, such an individual +would be on the very bottom of the heap. And yet, as Alfred Adler +has so often insisted as to make the point peculiarly his own, the +hysteric may use his symptoms to win a high degree of submission from +his immediate environment, and this may be all that he cares about. And +some of those who give up the visible struggle for social influence may +retire to distil their bile into poisoned darts against the pursuit +of external pomp, and secure reputation and eminence by embodying the +results in sparkling rhetoric. + +The man who runs his village may become more acutely aware that he does +not run the county; and when he runs the county, that he does not run +the province; and so on up the ladder. His appurtenances of power may +be deferred to by those about him, yet his own soul may smart with +the shackles of a larger slavery. Thus, Spranger is right in saying +that, when one succeeds in penetrating the psychology of the search +for power, it becomes comprehensible that he whose nature is bound +up in the pursuit of authority is most keenly sensible to the limits +of his own freedom, and consequently suffers so keenly from nothing +else in life than his own subordination. Sensing this, the Stoics long +ago contended that the essence of liberty is the self-sufficiency +which makes no demands on others. Ascendancy involves dependence, +a reciprocal relationship which has been exhaustively described +by Simmel.[18] But there are some who combine easy success with +indifference. These are no doubt recruited from among those who have +natural suggestive power to certain groups--they possess the _charisma_ +of Max Weber.[19] + +Allowing for these annotations, the nucleus of Spranger’s thinking may +be repeated. The _homo politicus_ is characterized by the following +relationship between desire, method, and success: desire to control +the motives of others; methods varying from violence to wheedling; and +success in securing communal recognition. + +Spranger’s subtle comments in elaborating this simple, central +conception are among the most valuable in the literature of society. +Starting from bold simplifications, he succeeds in formulating pictures +which give richer meaning to the details of political life in all +the institutional processes of culture. Of course the literature of +political science is full of types which are described as Spranger +has described the political man. Michels and Merriam have listed the +qualities which they find in political leaders as a class. Conway has +propounded his familiar trichotomy: crowd-compellers, crowd-exponents, +and crowd-representatives. The possibility of defining types according +to the reactionary, conservative, liberal, or radical nature of the +opinions championed has often been discussed.[20] + +The scheme which will be employed in presenting case materials stresses +the capacity of political personalities to play rôles which are either +specialized or composite. Hobbes was a theorist and an agitating +pamphleteer; he is scarcely thinkable as an agitating orator and +organizer like Garrison. The “pure-type” agitator is represented by +the Old Testament prophets. Bodin combined a memorable contribution to +political theory with the arduous duties of a successful administrator. +Masaryk won his spurs in philosophy, sociology, cultural history, +agitation, and organization. Numberless are those who have shown +excellent organizing ability but who have been innocent of theoretical +interests or of agitating power. Some political assassins and tyrants +have enjoyed the use of violence as a _ding an sich_. The central +point in deciding where to place a political figure is to discover +the form of activity which means the most to him, and to modify the +classification according to his success in combining this with other +rôles. Marx wanted to impress himself upon mankind, certainly; and he +craved the skill of a Lassalle, who could step on the platform and +dominate the turbulent emotions of the crowd. But more: Marx wanted +unreserved admiration for the products of his mind. He toiled through +years of isolation and poverty to make his assertions impregnable. It +was more important to attain theoretical completeness than to modify +his technique of social intercourse. Lassalle was the composite leader +who could woo an audience, organize activities all over Germany, write +excellent books, and win a place for himself in many circles of life. +Marx was the limited specialist who had to exact submission to the +assertions of his mind, come what may. + +Table I brings out the distinction between specialized and composite +types. + + TABLE I + Political Rôles + + Administrator Agitator Theorist + _Specialized types_: + Hoover * + Old Testament prophets * + Marx * + + _Composite types_: + Cobden * * + Bodin * * + Lenin * * * + +Other combinations may be indicated. By adding a fourth column for +those who resort to violence, the schematic possibilities are enlarged. +Most theorists have been agitators in some measure, and it is often +a matter of taste whether emphasis is to be placed on one or the +other feature of their activity. Characteristically, the theorists +have sought to appeal to the sentiments of their contemporaries by +pamphleteering or by the direction of their speculative interests to +immediate ends. Hobbes and Rousseau were shut off from oratory and +organization, but no small part of their writing was intended to add +fuel to the flames around them. Such men as Tom Paine are able to +strike off excellent formulations of political theory in the heat of +the fray. + +So far we have been discussing types which are distinguished according +to some nuclear relation among a few variables. The characteristic +mode of elaborating such a type is to imagine a host of situations in +which the type may be found, and to describe the resulting picture. +This is the elaboration of the preliminary sketch on the basis of +sophisticated experience with social life. For these impressionist +methods it is possible to substitute a more formal procedure. Having +chosen a central primary relation, is it possible to find, by +reference to specific instances, the relative frequency with which +other traits are associated with the nuclear ones. The starting-point +may be either institutional or functional, of course: those who are +“judges,” “legislators,” or “bosses” may be investigated, or those who +are “statesmen,” “conciliators,” or “administrators.” We have already +had occasion to stress the point that institutional definitions and +functional definitions do not precisely coincide, although either is a +valid point of departure for research. + +The result of the formal procedure outlined is to define +“co-relational” (correlational) types. A recent monograph by Fritz +Giese may be used to illustrate the possibilities.[21] This is a +statistical treatment of the data available in the German _Who’s Who_ +of 1914. After Giese had eliminated those who were included on account +of their hereditary position only, he had over ten thousand names +left. He then distinguished thirty-three varieties of activity, which +were grouped into the five major categories of art, social science, +physical science, technology, and practical life. He also classified +his subjects into those who were honored because of high-grade but +essentially routine professional accomplishment, those who enriched +their field of activity by some creative contribution, and those whose +creativeness was unrestricted to their occupational field. The three +types were the skilful, the productive, and the freely creative. +Since the individual is not confined to one field of activity, the +following scheme of connections was built up to show the relation +between the person and the form of activity: (_a_) income source (the +person regards a particular field as a “bread and butter” occupation); +(_b_) successive activity field (the individual has deserted one field +for another); (_c_) field of simultaneous double-production; (_d_) +recreational activity. The relation of a person to a field of activity +may show a splitting of his personality or a compensatory function. +When a politician consciously decides to play golf or to collect +pictures to relieve his mind from exclusive political preoccupations, +he is realizing a compensatory value in this chosen field. When he +finds himself impelled to try to live a double life of scientific +investigation and political propaganda, he is exhibiting major, and +contrasting, tendencies in his personality (splitting). Sometimes the +tie between fields of activity which the same individual exploits is +factual similarity, as when a politician becomes a literary man to the +extent of writing the political history of a period. Sometimes the +connection is a functional relationship, in that the same biopsychic +dispositions are to be assumed to operate. Thus, business promotion and +politics are intimately allied; sculpture and politics are not. + +Giese’s detailed analysis showed that those engaged in politics reveal +the most heterogeneous affiliations and backgrounds. He raised the +question whether it was proper to think of a distinctive functional +gift which would characterize all those in political positions. When +compared with art, especially architecture, and engineering, the +heterogeneity of the political population is very evident. Indeed, +the manifold connections of politically active persons with other +fields suggest that political life depends upon very widely dispersed +capacities of human nature, as does teaching, history writing, and +journalism. But there is one important exception which is clearly +brought out by the figures. This was a group of politicians who +rose from humble circumstances and devoted themselves assiduously +to organization and agitation. They offer a sharp contrast to those +for whom political life was a sport, hobby, or honorary distinction. +For the organizing and agitating group we may postulate a functional +disposition of some kind. + +The results show how the institutional approach to a problem may +eventuate in the isolation of one group which very probably coincides +closely with a functional group in other institutional activities. +Some of the agitating and organizing people weren’t yet in politics at +the time the 1914 census was made, and some of them were so busy with +private organizations that they never made the formal transition to +politics in the institutional sense. + +Another conclusion which bears on the same point is Giese’s discovery +that those who were freely creative in politics had much more in common +with those who were freely creative in other fields than they had +with those who were merely productive in their own. Giese’s method of +classifying his freely creative group is too ambiguous to justify one +in considering his conclusion of more than suggestive value, but it is +possible that he has isolated a functionally homogeneous group which +cuts across all institutional lines. + +Some of the studies of political personalities have carried the +quantitative method far enough to substitute scales for rank orders +at various points. Various reaction tests have been used in the hope +of discovering constant differences among those who play different +political rôles. Henry T. Moore undertook to decide whether there is +such a thing as a temperamental predisposition toward conservatism or +radicalism. He defined radicalism as “an attitude favorable to sweeping +changes in social institutions, especially changes along lines opposed +to class interest,” and classified the opinion expressions of students +according to the degree of radicalism or conservatism indicated. He +then applied a series of reaction tests to the students and reached the +following conclusion: + + Our evidence so far as it goes points to some innate basis of + difference. This basis does not seem to be the level of general + intelligence or of emotional stability, nor in any general + superiority or inferiority in learning or attention, but in such + specific factors as greater speed of reaction, ease of breaking + habits, readiness to make snap judgments, and independence in the + face of majority influence. The last of these differences is the + one most clearly indicated.... If one man is by nature more keyed + up for speed and flexibility, and the other is more designed for + regularity of function, we can hardly expect that government of the + hyperkinetic by the phlegmatic and for the phlegmatic can fail to + develop periods of stress and strain.[22] + +Floyd Allport classified students into typical and atypical members of +the community, discovering whether they took up prevalent or minority +positions on various political questions. He then applied a battery of +tests to the students and found that certain traits of the atypical +(whether the opinions were “radical” or “conservative”) proved to be +homogeneous. Thus, not only do the “extremes” meet, but also those +who hold minority positions along a hypothetical continuum of opinion +distribution.[23] + +W. H. Cowley, at the instigation of Charles E. Merriam and L. L. +Thurstone, undertook to compare leaders in chosen situations. He used +twenty-eight tests of such traits as aggressiveness, self-confidence, +intelligence, emotional stability, and speed of reaction. While his +tests were differentiating within the same group between leaders and +followers, he reports that they did not distinguish between leaders as +a class and followers as a class. He thus felt justified in denying +that leadership is a universal trait of particular persons, and +criticized efforts to itemize “traits of leadership.”[24] Further +applications of the blanket-test technique are under way.[25] + +Gilbert J. Rich opened out a new field of investigation when he +studied certain complex physiological and biochemical variables among +leaders and followers. He measured the hydrogen-ion concentration of +the saliva, the acidity of the urine, alkali reserve of the blood, +and creatinine excretion of the urine. The least excitable subjects +showed the most acid saliva and the most acid urine. The rating of the +subjects was open to criticism, and was obviously much less refined +than the biochemical techniques employed.[26] + +The types which we have just been considering show more than a +cross-sectional picture of the adult personality. They have made the +transition from itemizing the instantaneous pictures to the selection +of features of the immediate picture which show how the type has come +to be. They are thus more than co-relational types; they have made +some progress toward developmental types. When Giese found the group +of political personalities of humble origin and persistent organizing +and agitating activity, he postulated a common dynamic of development, +a homogeneous functional disposition toward this sort of thing. Moore +wanted to extricate the formative influence of temperamental reactive +sets, and the other investigators have likewise sought to ascertain +developmental factors in the production of the adult picture of traits +and interests. + +Almost every nuclear and co-relational type carries developmental +implications. The terms which are used to characterize motives +have dynamic, genetic, formative coronas of meaning which, vaguely +though they may be sketched, are emphatically present. When Michels +says that a “Catonian strength of conviction” is one mark of the +political leader, it is implied that if one pushed his inquiry into +the adolescence, childhood, and even infancy of the individual that +this ruling characteristic would be visible. Of course, Michels +does not himself develop these implications; it is doubtful if he +has tried to find the early analogues of the trait which he called +“Cantonian strength of conviction” on the adult level. But the dynamic +penumbra of the term can lead empirical investigators to scrutinize +the behavior of children from a new point of view. Many of the terms +which are used to describe adult traits are no doubt unpredictable +from the less differentiated traits of infancy, childhood, and youth. +But the growth of full-blown developmental types requires the sifting +and refinement of terms until they are adequate to the description +of sequences of growth. Developmental types will describe a set +of terminal, adult reactions, and relate them to those critical +experiences in the antecedent life of the individual which dispose +him to set up such a mode of dealing with the world. Developmental +types will not only include the subjective account of the history of +the personality but will embrace the objective factors which were +co-operating to produce the patterns described. + +The notion of a developmental type may be illustrated by examining +the place which is assigned to the political man in the chief modern +characterological systems. Hans Apfelbach has used five dimensions for +the description of characters. Each one is described as a gamut between +two polar opposites, and a sixth pair of polar opposites is introduced +into the system. The scheme is indicated in Table II. + +This gives a formal range of sixty-four types of character formation +without allowing for subtle variations in quantity. The first +combination which Apfelbach specifies is, symbolically, ABCDEF. This is +a very masculine, sadistic, hyperemotional, moral, intellectually keen, +and upright character. Among men this is the type of the organizers, +politicians, the great preachers, generals, dictators, and the like. +Among women, this is the type of the organizer of every description, +especially the political or patriotic enthusiast, like Joan of Arc. +It should be observed that the terms “masculine” and “feminine” are +not used in a mutually exclusive sense. Carrying on the tradition of +Weininger and Fliess, these terms are employed to designate traits +which may be present in different proportions in the same person.[27] + + TABLE II + + Dimension Polar Elements + + Sexuality Masculine A + Feminine a + Psychomotility Psychosadistic B + Psychomasochistic b + Emotionality Hyperemotional C + Hypo-emotional c + Morality Moral D + Immoral d + Intellectuality Superior E + (specialized) Inferior e + Accessory elements Altruistic F + Egotistic f + +The political man appears in Jung’s system at various intersections of +his underlying scheme. The essential cleavage in Jung’s classification +is between those whose psychic energy (libido) flows outward +toward objects (extraversion) and those whose libido flows inward +(introversion). The former enter into full affective relations with +the world around; the latter are mainly focused on their private +interpretations of experience. In addition to these fundamental dynamic +relationships, Jung sub-classifies with reference to our fundamental +psychological functions: thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition. These +functions may operate against one another consciously or unconsciously. +So, when thinking predominates in consciousness, feeling is repressed; +and the reverse. Intuition is understood to be a kind of instinctive +comprehension, a function peculiarly dependent upon the unconscious. +According to the predominance of one or another of these basic +functions, Jung constructs four special types of extraversion and +introversion. + +Certain conspicuous political types belong to Jung’s category of +extraverted thinkers. These individuals try to bring their whole +life-activity into relation with intellectual conclusions, which +in the last resort are always oriented by objective data, whether +objective facts or generally valid ideas. By his formula are good and +evil measured: all is wrong that contradicts it, and all is right +that corresponds to it; all is accidental that is neutral toward it. +Just as the extraverted thinking type subordinates himself to his +formula, he seeks to subordinate all others to it, as a manifestation +of a universal inspiration. His moral code forbids him to tolerate +exceptions, and he would bend all to suit the scheme. “One really +should” or “one must” figure largely in his program. If the formula is +wide enough, Jung remarks that the extraverted thinker may figure as a +reformer, a ventilator of public wrongs, and a propagandist. But the +more rigid his formula, the more likely he is to grow into a grumbler, +a crafty reasoner, and a self-righteous critic. + +Many politicians answer to the general description which Jung gives +of the extraverted, intuitive type. The intuitive is unattracted by +the established values; he is drawn to the possible rather than to +the actual. He seizes hold of new objects and ways of doing things +with eager intensity, only to abandon them cold-bloodedly, when +their implications become obvious. The irresistible magnet of the +rising sun fires his imagination and guides his activity. For the +risen sun and the setting sun there is no enthusiasm, no special +hostility, only indifference. Here is the facile promoter, who senses +the dawning future and speeds from project to project, bored with +routine and detail after projects have been accepted and the blueprints +finished.[28] + +The types of Apfelbach and Jung are based upon a small number of +reactive mechanisms which are supposed to influence in different degree +the growth of the personality. These “mechanism” types may contain +many useful leads, but the methodological problem in isolating these +hypothetical mechanisms is unsettled. A “stable” reaction in adulthood +may be far from stable when viewed at successive growth periods. These +“mechanism” types seem to encourage endless classificatory ventures +at the expense of detailed reporting of life-histories. For reasons +which have been set forth, subjective histories are of the greatest +importance to social science; and any excessive interest in “mechanism” +which minimizes the importance of elaborate individual records is to be +deplored. Jung and Apfelbach say very little about the principal epochs +of individual development, and distract attention from the career as a +whole, as this career is structuralized in successive phases. + +Before outlining our developmental conception of the _homo politicus_, +we return to the work of Freud, for his method has enabled him to +keep close to the subjective sequence and to use classificatory terms +in relation to the successive phases of impulse organization in the +developing personality. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THEORIES OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT + + +It will be remembered that Freud’s search for signs of the traumatic +situation led him to uncover the contemporaneous functioning of all +sorts of unconscious motivations in both the diseased and the healthy +personality. The quest led him farther. Freud felt impelled to set +up a schematic representation of the typical genetic development of +the human personality. This grew out of the comparative study of very +thoroughly analyzed cases and was rooted in empirical observation. +Freud has always kept close to his data; and no matter how far his +imagination soared, actual clinical experience was the starting-place +and the landing-field for the flight. + +The energy of a developed personality can be treated as dispersed in +three directions: in the affirmative expression of socialized impulses, +in unsocialized impulses, and in the maintenance of resistance charges +against unsocialized impulses. The original forms of energy expression +which are available to the infant are in many ways incompatible with +the demands of human intercourse. The infant must surrender many +primitive forms of gratification, if he is to be loved, and to avoid +discomfort and pain. He must build up a self which represents the +demands of society. The surrounding adults coerce and wheedle him +into taking their commands for his own laws. The conscience is the +introjected environment which imposes limitations upon the antisocial +impulses. As the infant and child grows, he avoids conflicts with the +environment by removing the locus of the conflict within himself, and +plays nurse, mother, and father to himself. He learns to control his +own excretions and to chasten his own murderous rages. He achieves +individuality of emphasis by accepting the socialization of his major +impulses. + +But this incorporation of the requirements of the social order into +the personality does not proceed smoothly, nor does it abolish the +primitive psychological structures which have been developed and +apparently discarded at each step of the way toward adulthood. Much +of the energy of the personality is spent in blocking the entry of +the unadjusted impulses of the self into consciousness and into +overt expression. Careful scrutiny of individual behavior over a +twenty-four-hour period strikingly shows the extent to which the +personality is controlled by very elementary psychological structures. +Moments of fatigue, moments of deprivation, moments of irresponsible +reverie, all betray the presence of tendencies which are unassimilated +to the world of adult reality. + +Freud began to build up his conception of personality development +by the gradual universalization of phenomena which he encountered +in actual clinical work, and which he first described in relatively +modest and restricted terms. He began his original psychological +contributions by stressing the rôle of sexuality in the etiology of +certain neuroses. He found that all sorts of pathological conditions +and developmental abnormalities were apparently due to some shortcoming +in sexual integration. This emphasis upon sexual adjustment as a +necessary prerequisite of healthy adulthood met with so much opposition +that Freud’s energies were taken up with defending and elaborating his +position. Now the sexual function is essentially a species function +and stresses the biological uniformities of man at the expense of +individuality. A topic like “personality development” requires a +comprehensive theory of individuality, and this Freud did not develop +until the split with Adler, who insisted upon the rôle of a drive +toward individualization and who denied that the much neglected “ego +instincts” of Freud were enough to support a comprehensive theory. + +The story of Freud’s neurosis-sexuality-personality theories begins +with his earliest independent psychological contributions. Many +clinicians before Freud had been abundantly impressed by the frequency +with which sexual troubles seemed to beget “nervous” troubles. In +his hypnotic work, Freud was especially struck by the frequency with +which specifically sexual episodes were involved in the pathogenic +experiences. Freud now proceeded to generalize about the sexual element +in neurosis, and announced that neurosis was a function of deviated +sexual life. + +Freud armed in defense of his generalization with two new weapons. The +first was his experience in letting his patients talk it out and in +treating most of their productions as symbolic of something else. He +acquired facility in interpreting what other people took literally as +being a disguised representation of something else. So, when Freud was +confronted with cases which were not manifestly sexual, he felt able to +treat the non-sexual elements as symbolic representations of sexuality +and to justify himself by claiming that his more intensive research +procedure supplied him with the sustaining facts. Needless to say, +those who had not themselves experienced the shift in standpoint which +Freud had achieved were alienated by his seeming arbitrariness. + +Freud’s second reliance was on an inclusive theory of sexuality. +Undaunted by the ridicule heaped upon his sexual theory of the +neurosis, he carried the war into enemy territory by extending the +whole concept of sexuality backward from puberty through the life of +the growing child to infancy. + +At first glance this might appear to be a cheap, dialectical trick to +confound his critics by telling them that “sex” meant all the things +they had called by other names. Freud’s _Three Contributions to Sexual +Theory_ was saved from being a rhetorical quibble by the virtuosity of +his imagination and by the apparent definiteness of the connections +which he traced between the various features of childhood development +and the patterns of healthy and perverse adult sexuality. Careful +analysis of biologically efficacious intercourse shows that it is a +complex integration of many acts. It involves a partner of the opposite +sex. Its essential feature is an increasing tension until the point of +explosive release, followed by perfect relaxation. The male must be +sadistic enough to run the risk of hurting the female by injecting the +penis in the vagina. The participants must be willing to indulge in +all sorts of preliminary play for the sake of heightening the critical +tension, involving tongue, lips, nipples, and all the erogenous zones +of the body. + +Comparing the details of this completed pattern of the unambiguously +sexual act with the earlier activities of the infant and child, Freud +drew a host of analogies. Children indulge in play in sexual postures, +exhibit their sexual parts to one another, and take pleasure in sexual +peeping; but Freud carried his analysis of the sexuality of children +much farther. Child specialists had often remarked that the nursing +male child frequently exhibits the phenomenon of an erect penis and a +desire to suckle for some time after hunger contractions cease. The +general pattern of the sequence hunger-nursing-peaceful relaxation +follows the characteristic curve of the sexual act. Freud suggested +that inspection of the nursing pattern reveals that the pleasure +derived by the child goes far beyond immediate biological necessities. +This excess gratification Freud treats as a primitive outcropping of +the sexual instinct, which need not be supposed to appear suddenly +with the maturation of the glandular apparatus, but may be thought of +as growing like the usual biological process by integrating partial +components into one complex synthesis. + +Sexual differentiation arises gradually, for at first distinctions of +sex are not recognized by the child. The human animal is bisexual, +a concept which Freud took over with some reservations from Wilhelm +Fliess. Distinctions are achieved within the world of family +experience. The child is attracted sexually toward the parent of +the opposite sex but is too weak to compete for the loved object. +Thus the father, who is too mighty to be killed and put out of the +way, is copied by the son, who seeks to absorb his power into his +own personality. The repression of the father-hostility, mother-love +sentiments produces the Oedipus complex. The child achieves a +socialized self by playing the rôle of the father in relation to his +own impulses. The “latency period” arises from four to six, according +to Freud, when the early sexual struggle against the father is given +up. The fear of the father (the “castration complex”) leads to the +passing of the Oedipus phase of growth. + +Now Freud specified a variety of difficulties which arise whenever +there is failure to achieve successful integration of the partial +components of the sexual instinct. He connected homosexuality, +psychological frigidity and impotence, exhibitionism, sadism, +masochism, voyeurism, and a variety of other abnormalities with +definite failures in integration. Sometimes the individual becomes +obsessed by ideas which have a disguised sexual meaning, and sometimes +he indulges in physical symptoms which possess a similar unconscious +significance. The first is an obsessional neurosis, and the second is +hysteria. + +The stress which Freud laid upon the sexuality of the child, and upon +socialization by intimidation, broke with revolutionary violence in a +culture which swaddled its infants in sentimentality. The child of the +poets was like this: + + Not in entire forgetfulness, + And not in utter nakedness, + But trailing clouds of glory we do come + From God, who is our home: + Heaven lies about us in our infancy! + + --William Wordsworth + +The child of the Freudians was like this: + + The child, at one time or another in its life, is, in a sense, + auto-erotic, narcissistic, exhibitionistic, inclined to play the + rôle of “Jack the Peeper,” incestuous, patricidal, or matricidal, + homosexual, fetichistic, masochistic and sadistic [G. V. Hamilton, + _An Introduction to Objective Psychopathology_, p. 301]. + +As early as 1898 Freud had begun to elaborate the idea that sexuality +begins at birth. But as late as 1900, when the _Interpretation of +Dreams_ appeared, he wrote in a footnote that “childhood knows +nothing, as yet, of sexual desire.” With the elaboration of his sexual +theory, Freud became less preoccupied in defending himself against his +psychiatric colleagues than in perfecting defenses against his friends. +Freud began to build up a circle in 1903. Of the original group, +Alfred Adler and Wilhelm Stekel were the two who were destined to +achieve the most subsequent attention. By 1906 Ferenczi of Budapest and +the Zürich contingent--the eminent Bleuler and his assistants--became +cordial and interested. In 1908 a conference was held at Salzburg, and +in 1909 G. Stanley Hall invited Freud to lecture at Clark University. +In 1910 an international society was organized at Nuremberg, and the +institutionalization of the psychoanalytic trend was well launched. + +The first cleavage came about when Freud and Adler finally broke in +1911. In and out of season Adler stressed the “masculine protest,” the +drive of the human being to master every situation in which he finds +himself. The individual specializes in overcoming his short stature, +his enuresis, his ugliness, and his other defects; his principal drive +is to differentiate himself rather than to perform his species function. + +Adler represented several other currents of dissent from Freud. Freud +had felt compelled to stress the antisocial drives of human nature, +and Adler held a less Hobbesian view. The “social-feeling” component +of human nature was accorded a place in the Adlerian system; and when +the “socially useful” norms of individual adjustment were violated by +the individual, “inferiority feelings” ensued. Therapy consisted in +bringing this interpretation home to the maladapted person, leading him +to relinquish his socially useless means of mastery and to allow his +“social feelings” to express themselves more freely. Adler’s therapy +showed that he represented a pedagogical-ethical reaction against +Freud’s denial of the training function of the scientific analyst. +Freud said repeatedly that the business of the analyst is to expose +the patient to himself, and to leave it to the patient to work out +his particular modes of adaptation to reality. Adler wants to give the +patient a general scheme of thinking and to let him have some practice +in indulging the “social feelings” of his nature. + +Adler likewise represented a protest against the complexities of +Freud’s style of thought. The distinction can be drawn best, perhaps, +by saying that Freud proceeded from symptoms to meanings, and from +meanings to other meanings, and from other meanings to conditions. +The analysis consists in uncovering lifelong chains of meaning +attached to particular objects. Janet never achieved this process, +and Adler short-circuited it. Adler begins with the symptom and +proceeds as directly as possible to the condition. His books abound in +succinct characterizations of cases, and “symbolic” material is at a +minimum. Employing his orienting principle, he directs attention to a +sympathetic reconstruction of the social relationships of the patient +and selects those problems which the individual has tried to master +by antisocial or personally crippling devices. The “common-sense” +simplicity of Adler’s observations commends his doctrines in circles +which are repelled by the alien terminology and the elaborate +interpretative machinery of Freud. + +Under the perpetual hammering of Adler, Freud undertook to expand upon +his sketchy theory of the ego. At first Freud was inclined to say +that Adler had nothing to add because he had himself spoken of the +ego instincts as well as the sexual instincts. Such a solution was +hardly satisfying, and the self did not find a suitable resting-place +in Freud’s theoretical system until the rôle of narcissism (love of +the self) was taken up and set forth at length. This “saved” the +sexual theory, and it made the analysis of ego processes a problem of +major interest to psychoanalysis. Stress was laid upon the fact that +when the individual’s libido flows outward toward objects, and when +obstacles or deprivations are imposed upon this outward reaching, the +libido turns back upon the self. This excessive libidinization of the +self rendered subsequent adjustment to reality very difficult, and +many personality deformations and formations are traceable to this +developmental warp. + +The break between Freud and Jung in 1913 had less immediate importance +for personality theory than the previous schism. Like Adler, Jung +undertook to subordinate the rôle of sexuality; but Jung accomplished +his purpose, less by postulating concurrent ego-instincts than by +invoking an inclusive energy concept which would embrace sexuality, +ego-drives, and many other accessory manifestations. Jung, paralleling +Adler again, came to the rescue of human nature, postulating a moral +trend in the unconscious. And Jung, like Adler, frankly advises and +trains his patients. Jung’s two distinctive lines of innovation were +concerned with dream interpretations and ethnological applications. +Jung expanded dream interpretations for the sake of laying bare the +“racial unconscious.” Using saga material and dream material, Jung +undertook to deflate the claims of sexuality and to demonstrate the +limited applicability of the Oedipus idea. + +Freud was assailed at a vital spot and rallied to defend himself in +_Totem and Taboo_. He scored a point over Jung, who had relied on saga +material, by drawing heavily on the ethnological summaries of Frazer in +the _Golden Bough_ to justify the universality of the Oedipus complex. +This was Freud’s first contribution to systematic social theory, and +will come up for consideration in that connection. From the standpoint +of personality theory, perhaps the most valuable passages are those +which describe the infant’s overvaluation of thought--the “omnipotence +of thought,” as it was phrased by a patient. + +Some years later Jung, now on his own for some time, devised his +classification of personality types and vastly increased popular and +technical interest in the subject. This in turn has stimulated the +group around Freud to develop a formal psychoanalytic characterology. +In this task they were assisted by some early communications of Freud, +wherein he took note of some of the character types met with in his +practice. This literature will be referred to in connection with the +case histories which are to be discussed immediately. + +The other schisms between Freud and his pupils (involving Stekel and +Rank) have been less significant for personality theory thus far, +although Rank’s sociological interests may germinate now that he is +away from the immediate presence of the master. + +Freud, who had obstinately clung to the phraseology of sex, rejecting +every proposal for an overmastering set of terms which would carry less +restricted connotations, executed a brilliant maneuver in 1926 and +proposed to regard human activity as manifestations of two principles, +the life and the death instincts. Life consists in accumulation and the +release of tension; and, generalizing this phenomenon, we have the life +and death drives.[29] + +Suppose we put aside further exposition of the analytical personality +theories, and in the light of these conceptions set up a general +formula which describes the developmental history of the political man. +The most general formula would employ three terms. The first component, +_p_, stands for the private motives of the individual as they are +nurtured and organized in relation to the family constellation and the +early self. We shall have occasion to see that primitive psychological +structures continue to function within the personality long after the +epochs of infancy and childhood have been chronologically left behind. +The prominence of hate in politics suggests that we may find that the +most important private motive is a repressed and powerful hatred of +authority, a hatred which has come to partial expression and repression +in relation to the father, at least in patrilineal society, where the +male combines the function of biological progenitor and sociological +father. + +The second term, _d_, in such a formula describes the displacement of +private motives from family objects to public objects. The repressed +father-hatred may be turned against kings or capitalists, which +are social objects playing a rôle before and within the community. +Harmonious relations with the father of the family may actually depend +upon the successful deflection of hatred from private to public objects. + +The third symbol, _r_, signifies the rationalization of the +displacement in terms of public interests. The merciless exploitation +of the toolless proletariat by the capitalists may be the rational +justification of the attitude taken up by the individual toward +capitalism. + +The most general formula which expresses the developmental facts about +the fully developed political man reads thus: + + _p_ } _d_ } _r_ = _P_, + +where _p_ equals private motives; _d_ equals displacement +onto a public object; _r_ equals rationalization in terms of public +interest; _P_ equals the political man; and } equals transformed into. + +The _p_ is shared by the political man with every human being. +Differentiation rises first in the displacement of affects on to public +objects, and in the molding of the life in such a way as to give an +opportunity for the expression of these affects. The non-political +man may feel himself aggrieved against a brother and against every +fellow-worker with whom he comes in contact. His mind may be taken +up with personal fantasies of love or hate for specific people, and +his ideological world (his attitudes toward the state, the church, +the destiny of man) may be very poorly elaborated. He is a fly in the +meshes of his immediate environment, and his struggles are fought in +terms of the world of face-to-face reality. When such a man displaces +his affects upon a person who happens to be a public object, this does +not make him a political man. Impulsively killing a king who happens +to insult one’s sister does not make a politician of the regicide; +there must be a secondary elaboration of the displacement in terms of +general interest. It is the rationalization which finally transmutes +the operation from the plane of private to the plane of public acts. +Indeed, the private motives may be entirely lost from the consciousness +of the political man, and he may succeed in achieving a high degree of +objective validation for his point of view. In the “ideal” case this +has gone so far that the private motives which led to the original +commitment are of feeble current importance. + +Upon what does the displacement and the rationalization depend? No +doubt the general answer is that the selection of certain public +objects depends upon the “historical” accident of the patterns offered +by the personal environment of the individual at critical phases +of growth. It is safe to predict that more politicians rise from +families with political traditions than without them. But this very +broad conclusion requires no technique of intensive investigation of +individual instances to support it. If the psychopathological approach +to the individual is worth the trouble, it must disclose a variety of +relatively novel circumstances which dispose individuals to adopt, +reject, or modify the patterns of act and phrase which are offered in +the environment. Provisionally, we may assume that the puberty phase of +biological growth, which coincides with increasing social demands, may +be the period in which the attitudes toward the invisible environment +most rapidly crystallize. + +The details may be more hopefully dealt with if somewhat homogeneous +groups of politicians are investigated for the purpose of bringing out +significant differences in their developmental history. The agitators +are the first to whom special attention will be paid. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +POLITICAL AGITATORS + + +The essential mark of the agitator is the high value which he places +on the emotional response of the public. Whether he attacks or defends +social institutions is a secondary matter. The agitator has come by +his name honestly, for he is enough agitated about public policy +to communicate his excitement to those about him. He idealizes the +magnitude of the desirable social changes which are capable of being +produced by a specific line of social action. From the standpoint +of the administrative mind, we may say that an agitator is one who +exaggerates the difference between one rather desirable social policy +and another, much as the lover, according to Shaw, is one who grossly +exaggerates the difference between one woman and another. Whether +agitators behave like physicians or surgeons, as Munro would have it, +they are united in expecting much good to come from single acts of +innovation. The agitator easily infers that he who disagrees with him +is in communion with the devil, and that opponents show bad faith or +timidity. Agitators are notoriously contentious and undisciplined; +many reforming ships are manned by mutineers. The agitator is willing +to subordinate personal considerations to the superior claims of +principle. Children may suffer while father and mother battle for the +“cause.” But the righteous will not cleave to their families when +the field is ripe for the harvest. Ever on the alert for pernicious +intrusions of private interest into public affairs, the agitator sees +“unworthy” motives where others see the just claims of friendship. +Believing in direct, emotional responses from the public, the agitator +trusts in mass appeals and general principles. Many of his kind live +to shout and write. Their consciences trouble them unless they have +periodic orgies of moral fervor. Relying upon the magic of rhetoric, +they conjure away obstacles with the ritualistic repetition of +principles. They become frustrated and confused in the tangled mass +of technical detail upon which successful administration depends. +Agitators of the “pure” type, when landed in responsible posts, long +to desert the official swivel for the roving freedom of the platform +and the press. They glorify men of outspoken zeal, men who harry the +dragons and stir the public conscience by exhortation, reiteration, and +vituperation. + +The first life-history to be excerpted here is that of Mr. A. This is +no “institutional” case. Mr. A is aware of no mental pathology, and +has never consulted a neurologist, psychiatrist, or “nerve doctor.” +He is one of those who at first reluctantly, then whole-heartedly, +allowed himself to be studied with the same thoroughness, intimacy, +and detachment with which an obviously unstable person would be +scrutinized. Mr. A at once saw the advantage for the progress of +science of an accumulation of life-histories taken from men who regard +themselves as perfectly normal, since so much of our case material is +from the ill. + +A’s claim to a place among the agitators is not open to question. +He was compelled to resign his position when the United States went +into the World War on account of the tenacity with which he argued +the pacifist position. He had previously run for Congress on the +socialist ticket. Suspected of unorthodoxy in the theological school, +he steadily became more radical in his views, and was expelled from +one denomination. Previously he had been the secretary and principal +spokesman for a civic reform organization which had vigorously attacked +corruption in municipal affairs. He gradually became convinced that +“white collar reforms” were futile as long as the capitalistic system +prevailed in this country, and presently threw his energy into the +propaganda of labor organization and socialism. + +A leading characteristic as moralist, socialist, and pacifist has +been his truculence in public on behalf of his cause. Mr. A speaks +rapidly, with great fervor and earnestness, and his discourse +is studded with abusive epithets, sarcastic jibes, and cutting +insinuations. He confesses that he has taken an unmistakable pleasure +in “rubbing the fur the wrong way.” He enjoyed nothing better than +accepting invitations to lecture on social and economic subjects +before conservative audiences, and scandalizing them by declaring that +“organized business and organized crime are hard to distinguish from +one another,” “corruption and capitalism are one and inseparable,” and +“capitalism depends on markets, markets ultimately depend on force, and +force means war.” Thus war was the logical result of the capitalistic +system. + +Mr. A prides himself on his ability to cut holes in the logical fabric +spun by conspicuous men. He has engaged prominent preachers of the +gospel in correspondence, arguing that something in their writings +leads logically to the conclusion that any war, not excepting the last +one, is wrong, and that they should confess this openly, declaring +their sorrow for having been infected with un-Christian war-hysteria. + +He believes that right reason is the hope of mankind, and the name of +science is exalted in his mind. He was glad to lay his own life-story +on the altar of science, and in the name of science to endure the +embarrassment of recalling private facts which most of us try to forget. + +Mr. A’s later convictions have been held with enough intensity to +redefine many of his earlier opinions. Thus his pacifism brought him +into sharp opposition to the government, which resented his expression +of the truth as he understood it. Mr. A warmly champions the cause of +the individual against official interference in matters of taste and +conscience, and has modified his early enthusiasm for prohibition. + +Although censorious, accusatory, didactic, and defiant in public +address, he is cordial and winning in those face-to-face situations +where he is unaware of hostility. His eyes twinkle with good humor, +and he is gentle, responsive, and anxious to impress. His speech and +gestures are quick, and his manner is alert and often tense. + +A’s physique inclines toward the asthenic end of a hypothetical +pyknic-asthenic scale, such as Wertheimer and Hesketh have constructed +from Kretschmer’s observations on physical types.[30] He is noticeably +lean, but strikes the impressionistic observer as being toward neither +the tall nor the short end of the scale. The legs are somewhat longer +than the length of the body warrants, and the bony structures of +shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle are prominent. The thin face is rather +delicately molded, and is given added dignity and distinction by a neat +Van Dyke beard. The chest is flat, and the upper ribs fall inward. +His erect carriage seems to be a compensation against a predilection +toward a scholarly stoop. In middle and later middle life he has been +bothered by gastro-intestinal disorders. + +The second son of an impecunious village parson, he grew up in +straitened circumstances with a brother somewhat his senior. The mother +died when A’s youngest sister was born, and the children were cared +for by the father and a succession of elderly housekeepers who left +faint memories behind them. A and his brother went to an old-fashioned +ungraded school, entering at the same time in spite of their disparity +in years, so the younger one would not be left alone in the house. + +From a very early age A had a certain sense of hostility toward his +brother, and a feeling of his own superiority. For a reason that is +not clear, the school children teased his brother as the preacher’s +son, but left him alone. A was more agile than his brother, and climbed +trees and wriggled into tight places with ease. He prided himself in +doing things which his brother hesitated to try, and seems to have awed +him somewhat, for he remembers having heard his brother tell another +schoolboy to let A alone, “because when he gets mad, he can lick me.” + +The older boy was held responsible by the father for pranks which were +really joint enterprises. On one representative occasion, the father +left the house to make a call, ordering the boys to stay indoors. They +decided to go out, and their father, who discovered footprints in the +snow outside the door, gave the older boy a sound whipping, but let A +off scot-free. The younger son was unquestionably the favorite, and his +father would frequently chide the older boy for being a dullard, and +point with pride to the ease with which A could get his lessons. + +Indeed, A got on famously at school. One of his teachers, who chanced +to be a college man, told his father that A was brilliant and +promising. A also remembers a glow of elation when a relative wrote to +say that arrangements must be made for him to have a college education, +since he had shown that he could be a worthy successor to his uncle. +This uncle was a famous professor, who had written well-known +philosophical books, and remained a great hero in the eyes of the +family. + +The father slept in the same bed with his two sons until they were +well along in the teens. For as long as he can remember, A found the +touch of his father very pleasant, though the touch of his brother +was repugnant. A’s strong hostility against his brother, based on +their rivalry for the affections of the father, received a certain +justification in the critical episode which occurred as his older +brother, who matured early, approached puberty and began to have +emissions. The preacher was horrified, for he took this as a sign of +masturbation, and masturbation was sinful and dangerous.[31] When he +thought that A was sound asleep, he would gravely lecture the older +boy on the evil consequences of self-abuse. Sometimes the son would +wake up in the morning and discover that an emission had taken place +during the night. In a hushed and contrite whisper he would say to +his father, “I’ve gone and done it again!” at which the parent would +exclaim reproachfully, “Oh!” The boy was presently taken to a physician +who seems to have modified the excitement of the father and in some +measure to have reassured the son that his manhood was not irreparably +lost. Dark rumors about self-abuse were whispered through the village +from time to time. The neighborhood idiot was supposed to have brought +idiocy upon himself by self-abuse, and a bachelor in the village who +went insane was supposed to have suffered from the same vice. + +A listened to the rumors and to the nocturnal dialogues between his +father and elder brother, and gathered that ominous things were +connected with handling one’s self. He felt ashamed of his brother, who +brought so much suffering on his father, and silently determined never +to be a disappointment to his father. The tag end of a biblical passage +about bringing the gray hairs of his father to the grave in shame +ran through his mind, and he resolved never to repeat his brother’s +weaknesses. + +A’s older brother surprised everybody about this time by suddenly +changing from a phlegmatic lad into a fervent religious enthusiast. He +became converted under dramatic circumstances and joined the church, +thus propitiating the unknown powers which might visit horrible +punishment upon him for his private iniquities. In this he was running +true to the adolescent pattern. Adolescence is notoriously the time +when the temptations of the “flesh” multiply and when many youths, +oppressed by their “animal” impulses, seek to escape from the burden +of guilt by adopting the ceremonial patterns provided in the religious +observances of society. Adolescence is so often a period of high +ideals, which are typically reaction formations to “low desires,” that +adolescence is the happy hunting ground for proselyters of every breed. + +When A’s own emissions began, he was terribly upset by worry and +self-accusation. About fifteen he got an emission after a boy had +fooled with his genitalia, thinking he was asleep. He was taut with +sinful pleasure while the seduction was taking place, which added +to his guilty feelings. This was the time when he, too, exhibited a +fervent interest in the church. He quickly “overcame” masturbation, +but until late in life there was always a “fight” to overcome his +“wayward” impulses and his erotic imaginings. In his dreams he often +saw roosters and hens performing sexual acts in the barnyard of his old +home, and the reappearance of the old scenes is indicative of his early +sexual curiosity. Many more of his dreams used common sexual language. +Sometimes he was making his way across a valley of snakes, or he was +naked and walking toward a goal he could never quite make out. The +nude female figure was usually repressed, though it occasionally came +through. + +He was taken off the farm, on which his father eked out a supplement +to his meager salary, by an aunt, who insisted that the boy must have +better school facilities. This aunt had always taken a great interest +in this promising motherless nephew, and tried to fill his life with +the affection which would have been his had his mother lived. As a +small boy he had often come on short visits to his aunt. He had slept +in the same bed with her, and his lively curiosity about the female +figure was partly satisfied by glimpses of his aunt at the morning +bath. The aunt had a family with all of whose members he was on good +terms, and he was supremely happy to live in town with them. Out on +the farm he had been undernourished, but here he was filled out and +flourished. He took an active part in the church and in the social +activities of the neighborhood. + +The early intellectual promise which A had displayed was no mere flash +in the pan. He was one of the brilliant students in high school, and +passed his college-entrance examinations with such distinction that +he entered college with a mild intellectual halo. He resolved to make +good scholastically, and this he did, finishing the four years at a +first-rate institution at the top of his class. + +As time passed, he began to dissent from many of the dogmas of his +immediate social environment. During high-school days he had been +assigned to act the devil’s advocate and defend the free-trade side +in a tariff debate. The more he read and thought about it, the more +convinced he was that the free-trade position was sound. His relatives +without exception were high-tariff Republicans, and his arguments were +countered with sentimental rather than rational appeals. A’s conversion +to free trade led him to come out for the Democratic candidate for +the presidency. He remembers that the first time he announced this +heresy one of his aunts violently pushed her chair away from the +table, exclaiming in vexed, incredulous, and reproachful tones, “And +to think that my own sister’s son could say such a thing!” His college +course in biology converted him to evolution, and he argued this out +at great length with one of his uncles, who was a traditionally minded +preacher. A began to develop a feeling that intellectual brilliance +meant dissenting from the convictions of middle-class people like his +own relatives. + +So far his nonconformity was strictly confined to a few theories. He +was a member of the prayer-meeting group in college, and his fraternity +consisted mainly of embryo doctors of theology who scrupulously upheld +a rigorous code of personal abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, strong +language, and women. One of the young men who had the temerity to +enter the house with a lighted cigarette had it gently but firmly +removed from his lips. It was in college that A took part in his first +law-enforcement drive. The state prohibition law was poorly observed, +as A had good reason to know, since he had a collection route which +took him to “drug stores” and other equivocal establishments about +town. “Tea” was openly ordered at the bar and drunk on the premises. A +conceived the idea of leaving posters in these places to advertise the +law-enforcement meetings, thus creating something of a stir. + +Just before graduating from college A had a talk with a favorite +professor. The professor asked him what he proposed to do, and was +much interested when A said that he wanted to become a minister. The +professor said that during his own active years in the pulpit, before +he began to teach, he had learned at least one thing. Every man who was +intellectually honest and independent would sooner or later discover +that he questioned his own dogmas, and a period of bitter anguish would +ensue. If a man were intellectually honest, he would never flinch from +the truth, even for the sake of wife and family. But when the period +of doubt arose he advised A not to abandon his work too abruptly. He +had himself lived through six months of torture during which he had +been on the verge of dropping everything and going into business. But +finally he had arrived at a faith which he could defend, and stuck +to it. “I would rather be drawn and quartered than preach anything I +do not believe,” he declared emphatically. This conversation made a +deep impression upon A, leading him to anticipate doubts as a mark of +intellectual keenness and honesty. + +Thus far in his life he had never questioned the tenets of the strict +and simple theology of his immediate surroundings. Indeed, he had never +met anybody who questioned it. Only a single episode had slightly +jarred his complacency and left a tiny scar behind. At one time his +Sunday-school teacher had been a young professor of theology who was +much more liberal than his contemporaries. A boy in the class had dared +to ask something about the authority of the Bible, and the teacher, +without the least trace of embarrassment, had replied that authority +should not rest on blind faith but upon clear reason. “If the Bible +told you to kill your father and your mother, you would not do it. You +would not be bound to do it. The justification of the Bible is that its +teachings prove to be sound in the experience of all reasonable men.” + +In the divinity school the first course which A attended was on the +authority of the Bible. It was taught by a smug and full person of some +eminence. A was accustomed to distinguish himself by bold opinions, +and he undertook to challenge several of the propositions which were +supposed to be accepted and repeated by rote. His main point was +that authority rested on reason, not on faith. For his pains he got +the reputation of being a smart and troublesome upstart of doubtful +orthodoxy. His former Sunday-school teacher was a member of the +faculty, and A wrote a thesis on the authority of the Bible, in which +he elaborated the line of argument which had so much impressed him. +Only the constant intercession of this professor kept A from being +disciplined, or even expelled, at various times. + +The young man was disposed to take rigid theology none too seriously +on account of his increasing disrespect for his father. A and his +brother both felt duty bound to return home every summer to help +with the farm work. Their father was happy enough to have them +rejoin him, but matters never ran smoothly. The father was quick to +reassert his parental authority and to criticize freely. Most of the +unpleasantness was as usual at the expense of the older son, but some +of it was deflected against A. Both sons were uncomfortably aware of +the uncouthness of their father in comparison with city preachers. He +laughed too boisterously at his own stale witticisms. His ever present +dignity was a little ludicrous when he wore an alpaca coat into the +fields on the hottest midsummer day. + +The social life at the divinity school was wholly satisfying. The +students were warmly welcomed by the maidens of the local churches, +and several became engaged. A proposed to two girls during his career +there, and was turned down as often. He very quickly recovered his +good spirits after a night or so of melancholy. The first girl was a +relative whom he had known for many years, and the second was a close +friend of the family. The double defeat was something of a bruise to +his dignity and fed his determination to make a dent on the world. + +A’s first congregation was in one of the poorer quarters of a little +city. A had no doubt of his towering intellectual superiority over his +parishioners, and he found it exasperating when an uneducated housewife +presumed to gossip about the dubious orthodoxy of his beliefs. At the +end of three years he resigned in disgust at the peppering of criticism +directed against his ideas. Looking back at the incident, he feels that +he was too hasty. + +It was at this first charge that A began to make good copy for the +press, and to win a reputation as a sensationalist. He organized a Law +and Order League to harry criminals and the police. His pulpit rang +with stinging philippics against law-breakers and cowardly public +officials. All this gave him a zestful sense of making a stir in the +world of real affairs, so that he turned down an offer to join the +faculty of a famous university where his old Sunday-school teacher was +now located. + +A’s new pastorate was among working people in a large city. He at +once began to hound the officials for non-enforcement of the law. He +led raiding parties to visit the biggest gambling hells and put it +up to the police to shut them. Renewed criticisms began to appear of +his opinions, and the governing body of his denomination asked him to +recant or resign. He refused to budge, and he was soon expelled. He +was immediately called to lecture before an ethical society, where his +comments on current religious and social problems won a wide hearing. +Although attracting much attention, the society was exceedingly poor +and A spent a little legacy which he had received upon it, indifferent +to his own future. + +During these exciting troubles he became a socialist and joined the +socialist party. He had sympathized with the hard lot of the poor +since he could remember, and had cast his vote for Bryan as a symbol +of protest against the indifference of the privileged classes to the +privileges of anyone but themselves. His favorite college professor had +lost his job during the anarchist hysteria, when he came out against +the “judicial murder” of the Haymarket suspects. A was profoundly moved +by the spectacle of a man who backed his precepts of independence +with sacrifice for their sake. The argument which finally won him for +socialism was that political democracy is impossible until economic +democracy is realized, and that socialism is simply democracy in +industry. The principles of democratic brotherhood, once put to +practice in the world of work, would soon govern public relationships +of every kind. + +His new convictions opened to A a new field of agitation and publicity. +Ignoring or overcoming the coolness of certain “horny-handed” elements, +he rushed into the little band of socialists, and was presently the +congressional candidate. In this campaign he conducted a whirlwind tour +of the district and enjoyed himself immensely. + +A finally married a capable, motherly school-teacher whom he had known +for several years, but whom he had been prevented from marrying until +the death of her parents, who heartily disapproved of him. During his +bachelor years in the ministry he had certain knowledge that various +women were far from averse to becoming the preacher’s wife or mistress. +One married woman became the foremost worker in the church and +passionately assured him, “I am at your service day or night.” Another +woman, whom he barely recognized, came to the pastor’s study, declaring +that they must be married at once and “end this awful agony for both +of us.” He had not been aware that any agony had begun, and was in no +mood to begin it. He recognized that a wife would be a protection, but +most of the women who threw themselves in his way were so homely that +abstinence remained a pleasure as well as a principle. + +For many years there had lurked in his mind the fear that he might not +be potent, and he was humiliated to find that he was at first unable to +consummate the sexual act. Since he first attempted sexual intercourse +when nearly fifty, and had practically never masturbated, his troubles +were not atypical, and they fortunately proved to be transitory. He +regretted having failed to consult a physician before marriage, and was +not at ease until the first of his children came. + +Shortly after marrying, A came to the end of his financial resources, +and found it necessary to relinquish his lecturing for other work +until a suitable congregation should requisition his services. When +a call finally came, the war broke out in Europe, and A denounced it +with his customary ardor. He had read a book which popularized Prince +Kropotkin’s thesis that mutual aid and not struggle is the key to +the evolutionary process. War was irrational because it contravened +the principle of mutual aid, and it was un-Christian because it +set the hand of man against his brethren. As the hour of America’s +participation drew nearer, A saw that his outspoken position would +cause trouble. But he was accustomed to take a radical view and stick +to it, and the idea of compromising his independence for the sake +of family obligations was intolerable. His characteristic optimism +also misled him into overestimating the amount of pacifism which his +congregation would put up with, and soon he was forced to resign. + +A was left financially high and dry, and rather hoped that his wife +would be willing to starve with him, if need be, as a gesture of +sanity in a war-mad world. He was left financially dependent upon his +family, and upon such support as was forthcoming from wealthy radical +sympathizers. Since his own professional opportunities were curtailed, +and he never applied for other types of work, he was left dependent +upon others. He was somewhat embarrassed by this, but was never +depressed by it, or by the social ostracism which was entailed by his +unpopular stand. As he once expressed it, “melancholy is alien to a +fighting nature.” + +Looking back over A’s career, certain private motives appear which were +well organized in his early family life, and continued to operate with +considerable strength during his adult years. + +A had a strongly repressed hatred for his brother. He was consciously +aware of his own coldness toward the brother, but succeeded in barring +from consciousness any recognition of the emotional charge on this +attitude. The older boy was his rival for the affection of his father, +and A’s quickness and boldness were cultivated in an effort to outstrip +his brother. He showed many of the traits of the over active younger +child, as Adler has frequently described them. A felt rather ashamed +of his brother, who went through school and college with no special +distinction, and whose modest subsequent career was prosaically +respectable. A struggled to keep hostile thoughts about his brother out +of his mind, and sought to keep his attention away from the brother by +corresponding or visiting with him infrequently. + +Although A never frankly faced his own animosity toward this brother, +he was plagued by a sense of guilt for his unfraternal attitude. +This conflict was partially resolved by a reactive formation and +by displacement. The reactive formation was the reverse of the +anti-brother drive, but it was only supportable by displacing +his affection upon remote social objects. He generalized his own +prohibition against brother-hatred to all society, and identified +himself with the workers and with humanity at large, serving a +poverty-stricken congregation, spending his own money on the work of +the church, adopting the socialist dream of a brotherly state, and +demanding the abolition of fratricidal war. + +His love for the downtrodden and for humanity (this reactive +displacement of his own brother-hostility) was buttressed by the +usual rationalizations. The democratic ideal in politics, the ideal +of effective equality in political power, had his support, and he +adopted socialism when it was presented to him as industrial democracy +(brotherhood), the indispensable antecedent of genuine political +democracy (brotherhood). His early prohibition appeals were cast in the +form of an appeal to the brotherhood sentiments. He argued that every +man was his brother’s keeper, and therefore bound to refrain from an +example which might lead his weaker brother to dash his foot against a +stone. War meant the destruction of mutual (brotherly) aid among those +who were brethren in Christ. A’s brother-hatred, so manifest in his +younger days, and so potent in arousing guilt feelings, created this +disposition to choose generalized brother-substitutes to love, and to +elaborate brotherly ideologies to defend his position. Then by keeping +his distance from the physical brother, he could maintain a comfortable +adjustment. + +Another significant private motive, whose organization dates from early +family days, but whose influence was prominent in adult behavior, was +A’s struggle to maintain his sexual repressions. He erected his very +elaborate personal prohibitions into generalized prohibitions for all +society, and just as he laid down the law against brother-hatred, he +condemned deviations from the rigid puritanical code by which he lived. +Individuals who possess superego structures of such rigor often try to +protect themselves from the strain of sexual excitement by keeping away +from “temptation,” or by removing “temptation” from their environment. +Thus Mr. A avoided exposing himself to “lewd speech” and “immoral +suggestion.” Consciences of such severity can often be traced back +in deeply analyzed cases to unusually strong repressions at the time +when infantile masturbatory activities are being curbed. And it often +happens that the rôle of the intimidator is taken not only by the male +but by the female imago. In another highly moralistic person, who was +thoroughly psychoanalyzed, this came out distinctly. Thus for several +days the subject dreamed of standing before a butcher shop where he +had been sent by his mother, and where he saw his father sharpening +long knives. Or he saw his mother, dressed as Brünnhilde, carrying a +sword, while he cowered on a marble stairway. After many dreams of this +kind, the original situations finally burst into view. They involved +what were interpreted as direct threats to cut off a hand if the child +didn’t cease handling himself. + +That A was never able to abolish his sexuality is sufficiently evident +in his night dreams and daydreams. In spite of his efforts to “fight” +these manifestations of his “antisocial impulses,” they continued +to appear. Among the direct and important consequences which they +produced was a sense of sin, not only a sense of sexual sin, but a +growing conviction of hypocrisy. His “battle” against “evil” impulses +was only partially successful, and this produced a profound feeling of +insecurity. + +This self-punishing strain of insecurity might be alleviated, he found, +by publicly reaffirming the creed of repression, and by distracting +attention to other matters. A’s rapid movements, dogmatic assertions, +and diversified activities were means of escape from this gnawing +sense of incapacity to cope with his own desires and to master +himself. Uncertain of his power to control himself, he was very busy +about controlling others, and engaged in endless committee sessions, +personal conferences, and public meetings for the purpose. He always +managed to submerge himself in a buzzing life of ceaseless activity; +he could never stand privacy and solitude, since it drove him to a +sense of futility; and he couldn’t undertake prolonged and laborious +study, since his feeling of insecurity demanded daily evidence of his +importance in the world. + +A’s sexual drives continued to manifest themselves, and to challenge +his resistances. He was continually alarmed by the lurking fear that +he might be impotent. Although he proposed marriage to two girls when +he was a theology student, it is significant that he chose girls +from his immediate entourage, and effected an almost instantaneous +recovery from his disappointments. This warrants the inference that +he was considerably relieved to postpone the test of his potency, +and this inference is strengthened by the long years during which he +cheerfully acquiesced in the postponement of his marriage to the woman +who finally became his wife. He lived with people who valued sexual +potency, particularly in its conventional and biological demonstration +in marriage and children, and his unmarried state was the object of +good-natured comment. His pastoral duties required him to “make calls” +on the sisters of the church, and in spite of the cheer which he was +sometimes able to bring to the bedridden, there was the faint whisper +of a doubt that this was really a man’s job. And though preaching was a +socially respectable occupation, there was something of the ridiculous +in the fact that one who had experienced very little of life should +pass for a privileged censor of all mankind. + +He had long practice in the art of the impostor. From the plight of +his older brother, A learned that he would lose the affection of his +father if he was discovered to have indulged in certain practices +like masturbation. He resolved never to do anything to cause his +father to withdraw his affection, and when he was not entirely +successful in living up to this ideal, he pretended to virtues which +he did not possess. Never once was he found out, and his life was +the life of a “model” boy and man. This reputation he owed in part +to his abstinences, but likewise to his concealments. He learned to +cultivate the mask of rectitude, and succeeded in carrying off the +rôle so successfully that he was never found out during adolescence or +adulthood. + +Cut off by his impotence fears from loving others fully and completely, +A loved himself the more. He had unbounded confidence in the brilliance +of his mind, and this intellectual arrogance was nourished by the easy +ascendance which he won over the poorly educated people among whom he +worked. He was careful to keep in environments where his mind would +not be put to the test of keen competition. A didn’t compete with the +clergymen who had the largest posts in his denomination, he struck out +for himself in no hazardous business or professional enterprise, he +took up and finished no piece of investigation; instead he cut a big +figure among the workers, among whom he was the best-educated and the +best-known leader. His chances of being elected to Congress when he was +nominated were never good, and he had everything to gain and nothing to +lose by making a campaign. After the days of his scholarly ascendance +in high school and college, A fell out of competition in academic +pursuits. + +He valued his capacity to produce words. Ferenczi remarked in +conversation with me that the revolutionary agitators who had come +to his attention had been noticeably deficient in the intensity of +their emotional attachment to objects. They were notably indifferent +to the accumulation of property, and they were lacking in possessive +jealousy in their sexual life. This deficiency in warmth of affective +experience was sensed by the revolutionaries themselves, who felt +that they were in some way estranged from others. Their orgiastic +indulgence in language is to be interpreted as an effort to heighten +the affective intensity of their own lives. Either because the +emotional life is physiologically defective or because the libido is +too narcissistically fixated, this general description holds true of +some obsessive and many psychotic persons. It was no doubt a factor in +the history of A. + +Before following out the full implications of this struggle of A’s +to repress his sexuality, we will take up another topic of major +and not unrelated importance. I refer to A’s ambivalence toward his +father. A was not conscious of the full force of his hatred and +his love for his father, but his personality history is full of +evidence of the formative influence of these bipolar attitudes. In +the course of his competition with his older brother, A accepted +abstinence from genital indulgence as the price of holding paternal +preference. Now psychoanalytic findings are unanimous in showing that +genital indulgence is not given up without a continuous struggle, +and that recurring waves of sexuality break against the barrier of +the introjected prohibition, and reanimate hostile impulses against +the sanctioning authority. It is of the utmost importance for A’s +development that he fought to bar from consciousness any hostile +thought directed against his father, and that he succeeded in +repressing his father-hatred very deeply. He was able to identify +himself with the father, and to copy many of the paternal standards and +attributes. The strength of these identifications is indicated by the +tenacity with which A held to certain paternal patterns. Although his +much-touted uncle had been a famous writer and professor, A remained a +preacher, even when tempted by a flattering offer to leave his first +humble parish for the faculty of a great university. He cherished the +paternal prejudice against money-making and money-makers. His boyhood +home was where some wealthy people spent their summers, and A’s +father would speak contemptuously of “the fashionables” who loitered +ostentatiously past the house. This was an additional determiner of A’s +subsequent devotion to the welfare of the poor, which manifested itself +in financial sacrifice and socialist agitation. A was very susceptible +to old men, and idealized not only his early teachers, but a venerable +pacifist who approved of his wartime conduct. + +The negative side of A’s attitude toward authority came out in the +choice of the abstract (remote) objects upon which to vent his hatred. +The hostility which was denied conscious recognition and direct +indulgence against the actual father was displaced against substitute +symbols, such as the dogma which required the acceptance of the +Scriptures by faith, of the capitalistic system, and of the militarists. + +When A was introduced to a stranger, he was genial, talkative, and +anxious to impress. When he was aware of opposition in his environment, +he overreacted at once, hurling a vast repertory of jibes and flouts +and sneers at the offender. This gives a clue to an important element +in his makeup which will come out very distinctly in subsequent cases, +namely, a strong latent homosexual trend. When the individual is not +able to achieve full heterosexual adjustment, the sexual libido tends +to work itself out in more primitive ways, and one of the phases of +emotional development is the homosexual epoch. Earlier, however, than +the adolescent homosexual period is the phase connected with the +suppression of auto-erotic activities. The child characteristically +uses its nutritional object (nurse-mother) for the sake of stimulating +his own erogenous zones as much as possible. This “incestuous” drive +is curbed, and the child is denied the pleasure of promiscuously +fingering others, and of manually stimulating his own genitalia. +Though the nurse or mother, who is the target of the desires of the +child, also administers the prohibitions, the sanction which lurks most +prominently in the background is the strength of the father. Reduced +to its ultimate expression, this sanction is the threat of depriving +the child of his much-valued organs unless he observes the “hands off” +prohibition. The “normal” development is for the hostile protest at +authoritarian interference to subside, and for the child to copy the +idealized father. The repression of hostilities and the identification +with the father do not take place instantly. Identification is not +achieved without a phase in which the child plays a femininely passive +rôle toward the father, and this is the passively homosexual reaction +which may for one reason or another be unusually strong. A’s fantasies +of his father’s beautiful skin are common screen fantasies for more +primitive drives. + +A’s tendency to overreact to the stranger who is merely polite, +and to interpret the stranger’s interest as a “personal” one, is +characteristic of the one in whom this passive “winning” rôle is of +some importance. He tries to create an overpersonal relationship +in those somewhat formal situations where ordinary conversational +requirements are such as to force conventional compliments. + +The overreactive hostility toward those who merely differ from him is +partially motivated by the desire to punish those who have rejected +the affection which he all too quickly volunteers. This wound to his +narcissism demands that wounds shall be inflicted on the offending +objects. Now it is commonly observed that repressed drives are likely +to secure partial gratification in the very activities which are in +part a protection against them. Sneers and jibes would at first seem +to free him from those who arouse and reject him, but this is not +the whole result. A exceeded the bounds of convention and became +recklessly provocative. His wild assaults and defiances tended to +provoke the social environment into attacking him, and thus to gratify +two powerful unconscious drives. He wanted to be forced into a passive, +feminine, victimized rôle, and to inflict upon himself the punishment +which he deserved for excessive hatred of others. Thus A felt quite +happy, escaping moods of depression, as long as he was indulging his +hostility against conspicuous conventional authorities in society, and +as long as he was suffering from society’s retaliatory measures. His +romantic idea of starving to death as a gesture of sanity in a war-mad +world is indicative of his pleasure in the “martyr rôle.” + +He could not endure “inharmonious” people, and built up a “soft” and +overindulgent group around him. He had a small group of admirers who +turned to him for advice and who looked up to his superior wisdom +and moral courage. Nothing pained him more than the slightest jar in +personal relations. This disparity between his demands for gentleness +in the primary group, and his genius for creating a disturbance in a +secondary group, suggests the tension produced within his personality +by the struggle with the feminine component. He was careful to keep +away from close-working subordination to a powerful personality. He +stayed in environments where his authority was unchallenged. In the +church he was both a financial pillar and the pastor, and among the +socialists he was sustained by the halo of moral and cultural prestige. + +It is noteworthy that though A was venomous when publicly opposed, +he was capable of a wooing and persuasive strain which he could +effectively use in his proselyting work. His humor was of the +mock-modesty variety, and relieved the moral earnestness of his +discourses. A showed much tenacity and skill in following people whom +he once loved and respected, and in attempting to convert them to a +community of views with him. He displayed a strong impulse to enter +into and to cultivate personal interchanges by correspondence. + +That A found the task of asserting himself in the world rather arduous +is suggested by the desire for dependence upon women. He entered +into a whole series of “platonic” friendships (“platonic” in the +popular and not in the correct use of the word) with women, and he +accepted economic support from his wife for several years. He was very +“sensitive,” and required a great deal of coddling in the home. + +There are indications of the way in which his very early experiences +influenced his trait formation. The infant takes pleasure in activities +centering about the mouth, and this at first involves pleasurable +sucking and later on, as the teeth begin to push through, this involves +pleasurable biting. In our culture this leads to a withdrawal of the +nipple, precipitating one of the major crises of growth. Weaning is the +first substantial loss which is inflicted upon the individual after +birth, and the way in which it is met establishes reaction patterns +which may serve as important prototypes for subsequent behavior. About +the time that the weaning deprivation occurs, the child is exposed to +another set of conditions which demand sacrifice. He is supposed to +control the elimination of his feces by giving up a part of his body +at regular intervals. The growing child is also supposed to sacrifice +another source of irresponsible pleasure by blocking his impulses to +handle his genitalia. When the taboo on handling the genital organs +for erotic purposes is set up with particular stringency by the +methods adopted to curb early masturbation, some of the energy of the +personality regresses to reanimate previous auto-erotic dispositions. +This involves strengthening of the anal and oral components of the +personality. + +On the basis of the oral and anal origin of various traits, Karl +Abraham has worked out a psychoanalytic theory of character +formation.[32] The material which is available on A is too scanty to +reveal the psychological mechanisms of infancy and early childhood. +If a cross-section of his later character traits be tentatively +interpreted in the light of Abraham’s scheme, it may be said to show a +predominance of traits from the oral phase of development. A striking +characteristic of A has always been his optimism. He has never become +despondent and passed through serious “blue spells,” whether he lost +his job, reached the end of his financial resources, lost a bride, or +suffered social ostracism from all but a small though admiring circle. +Disappointments and some illness have brought him comparatively little +worry. Abraham traces this trait to the earliest level of character +organization, saying that it indicates a child who, thanks to the +abundance of nursing care, is accustomed to find the world responding +copiously and quickly to his demands. A always felt an inner assurance +that he would be cared for, and that all would come out for the best in +the end “to those who serve the Lord, and are called according to his +purpose.” He accepted a position of economic dependence upon his wife, +and upon the charity of radical ladies, without conflict. His nurse +was still there to provide for him. A never showed any interest in +accumulating money, and generously shared all that he possessed. His +small legacy was eaten up by the society over which he presided, and he +was always on the poverty line. + +He not only gave bountifully of such money as he possessed, but +copiously of his ideas. Automatically he took the lead in conversation, +genially pouring forth streams of ideas. The savagery of his attack +on those who disagreed with him, though an oral trait in part, stems, +according to Abraham, not from the sucking phase of early development, +but from the next succeeding or oral-sadistic phase. + +Those individuals who have difficulty in accepting their +heterosexuality are cut off from normal sex life, and seek to emphasize +the acts preparatory to, and not consummatory of, copulation. An +interest in sexual peeping was in some measure gratified by A’s +experiences in listening to the personal difficulties of those who +came to him for counsel. The high value which he placed on appearing +before the public, while perhaps adequately accounted for on the basis +of his father-identification, probably had the additional advantage +of gratifying his exhibitionistic drive. Since drink is in legend and +life a frequent precursor of copulation, the reformer exaggerates its +importance, and tries to stop it. Alcohol was early associated with +sexual excesses in the mind of A, and his hostility to it was something +more than a simple reflection of his milieu.[33] + +A’s intensity of manner betrayed the magnitude of the neurotic +conflicts within his own personality. This intensity is not alone +due to the insecurity arising from the failure to exterminate his +own conscious awareness of sex, nor to his sense of sin for erotic +impulses, nor to his fears of impotence, nor to the reaction organized +when he was competing with his brother for the attention of the father. +His sexual inhibitions removed from him one of the most dependable +means of disposing of the tensions which arise from the miscellaneous +frustrations met with in the course of daily life.[34] + +We have traced A’s demand for widespread emotional response to his +difficulties of personal adjustment, especially in the field of early +sexual development. We have followed through the displacement of the +drives, which were originally organized with reference to the family +circle, on to remote social objects, resulting in the espousal of +ideals of social change. We have seen that A’s particular technique for +arousing emotional response was denunciatory oratory, and that such a +technique expressed important underlying drives of his personality. +Since A happened to be a socialist, it is natural to compare him +with the socialist thinkers studied by Werner Sombart in _Der +proletarische Sozialismus_. There is no doubt that A is numbered among +the “artificial” rather than the “natural” men, since his relation to +reality is less direct than with the “natural” type. But it cannot be +said that social criticism was as deeply motivated in his life as among +the men mentioned by Sombart. He expressed himself not only in radical +agitation but in conservative, moralistic agitation. His career was +not wrecked at any particular point in his history, and he possessed +no mania for destruction, although showing much resentment against his +family, and indulging in an active fantasy life. He was fundamentally +an agitator, and secondarily a social radical. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +POLITICAL AGITATORS--_Continued_ + + +B is an agitator who uses his pen instead of his tongue. He has +achieved eminence in newspaper work, beginning as a news editor and +editorial writer. At twenty, when he held his first newspaper job, B +led a fight against the red-light district of the city, exposing the +pimps, panderers, and prostitutes in sensational style. He has always +responded quickly to the appeal of the underdog and revealed injustices +wherever he found them, and he won great popularity among minority +racial and national groups whose claims he championed before the +American public. It is noteworthy that B has never been converted to +“isms” and responds to the call of specific abuses. No one who knows B +has ever questioned his sincerity, for the news value of his campaigns +is often much less than the personal risks incurred. + +B has a high reputation for absolute truthfulness and reliability, +often carrying his scruples to what his fellow-newspapermen think are +unwarranted extremes. On one occasion, he threw up an excellent job on +a very well-known newspaper on a point of honor. The paper had divulged +the source of a story which he had received in confidence, and which +he communicated to the editor in confidence. Later he was made the +editor of an important newspaper. For five months he produced brilliant +results, when a misunderstanding arose with the proprietor over another +point of honor. In a despondent moment he resigned, but the proprietor +refused to let him leave, offering a substantial raise. He let himself +be persuaded to go back, but refused to accept the raise. Before long, +new points of honor arose, and he broke away for good. His passion for +justice made him a favorite with his staff; and his quiet good sense +and studiousness made him a name among older men and intellectuals. + +Some of his reforming campaigns were very thinly veiled displacements +of his own private motives. At the age of fourteen he was seduced by +a colored woman, and he reacted to this experience with fright and +disgust. He left a school which he attended after a series of boyish +escapades which culminated in an argument over missing laundry. The +laundryman was a negro. It was on his first newspaper job that he led +the fight to clean up a red-light district, featuring the fact that +both colored and white prostitutes were available. + +B was one of the numerous family of a Civil War veteran on the +Confederate side. His father carried himself like a soldier and +expected his children to act like soldiers under all circumstances. He +was spare, thin, and active, and his temper was short. He was boss in +the house, ordering his wife about a great deal, and demanding implicit +obedience from the children. + +The mother of B was eleven years younger than her husband. She had +ten children in quick succession, and she spoiled them, and was +much beloved. She did all the cooking, washing, and ironing for the +household, and slaved to allow the children to obtain an education. +Everybody but her husband thought she worked too hard. She was herself +eager for learning, but had no opportunity to continue her studies +after marriage. Although poor, she was proud, and never asked alms or +assistance of any kind. Though “obstinate as a mule,” she was timid +and shrinking in ordinary relations. Her routine was only broken by +occasional headaches. + +The father was a very suspicious man, and B bore the brunt of it. B was +the sixth child and from an early age had trouble with his next older +brother, who was three years his senior. On one memorable occasion the +elder brother attacked him with a knife. B was able to take the knife +away from him without being hurt. The affair was reported to the father +by an aunt who was living in the house, and who always sided with the +older boy. She said that B had been the aggressor, and in spite of his +indignant assertions of innocence, B was soundly whipped. Such episodes +aroused in him a deep protest against injustice, and an abiding +hostility against his father. Years afterward the truth came out, and +the father apologized, but animosities had grown too formidable to be +ceremoniously brushed aside. B cherished a long list of grievances +against his father. Once his father asked him to print some letters; he +presently found that this was for the purpose of comparing them with an +inscription on the lavatory wall. + +Genital activities had their usual connotation of sinfulness. His +father went so far with his prudery that B, who was once discovered +naked in his own room, where he was slowly dressing, was severely +reprimanded. Shortly after being seduced by the negro woman, his +sense of guilt, combined with his ever present resentment against his +father’s unjust treatment, led him to run away from home. After staying +away from home and working his way through school for about a year +and a half, he returned home and went to work in the neighborhood, +attracted chiefly by the prospect of being back with his mother. + +It is noteworthy that in his career B was constantly finding pretexts +to escape from a situation in which he was popular and successful. +Salary increases, promotions, and social recognition came to him, but +he managed to extricate himself from every such situation, often on a +“point of honor.” An excellent journalist, he always had a new door +open. Thus he passed from one editorial desk to another, and even to +a private news-service venture which turned out well in spite of the +heavy handicaps on such an undertaking. + +How can such behavior be accounted for? Let us suppose that friendly +treatment on the part of superiors tends to activate a strong +homosexual drive which has been repressed, but which continues to +threaten to find expression. This unconscious drive urges him to +intimacy with persons in the environment, whereupon his conscience, +reacting blindly against the outlaw impulse, seeks to provoke a flight +from the environment, and thus to escape from the exciting objects of +desire. The outcome is a compromise formation in which the illicit +hope of being attacked and violated by the environment is gratified +by imagining that the environment has compromised his “honor.” The +conscience is gratified by the retreat from temptation. No sooner is +B in a new environment than the tension begins to accumulate all over +again. By throwing himself with zeal into a new and strange position, +where the environment is impersonal, success comes, and with success +and habituation to the milieu, there come familiarity and friendship. +This produces the familiar strain by reactivating the unconscious +homosexuality, and the defending conscience finds another retreat +imperative. + +What specific justification is there for the hypothesis just proposed? +B finally came into a situation from which he could scarcely escape +by the usual tactics. He scored one of the great successes of his +career by being invited to accompany a government commission which +investigated conditions abroad, and covered the assignment in brilliant +style. He was shown all manner of courtesy. Working under high +pressure, he plunged into another assignment, and once more had the +journalistic world at his feet. But the strain of success was too much. +This time he sought release, not by flight to a new job, which was +difficult, but by developing a delusional system. In short, B went into +a psychotic phase, and substituted for the world of reality a fantasy +world of such sinister dimensions that he was justified in trying to +escape from it. Unable to concentrate on his work, he moved restlessly +from one town to another, and launched forth on long automobile tours +with his wife. + +The actual content of his delusional productions gives a clue to his +mental conflict. He had ideas of reference, imagining that people on +the street were looking at him mysteriously. He claimed that he was a +party to the Teapot Dome scandal and that there was a dictaphone in +the house. On the way to be examined at a sanitarium he claimed that +he was being trailed by policemen. Upon admission he claimed that the +orderlies were policemen, that he was being electrocuted, that his bed +was wired to record all his movements, and that filthy songs were sung +to him (with homosexual content). Discharged from the sanitarium, he +was taken to a family reunion. He claimed to be treated as a negro, +and declined to eat with family or sleep in the house. B claimed that +a forest fire was caused by him and that books in the library were +re-written on his account. On a motor trip he claimed that insulting +remarks were made to him at every gas station. He turned against his +wife (he had been sexually inactive in marriage), and finally called +her a snake who ought to be killed, and proceeded to try it. + +During the course of his psychosis it emerged that he recalls a sexual +seduction by his older brother, and that he had been bothered by +this fancy all his life. There was material to show that his father +was likewise implicated in his homosexual fantasies, and that he had +“eroticized” the injustices of his father and the physical attacks of +his brother.[35] + +The history of B belongs to a borderline group between agitators +and administrators. His administrative ability is manifest in the +managing editorships which he held, and in the special service which +he organized and for a time conducted. His rôle as an agitator (in +writing) began when he was twenty, and continued for more than another +score of years. When this record is taken in juxtaposition to that +of A, it shows how differences in displacement affect the growth +of the personality. B was never able to displace his hatred and +affections to remote, impersonal objects with the degree of success +which characterized A. The campaigns of B against injustice were more +concrete, more limited, and more personal than the agitations of A. It +will be remembered that B’s first crusade was against black-and-tan +houses of prostitution, and this was in the nature of a revenge and +a penance for his early experience with the colored woman. B was +raised in a relatively inarticulate environment. His father made no +public appearances, no member of the family achieved more than a +rudimentary education, and no conversation was possible beyond the +visible environment. Since B went to work at sixteen, he saw the +world more from a concrete point of view while A was peering at the +universe through the theoretical lenses of the schools. His history +shows prolonged preoccupation with his own specific grievances against +the original objects--against the father, brother, and aunt. This was +a factor which disposed him to greater susceptibility to persons in +the immediate environment than A. Although driven to become a rather +seclusive child who read books more often than he played, no one +took a special interest in his intellectual prospects. His maternal +grandfather was said to have been a brilliant teacher, but not much was +made of this model when B was a boy.[36] + +Unlike A, B lacked the trick of dramatizing himself before a crowd. +Inspection of his early history in the home shows that he lacked the +practice in imposture which may be a prerequisite of this ability. +B was never able to carry off a pose to impress his family with his +own virtue and promise. Indeed, he had very early evidence of his +own shortcomings, and his father not only accused him of sins he did +commit, but padded the record with many that he had not contemplated. B +was never able to get away with much. + +The foregoing excerpts from the history of B illustrate how closely the +behavior of the victim of a functional disorder may connect with the +fundamental drives of the personality. Functional mental disorders are +efforts at adjustment that fail, and the materials employed are those +which the personality has available on the basis of its developmental +history. + +In the paranoid case just discussed, “grandiosity”--delusions of +grandeur--was not as prominent as it often is. Grandiose delusions +seem to be linked with very strong impotence fears. This connection +may be shown in gross clinical caricature in the case of C. This man +belongs to the well-known group of verbose cranks who often surround +themselves with admiring circles of disciples, and do nobody much +harm. C went so far as to run for president of the United States on a +minority ticket. + +C came into medical hands quite by accident. He belongs to a very +common type which preserves the personality sufficiently intact from +deterioration to pass for well, though eccentric. C got into a dispute +with a colored expressman over the charge for moving his goods to a new +apartment, and the expressman called the police, who presently turned +C over to a hospital. C imagined that the negro was plotting to ruin +him by stealing his most valuable books and manuscripts. He announced +that he was going to be the next president of the United States of +America, since the reign of the present incumbent was to be short, and +damned short at that. On the next inauguration day he will take charge +by divine power, and after that his red-headed wife will be given full +authority. He said that during the last presidential campaign he had +a conference with the governor of New York concerning the leadership +of American parties. At that time the governor told him that he was a +wonderful man and a logical party leader. He declared that though as a +rule he does not believe in prophets, one absolutely reliable prophet +had testified that he would be president. This man had a vision in +which a wedge was drawn between the Democrat and Republican parties, +and an unknown man arose who was to rule the world. This man would have +six letters in his name. He is “Six and Six,” and this exactly fits C. +C’s real name is “Arabulah the Divine Guest.” Using this name, he wrote +a nine-thousand-word treatise on politics and world-peace which he +said was thought to be supernaturally brilliant. + +He was sure that he got into the hospital through a damnable trick of +his enemies. “It is prophesied that I am to be the next president. To +defeat this, they put me here. I’m just a martyr, but I’ll come out on +top in the end.” He would be president in fulfilment of prophecy. + +C more than hinted at the scientific secrets at his command. He had +recently consulted Dr. A of the government about his process for the +manufacture of diamonds. More pressure was all that was needed. He +declared that he is a wonderful amateur chemist, and that he has a +process for manufacturing coal that he learned confidentially from a +shoemaker. + +When a young man he was appointed a clerk in one of the government +departments, but was thrown out of a job when the Democrats were +elected in the late eighties. He then became what he called a promoter +of inventions and an inventor. + +A clue to the source of his delusional system is furnished by his +sexual history and fantasies. At the age of fifty-nine he married a +widow with two children. He describes his wife as of surpassing beauty, +and as for himself, he declared that he possessed three testicles, and +that he is a perfect specimen of a man, a most beautiful Apollo from +the neck down, and asked to pose as a model. He refused, however, to be +photographed, or to disclose anything further about his sexual history. + +Impotence fear as the root of the luxurious tree of grandiose delusions +is sometimes directly demonstrated by the obvious nature of the +invention on which the individual is engaged. The mysterious perpetual +motion machine turns out to be a crude version of the sexual organs.[37] + +Shortly after C left the hospital, he was busy on the stump, haranguing +large audiences as a presidential candidate on a protest ticket. + +C would not be taken seriously by many people of much culture and +discernment, but there are paranoid types who are plausible enough in +their accusations to win the support of discriminating men. Many of +them are “litigious paranoids,” and, as implied by the term, they are +characterized by the legal and agitational means which they exploit +for the redress of grievances. They succeed in rationalizing their +motives so adroitly that they are very dangerous troublemakers. Even +when psychiatrists diagnose them as psychotic, they are able to put +up a front so successfully that they are often released from custody +by judge or jury. Were the data available it would be interesting to +calculate how much this active and by no means uncommon element in +society costs in terms of litigation fees and damaged reputations. + +One of the smoothest customers of this description is D. After leaving +high school because of his ambition to earn money, he presently +became a traveling salesman for an electrical company. He was very +successful and soon accumulated enough to start himself in business, +aided somewhat by the money of the woman whom he married. From the +beginning he was involved in numerous lawsuits with big corporations. +He was finally sent to the penitentiary for having assumed the name of +another company which was already operating. Since the address of the +new company, as well as the name, was so similar to that of the older +concern, he received mail and checks intended for the corporation. His +own story is that he was persecuted by a certain big corporation, which +tried consistently to ruin his business, even poisoning the mind of +his wife against him (who soon divorced D). Whenever a suit was being +tried against him, he claims always to have found a representative +of the big corporation in town. These ideas of persecution extended +through the trial, which he asserts was unfairly conducted, and to the +penitentiary, where he claimed that officials were in league with the +corporation to keep him imprisoned. His conduct was such that he was +finally transferred from the prison to a mental hospital, where his +attitude was that of contemptuous superiority. He collected evidence +against the hospital, listening to all who complained of any sort of +cruelty and incompetence, and constantly occupied himself with schemes +to release prisoners and expose his persecutors. + +D has an impressive, deliberate manner. There are no marks of the +maniac about him to fit into the popular idea of a “crazy man.” +In conversation with strangers he puts his own case, and the +case of others, with seeming moderation, emphasizing the obvious +difficulties in the way of collecting conclusive evidence, and showing +scrupulousness about affidavits and other documentary material. He has +succeeded in establishing connections with prominent people in many +walks of life, and is devoting himself to the cause of the underdog, +with special reference to those unfortunates who are thrown into insane +asylums and kept there by enemies who league themselves with doctors +and superintendents. + +He is associated with groups of people who band together in little +agitational organizations with such unexceptionable names as +Vigilantes of the Constitution, Foundation for Legal and Human Rights, +American Equity Association. Their indictment of modern jurisprudence +is pithily formulated in the slogan, “One Law for the Rich--Another Law +for the Poor.” The object of one of these associations is: + + To secure to all persons the rights, privileges, and immunities + which are theirs under the Constitution and laws of the United + States, and to which they are justly entitled as members of the + human family.... Those aided are: worthy cases unable to hire legal + counsel; victims of corrupt practices; friendless and unfortunates + restrained in Institutions, who require assistance; ex-service men + who have not been able to have legitimate claims considered, etc., + etc. + +One of the cases which is often referred to in the papers published +by this group is that of William J. O’Brien. The headline of one +article reads as follows: “Poor Private Wm. J. O’Brien, Sane +Veteran of the Apache Indian Campaign, Railroaded to the Madhouse. +Denied Justice--Denied His Day in Court--No Trial--No Lunacy +Proceedings--Illegally Held 34 Years....” In the body of the article +this statement occurs: “Mr. O’Brien indulged in some disorderly +conduct in the office of the War Department. He was immediately +arrested, charged with assault which he did not commit, and brought +into the Supreme Court.” I examined the record of the O’Brien case and +found that “some disorderly conduct” consisted in visiting the War +Department, shooting two clerks, and trying to shoot some more before +his gun jammed. + +The inference should not, of course, be hastily drawn that all the +claims made by agitators, even of the psychotic stamp, are pure +fabrications. That is to be determined in the individual instance. Thus +the slogan about “One Law for the Rich--Another Law for the Poor” has +very reputable support in the findings of such surveys of criminal +justice as the one at Cleveland, in which Dean Pound of Harvard had +a responsible share. But in the case of the litigious paranoids +the underlying private motivation is so imperious that wholesale +distortions of truth are inevitable. Sometimes reckless accusations +bring cruel results, as when another psychotic, E, claimed that a +certain Captain K was shot in the back while circling over a flying +field. This fabrication got to the family of the soldier, who had been +informed that the Captain had been killed in an aeroplane accident, and +caused much unnecessary suffering. + +The history of F affords some contrasts to what has gone before. F took +up agitation in middle life. It will be remembered that A directed much +of his agitational zeal against culture objects which were sanctioned +by his family and the “substantial” elements in the nation. F was the +reverse of a nonconformist. He was no pacifist, but a soldier-patriot. +The enemies of his country were his enemies, and he denounced them +up and down the land. The authority of revealed religion was not a +debatable question; the enemies of Christianity were his enemies and he +went on the platform to expose them. + +Several of his patriotic and religious lectures became famous among +the smaller communities of the land. He told the story of a renegade +who impersonated Christ for the purpose of collecting funds to +start an insurrection against the American government in one of our +dependencies. He gave a thrilling account of how he sought out and +apprehended this monster. A Y.M.C.A. worker, in a testimonial letter, +declared, “Every man sat spellbound as the speaker bared the facts in +the most sacrilegious undertaking of modern times to thwart the plans +of the American government.” + +F was a moving spirit in the opposition to the Covenant of the League +of Nations because the name of God was not mentioned in it. His +argument on the point is said to have impressed President Harding. One +of F’s public pronouncements on the subject read as follows: + + There might be no trespass in an “Association of Nations for + Conference” coming together if they did nothing but _confer_, and + did no acting or legislating whatever, _if_ they beforehand and by + common consent did the following before the whole world: + + 1st, Acknowledge Almighty God before the world, with a promise to + serve _Him!_ + + 2nd, Acknowledge allegiance to God’s Peace Plan--the Kingdom of the + Prince of Peace--for world peace, which the Bible provides for! + + 3rd, Ignore all man-made plans for peace, such as World + Federations, Hague Tribunals, World Leagues, World Courts and + all forms of _Human_ world-governments, which the Bible provides + against! + + 4th, Refrain absolutely from everything that has the slightest + tinge of world-alliance, world-control, or world-domination + influence or world concert of civil action, the human + instrumentalities that Holy Writ severely prohibits. + + 5th, Especially for the United States. Refrain absolutely from + everything that contravenes our U. S. Constitution and the + Declaration of Independence! (And every nation should alike protect + their Constitution!) + + When thru centuries of trial the world failed to keep _the + Covenant_ written at Sinai by the Hand of Almighty God Himself and + _He_ promised that _He_ would give the world “A New Covenant” for + peace, which _He_ did, then how can the world, except anything + whatsoever from _The League of Nation’s Covenant_ written at Paris + by the mortal hands of just mere men like Wilson, Lloyd George, + Clemenceau & Co.? + +After serving in the army as a young man, F joined the secret service, +and spent several years in pursuit of the enemies of law and order. +His record was excellent, and when the World War came he was put +in charge of secret military police. He became overzealous in the +performance of his duties, spending an altogether disproportionate +amount of time investigating two Mennonite ministers who were alleged +to have letters in their possession written in German criticizing the +Liberty Loan. He claimed to have found ground glass in the bread served +to men in camp. When the laboratory did not confirm his findings, he +said that he mixed ground glass with flour and submitted a sample to +the laboratory, which reported no ground glass, thus confirming his +suspicions that the laboratory staff was composed of aliens--a German, +an Austrian, and a Turk. He began to make direct accusations that some +of the camp officers were in league with the enemy. One of them he +accused of using a German private in his office for translation work, +and intrusting him with a key to the iron safe where the United States +secret codes were kept. Presently F was referred to a psychiatrist +for examination, to whom he complained that he was the victim of a +persecution by a little clique of officers. He managed to publish an +interview in the press asserting that ground glass in the food had +made fifty men ill at a certain training camp, and this led to much +unnecessary anxiety among the folks at home. + +F’s anxiety to “do his bit” in the suspicion-ladened atmosphere which +surrounded America’s entry into the war led his suspicious nature to +overdo the matter. When some of his efforts were blocked by fellow +officers, he began to develop persecutory ideas. But he was soon able +to dispense with them by reinforcing his identification with the +interests of the nation and God, and displacing his suspicions upon +more generalized foes. When his secret-service work was blocked, he +was able to make a transition to agitation, where he balanced the +lost gratification of cherishing secret knowledge with the pleasure +of exhibiting it in public. The record does not contain enough early +childhood material to justify one in venturing to select the determiner +of his capacity to make such an adjustment. The history simply +furnishes a striking example of how a flight into agitation may perform +the function of keeping the personality in some sort of passable +relation to reality, when it has met a serious setback. It gives +another instance to the sum of those which show the difficulties which +may be created in society by those whose personality is influenced by +strong paranoidal trends. + +The histories so far abstracted have had to do with male agitators +of various kinds. Miss G, when thirty-five years of age, came to the +physician complaining that she was constantly bothered by blushing, +stage fright, uncertainty, palpitations of the heart, and weeping +spells. She is known to be forceful, ambitious, and aggressive. Her +contentiousness is notorious. She is active in the support of all +kinds of measures, particularly for the emancipation of women from the +domination of men. She rose to her present distinction from a very +humble position as a handworker, and she champions the radical cause. + +An early reminiscence was recovered during analysis which had been +completely buried before. Sometime between the ages of five and +three she had been asked by a nurse to touch her nurse’s genitals, +and threatened with dire things if she told. When she was in bed +with her mother, she had to fight against a powerful compulsion to +touch her mother’s genitalia. This early assumption of the male rôle +was strengthened by her father-identification. In the analysis she +reported that she and her father possessed many common traits, such as +stubbornness. As sometimes happens with children showing traits of the +opposite sex, their brothers or sisters reveal cross-traits. Thus her +younger brother cooked and sewed. Her father took her side in family +altercations with the mother (the father was an artist). The mother was +religious, and on the death of her mother the patient was religious +for six months from a sense of possible guilt for having precipitated +her death. Everybody said that she ought to have been a boy since +she showed so much physical dash and hardihood. Between six and ten +she often stole money from her parents, and was caught reading other +people’s letters. + +As a child she suffered seriously from vague worries. At the age of +seventeen she was unable to read her own compositions before the class. +She talked rather badly in groups and before strangers, but was very +effective in face-to-face conversations. In public she spoke best when +attacked. She had a constant fear of being subordinated to a man, and +was constantly on the alert to assert herself. She had a horror of +marriage, which she thought of as gross subordination to the crude +physical desires of men. One budding love affair broke up when the man +went insane and died. + +For a long time she longed to have a child, but only one child. She +wished that there were some other means of impregnation than by using +a man, but finally decided to bend to the inevitable. Several years +before analysis she looked around to select a man to be the father +of her child. It was a year after she became acquainted with the man +before she could bring herself to coitus, and she felt befouled. After +the birth of the child she became utterly indifferent to the man, and +broke off their relationship. She was, of course, sexually frigid. + +What is the meaning of this demand for a child, and for but a single +child? It was essentially a subconscious demand for the penis to +finish her assumption of the male rôle. The psychoanalytical study +of the growth of the female personality stresses the importance +which this motive assumes.[38] Gregory Zilboorg has analyzed certain +post-pregnancy psychoses from this point of view, and in so doing has +thoroughly surveyed the theoretical field.[39] + +Castration dreams appeared in the guise of losing muffs and keys. +Homosexual dreams took the usual shape of a nude homosexual figure. +Horrified by dreams of sexual intercourse with her father, she began +the analytical process. Her narcissism expressed itself in both simple +and disguised form. She dreamed of being the mayor and of humiliating +men in all manner of ways. She dreamed of influencing the whole world +(telepathic dreams). Incidentally, she credits dreams with some +prophetic significance. Once she dreamed of a clay field over which she +was passing which changed to plowed land, signifying work, and, sure +enough, she found a job the next day. Another time she was crossing a +brook and saw an ugly body in the stream, and developed laryngitis the +next day. + +The narcissistic component was strong. She felt the universal rule +of the analytical situation to say everything that crosses the mind +to be a personal command from the doctor. She bitterly resented this +subordination to a man, and finally broke off the analysis. She showed +a record of having been quite rebellious against those in authority +over her--shop foremen and party leaders. + +Miss G had an enormous masculine complex. She chose masculine goals, +and ruled out the female rôle as far as she could. Her narcissism +brought her from obscurity to distinction, though at the cost of +several neurotic difficulties in which her repressed drives found +crippling expression. She swings between vanity and inferiority +feelings. She blushes when praised, she blushes in public because of +the dependence of her sex on men, and she is timid in the presence of +academic people. She always feels ill at ease with strangers, and lives +in isolation from society. + +In theory and in practice Miss G is for free love, and for the complete +equality of the sexes. She sought out politics as a career as a means +of expressing the male rôle of dominance, a drive which was powerfully +organized in her early childhood experiences.[40] + +What has been said about the agitator may be brought together at this +point in a provisional summary. Our general theory of the political man +stressed three terms, the private motives, their displacement on to +public objects, and their rationalization in terms of public interests. +The agitator values mass-responses. Broadly speaking, this requires an +extension of the theory to make it possible to divide politicians among +themselves according to the means which they value in expressing the +drives of their personalities. Now what is there about the agitator’s +developmental history which predisposes him to work out his affects +toward social objects by seeking to arouse the public directly? +Why, to state it another way, is he the slave of the sentiments of +the community at large? Why is he not able to work quietly without +regard to the shifts of mood which distinguish the fickle masses? +Why is he not able to cultivate interests in the manipulation of +objective materials, in the achievement of aesthetic patterns, or in +the technical development of abstractions? Why is he not principally +concerned with the emotional responses of a single person, or a few +persons in his intimate circle? Why is he not willing to wait for +belated recognition by the many or by the specialized and competent few? + +Agitators as a class are strongly narcissistic types. Narcissism +is encouraged by obstacles in the early love relationships, or by +overindulgence and admiration in the family circle. Libido which is +blocked in moving outward toward objects settles back upon the self. +Sexual objects like the self are preferred, and a strong homosexual +component is thus characteristic. Among the agitators this yearning for +emotional response of the homosexual kind is displaced upon generalized +objects, and high value is placed on arousing emotional responses +from the community at large. The tremendous urge for expression in +written or spoken language is a roundabout method of gratifying +these underlying emotional drives. Agitators show many traits which +are characteristic of primitive narcissism in the exaggerated value +which they put on the efficacy of formulas and gestures in producing +results in the world of objective reality. The family history shows +much repression of the direct manifestation of hatred. There is +often a record of a “model boy” during the early years, or of a shy +and sensitive child who swallowed his resentments. Repressed sadism +is partly vented upon objects remote from the immediately given +environment, and favors the cultivation of general social interests. +The youth has usually learned to control by suppression and by +repression the full amplitude of his affects, and this is a discipline +in deceit. The narcissistic reactions prevent the developing individual +from entering into full and warm emotional relationships during +his puberty period, and sexual adjustments show varying degrees of +frigidity or impotence, and other forms of maladjustment.[41] Speaking +in terms of early growth phases, the agitators as a group show marked +predominance of oral traits. + +Distinctions within the agitating class itself may be drawn along +several lines. The oratorical agitator, in contradistinction to the +publicist, seems to show a long history of successful impostorship +in dealing with his environment. Mr. A, it will be recalled, was +able to pass for a model, and became skilled in the arts of putting +up a virtuous front. Agitators differ appreciably in the specificity +or the generality of the social objects upon which they succeed in +displacing their affects. Those who have been consciously attached to +their parents, and who have been successful impostors, are disposed to +choose remote and general objects. Those who have been conscious of +suppressing serious grievances against the early intimate circle, and +who have been unable to carry off the impostor’s rôle, are inclined to +pick more immediate and personal substitutes. The rational structure +tends toward theoretical completeness in the former case. Displacement +choices depend on the models available when the early identifications +are made. When the homosexual attitude is particularly important, +the assaultive, provocative relation to the environment is likely to +display itself; when the impotence fear is active, grandiose reaction +patterns appear more prominently. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +POLITICAL ADMINISTRATORS + + +Some administrators are full of ideas and others are seldom attracted +by novelty. Some do their best work under a rather indulgent chief; +others fall to pieces unless there is strong pressure from above. +There are administrators who derive their influence over subordinates +from the authority of their positions rather than from the authority +of their personalities. There are some who may be depended upon for +the conscientious performance of detailed tasks, while others neglect +details and think in terms of general policy. + +Viewed developmentally, it appears that one group of administrators is +remarkably akin to the agitators, differing only in the fact that they +are bound to particular individuals more closely, and thus displace +their affects upon less generalized objects. This gives a certain +independence to the administrator from the compulsion to “get a rise +out of” large numbers of the population. It ties him more securely, +however, to the members of his own environment, whose relations he +seeks to co-ordinate. The administrator is a co-ordinator of effort in +continuing activity. + +The group which is allied to the agitators includes those who show +imagination and promoting drive. The history of H belongs in this +class, and has the incidental interest of showing how H behaved in war +time. + +While it is accurate to say that H is diplomatic and seemingly open +and frank in dealing with his superiors, it should be added that +in situations which involve the fate of his own projects, he is +noticeably overtense, and likely to evaluate himself much higher than +others. He becomes slightly accusatory if his demands are rejected. The +elderly executive with whom H did his best work sometimes complained +that a conference with H was as fatiguing as a whole day’s work. The +older man felt that H might be entirely broken up if his projects were +rudely rejected, and he also believed the young man to be too valuable +to damage. H recognizes that he has often found himself shirking when +his superiors let him alone, and wonders why this attitude, which is +contrary to his own interests, should take hold of him. H displays a +tendency to behave arrogantly toward subordinates, and when he was in +the army it was obvious that he could maintain discipline only through +the formal authority vested in him. + +H is an only child. His father was a big, overpowering person, who +was a strict disciplinarian. The parents were very prudish in sexual +matters, and one of his embarrassing memories is the confusion and +vexation of his mother when he asked her about babies. Left to his own +resources, and stimulated by a variety of incidents to explore sexual +problems on his own initiative, the boy became involved in a set of +episodes and reveries which he tried to keep from the family, and thus +met every family situation with some anxiety lest his sins should +find him out. H grew into a hyperactive and seemingly light-hearted +youngster, who obeyed his parents implicitly and met strangers with +ingratiating charm. H was constantly occupied with the task of adopting +a manner toward authority which would conceal his secret preoccupations. + +About the age of four, H surprised his parents in a sexual embrace, +and vividly recalled his own mixture of burning curiosity and +embarrassment. Some of his early dream fragments indicate that he +repressed a powerful hostility toward his father, who he thought was +hurting his mother, and likewise repressed hatred of his mother, who he +felt was disloyal to him. + +His experiences continued through a long chain of incidents. There was +mutual exposure of sexual parts between him and a playmate of his own +age. A deeply repressed episode was a seduction in which he played the +principal part. He was meanwhile completely successful in playing the +rôle of model boy. + +When H was ten years of age, however, there transpired an incident +which for a time branded him in the neighborhood as a nasty little +renegade, and which had many subsequent repercussions. He touched the +exposed sexual parts of a neighbor girl, who was somewhat his junior. +The sister and brother of the girl were interested spectators. The +children told the cooks, and the news finally got around to the mother +of the girl. She took it calmly enough, but thought she ought to tell +the boy’s mother. H’s mother passed the story to his father, which was +the worst thing that could happen, from H’s point of view. His father +administered a sharp dressing-down, and forbade him to play outside +the yard for a fortnight. H’s father was very angry, and lectured him +about his sins every night for a while. Presently the father went over +to see the neighbor, and seems to have taken the line that the girl +was as much to blame as his son if not more so. This tactless behavior +completely alienated the neighbor. + +Now this neighbor happened to edit an important newspaper, and ever +afterward this newspaper lost no opportunity to assail the efficiency +of the department in the city government headed by H’s father. These +attacks continued over many years, and H’s father occasionally threw +it up to him that he had been responsible for the original quarrel. + +As it was, the boy was ostracized in the neighborhood for a year or +more, and was not invited to go to parties, although he could play +with the children. But H was self-conscious, and sought companionship +farther away. The brother of the girl thought that he ought to turn +against H, and there were some fights. + +At fourteen H began to go to high school. He kept away from the +swimming pool during the first year or two because he was much +embarrassed by the lack of hair around his genitals. This supposed +retardation, about which he worried a great deal, lasted but a short +time, when a new set of worries came up. He now believed that his penis +was abnormally large, and that his testicles were too low-hanging and +perhaps deformed. In college he was nicknamed “Cocky,” on account of +his jauntiness, but he secretly suspected that this was an allusion to +his penis. + +A chum taught him how to masturbate, and he continued to do so for +about six months, when his emissions became so frequent that his mother +told his father. For once, H’s father handled the situation with good +sense, and after a kindly interview in which the father explained that +it was not a good idea to indulge excessively, H quit. But even this +matter was not terminated, for the disturbing reverie remained that +perhaps his excessive masturbation had permanently impaired his manhood. + +H had a lively curiosity about his mother’s body of which he was +intensely ashamed. He recalls loitering in his mother’s room while she +made ready to change her clothes, hoping that she would forget to send +him out. He found himself speculating about the shape of her body, and +was several times on the verge of spying through the keyhole. But his +impulse was inhibited when he remembered the story told by his father +in which a “peeper” was spoken of with the greatest contempt. H dreamed +of sexual intercourse with his mother on several occasions, nearly +always during periods of unusual strain. These dreams were deeply +buried and came out into the clear with great difficulty. + +His sexual curiosity extended to animals, and he stimulated the sexual +parts of his dog. This further associated sex with the bestial and +unclean, and convinced him of his own guilt for so much as wondering +about it. + +H’s first sexual intercourse cost him much worry. It occurred during +his second year in high school. He had been sent with the family +automobile to drive home a guest, and noticed a girl of about his own +age who was gay and flirtatious. On the way home he picked up the girl +with two boys whom he knew slightly. All of them had sexual intercourse +with the girl. He was terribly worried that he might reach home too +late. His strict father had laid down the rule that if he got home +at any hour of the night, he was to wake up the family and give an +account of himself. In his haste he neglected to inspect the car and +his father found some hairpins in the tonneau. H denied that he knew +anything about them. The incident, however, was not closed. He saw an +item in the newspaper about several men who were arrested for rape, and +wondered whether he had committed a horrible crime himself with his +companions. Before long the girl became pregnant and was brought before +the juvenile court. She named another gang of boys, and this gang +accused H and his two companions of being to blame. He was horrified at +the prospect of going into court and dragging his family to disgrace. +H was afraid that his partners in wrongdoing would confess, but he +denied everything to his father, and his father’s political influence +kept him from being haled into court. But for at least a year the black +cloud of possible exposure hung on the horizon of his mind. + +All during his high-school days he had occasional sex intercourse, but +every episode was marred by some disagreeable features. While there +were such experiences with girls of low social standing, he had many +friendships with girls of good social position whom he idealized as +above sexuality. He attended a private school which was patronized +almost exclusively by children from very wealthy families, and H, who +was handsome, well dressed, quick, and agreeable, found his friends +among them. He was often in their homes and admired the signs of wealth +and culture. He became sensitive of the cultural limitations of his own +parents, and was afraid to entertain his school friends at home, but +fortunately from his point of view his father was willing to furnish +enough money to make it possible to hold up his end of the social +bargain at exclusive clubs and restaurants. + +In college H continued to draw a sharp line between those who could +be petted, but who were too rich and refined to be approached for +intercourse, and those who could be petted, and who were poor enough to +be asked for intercourse. He continued to associate with a smart and +wealthy set, and finally concentrated his attention on the daughter of +a rich business man whom he wanted to marry. His left-handed affairs +continued at irregular intervals, and he felt remorseful when he had +the perversions performed on him. + +Enough has been reported to convey an impression of H’s inner state. +His unsatisfied sexual curiosity had been whetted by his prudish +parents. His father defended his own ascendancy in the home by +ordering the boy about a great deal, and H responded to authority by a +system of reactions which became characteristic of him. He was tactful, +deferential, and acquiescent, qualified by inner resentment and rare +gestures of defiance. The father was not a friend but a barrier to be +circumvented, and the father’s hegemony was protected by the sense of +guilty inferiority which he had created in his son. Family differences, +such as arose when the father objected to housekeeping details, or when +the boy wanted more freedom to use the car, always showed the same +balance of forces--mother and son versus the father. The mother did not +defend herself by robust contradiction but by weak complaints. There +were only two instances in which the boy flared up enough to resist his +father openly. + +If H had been more successful in winning applause outside the family, +it is quite possible that his position would have been made much easier +inside it. His social charm brought him into the most influential +circles, and this gratified his parents, but his father was a man of +action who felt that while wealthy friends were an asset, his son +ought to show more positive achievements. Though he never nagged H, +the father’s sternness, suspiciousness and absence of praise made a +deep impression on the boy, and gave him a sense of insecurity and +inadequacy. Although H scored no great successes, he went along without +academic catastrophe until college. He was suspended at the end of +his Freshman year for poor work, but came back after six months, +during which he pretended to his father that he was still in school. +The suspension was partly due to the advice given to the dean by his +fraternity brothers, who had found him very hard to manage, and wanted +to “bring him to his senses.” H was having a fling, since he was away +from home for the first time, and away from the intimidating father. +Presently he steadied down enough to get along. + +Reminiscences of his guilty sexual experiments, deeply charged with +guilt-feeling, were continually bobbing up to interfere with his +progress. Once he was assigned to debate in high-school public-speaking +class. His opponent proved to be the brother of the girl with whom +he had the notorious incident several years before. The brother was +a prominent school leader who had no doubt forgotten the affair, but +it continued to weigh on H. He always had felt uncomfortable in the +other boy’s presence, and on this occasion, being poorly prepared, the +situation became so unbearable that he fainted. + +He began to study agriculture at college, but soon found that he +had made a mistake. His family owned a ranch which he often visited +during vacations, and very much enjoyed. Farming was an avocation of +his father, and H had the idea that ranching was a genteel occupation +without much work, and with much ordering of other people about. +He vaguely thought of himself as a country gentleman of cultivated +leisure. The war saved H from agriculture. He took up aviation, without +losing “credits,” partly because the snobbish mother of his favorite +girl was bowled over by the uniform, and partly because he thought it +would be better to go into the war, if he had to go, as an officer than +as a private. His father’s influence secured a deferred classification +for him in the draft, and H, though feeling quite small about it, said +to himself that it was better for people to die who were without his +own advantages and achievements. + +His career as an officer in the camp brought out the traits to which +reference has previously been made. His engaging deference toward +his superiors won them all, but he had trouble with the men. His own +insecurity led to an arrogant pose on his part that offended every +man in the company. He also discovered that the moment discipline was +relaxed he became very careless in performing his own duties. + +The same constellation of traits reappeared in his administrative +career, modified by the fact that he learned to assume a less +provocative attitude toward his subordinates. He made a very good +record, and proposed a number of changes that were adopted for the +improvement of the service. + +Looking back over H’s history, the striking thing is his prolonged +worry about his adjustment to specific persons. H was never able to +make the hurdle into abstract interests. Even his administrative ideas +were closely tied to the immediate context of the service. H’s life was +very much dominated by his relationship to definite people, and this +meant a prolonged carry-over of early attitudes to these individuals. +Unlike B, who could rightly feel that his father and brother and aunt +were treating him unjustly, H was all too aware that he “deserved” more +than he got. His success as an impostor was rudely interrupted in some +early episodes. + +Another “marginal” history shows what happens to some men with +agitating aspirations who are not able to disentangle themselves +from a place inside an organization and to give themselves up wholly +to agitational work. Mr. I is a type occasionally met with inside +administrative staffs who makes a serious problem for himself and +others. He radiates plans that he neglects to execute, and he is +supercilious and defiant toward superiors. He lacks the drive, however, +to move over into agitational work entirely by identifying himself +with a sufficiently dramatic cause. Sometimes this is due, as in I’s +own case, to powerful early identifications with particular projects, +and with administrative work as such. When such a person can be pried +loose from certain of these early fixations, he often proves capable of +fulfilling the expectations which he is able to arouse. + +The father of I was a man whose extraordinary talents won him great +distinction, but who never quite managed to come through as brilliantly +as people had a right to expect from one so richly endowed. I’s father +could talk five or six languages and read many more. He was educated in +England, France, and Italy, and after serving as a professor of modern +languages, his interest in educational problems led him to become the +head of a famous preparatory school, and later of a public school. He +spent most of his time reading, and during the last decade of his life +drank heavily, but without impairing the quality of his work. Someone +who knew him pronounced the man “a self-centered intellectual who +died without a friend.” The mother of I was an adopted daughter of a +member of the British aristocracy, and was brought up in distinguished +social and intellectual circles. The mother was exceptionally active +in all sorts of humanitarian enterprises but lavished much time and +love on the boy, who was “dreadfully spoiled,” and accepted everybody’s +judgment that he was a budding genius. + +True to anticipations, the boy shot through school like a meteor, +ranking first in his subjects, and taking every available honor with +ease. In college he branched out into social and political life on a +large scale, and joined about twenty organizations, managing to have +himself put on every important committee. + +Like his father, the son took up public-school work. Becoming +interested in psychology, he did some graduate work, and quickly +published a book that received very favorable comment among those +best qualified to judge it. The idea of educational reform fired his +imagination, and he lectured far and wide, engaging in agitations to +secure legislation which would authorize a number of experimental +schools. + +The part of his history which is especially interesting to the student +of administration is this: He was continually at outs with his +superiors and colleagues. His first teaching position began with a +feud, and lasted but a little while. He was invited to resign his next +post. He was asked to resign the next position. He was asked to resign +the next position. These entries appear monotonously through his record. + +Everybody conceded the brilliance and fertility of his mind, and did +homage to the originality of his plans. He began work but failed to +carry it far, seeming to think that work planned was work done. His +methods were always aggressive. Seized of an administrative idea, he +went to his superiors. When they criticized the scheme, or rejected his +suggestion, he often took the bit in his teeth and tried to run the +ship in his own way. + +More than once financial irregularities have been discovered in +connection with his work. He has given out checks when no funds were +available, and run unduly large expense accounts. Whenever he has been +in financial jams, he has turned to other people for aid as a matter of +course, seeming to feel that he has a claim on the world for support. + +He has always been childishly dependent on his wife for praise. He +resented his wife’s motherhood, but has been overindulgent with the +two children, who, his wife says, have no respect for him. He likes to +be the center of attention, and is a clever showman, and a great deal +of a bluffer. He is usually not high tempered but affectionate. He is +inclined to be accusatory toward his wife--“a vixen”--but his wife +appears to be a keen person, who was enough impressed by his precocious +brilliance to marry and to pamper him, but who in later years has +delivered herself of pointed comments on his character. + +It seems that he has gone through several periods of alternating +exhilaration and despondency. The exhilarations came when he had a +position and when life became a little monotonous or a little hard. +At least one of these swings was sufficiently pronounced to lead to a +period of retirement in a sanitarium. During this time he was asked +what kind of work he liked best, and replied, “Reforming the world--my +first choice; second, exploiting the world.” + +The strength of his narcissism is self-evident, and the feminine marks +in his character are numerous. He expects to be nurtured and supported +by the world as a matter of right. He demands constant “mothering” +from his wife, and coddles the children. His father-hatred, which was +thoroughly repressed in the family, comes out in his difficulty with +father-surrogates, and in his determination to change the educational +system at points where the father took it for granted or overtly +defended it. The selection of the pedagogical rôle is itself indicative +of the strength of his father-identification. What seems to have +happened in his development is a fixation of interests in a relatively +narrow sphere in which the affects are so powerful and at the same time +so contradictory that difficulties are assured. He finds it impossible +to shake off his managerial aspirations sufficiently to devote all +his time to the propagation of ideas. Although his affects are +displaced upon abstract problems, they are not displaced upon objects +sufficiently removed from his father, and the displacement does not +succeed in making it possible for him to achieve an impersonal attitude +toward his superiors and colleagues in educational administration. The +exaggerated praise heaped upon him as a boy had much to do with the +narcissism. His incapacity to follow through is no doubt related to his +early conflicts over genital activity. The chief point of significant +contrast with A is that the narcissistic component interfered more +seriously with H’s development, since it led him to insist upon playing +an administrative rôle. A’s environment was less prostrate before him, +and he was able to avoid assuming administrative obligations where he +would be cramped and subordinated. + +The history of J, which has been reported by Alexander,[42] shows what +lies behind a powerful administrator’s thirst for responsibility, and +reveals how changes in the working relations inside an organization may +disorganize the individual. + +J was a driving executive whose superiors deferred to his judgment +and accepted his plans. His abounding energy sought an outlet through +the assumption of heavier and heavier responsibilities inside the +organization. Finally, a change in the chief executive brought J under +the immediate control of a man who handled him with cool assurance, +holding him firmly but considerately to his own formal sphere of +action. Confronted for the first time in his life by a more powerful +personality who knew how to regulate him, J took the wife of another +man for his mistress, and in spite of the remonstrances of those who +knew him, he held tenaciously to both the mistress and the wife. + +An analysis showed that J was characterized from early childhood by a +notable split in his personality. Side by side with his aggressive, +masculine drive there existed a strongly repressed, though powerful, +feminine tendency. His personality is to be rendered intelligible only +as a compromise formation between those two incompatible motives. The +repression of the passive component produced a regressive fixation upon +the wife, who was compelled to play a markedly maternal rôle, and to +humor his every whim. He resented it if his every wish was not defined +and fulfilled before he had to go to the trouble of putting it into +words. J has delicate aesthetic sensibilities, and is a cultivated +amateur in the arts. + +In sharpest imaginable contrast to his behavior at home was his +insatiable thirst for authority and responsibility in his professional +life. One of his dreams acutely symbolized him as a giant automobile of +untold horse-power, whose body was a light French coach of the rococo +period. + +As Alexander comments, J’s life-problem was to indulge his passive +demands without doing violence to his masculine ideal. But this was +not accomplished without strain. He could earn periods of indulgence +in aesthetics by exaggerated aggressiveness in his work, but as his +feminine tendencies were gratified, his masculine ideal was endangered, +and he would be driven back to high-pressure management. The +psychological significance of his work was symbolized in the following +dream: He was penetrating a thick sheet of cardboard with a needle, +and continually asking for new sheets to bore through. He succeeded +in going through several thicknesses. The cardboard represented his +occupational problems, and the needle his penis. His professional +activity was largely a sublimation of his aggressive, active sexuality. + +The equilibrium between his aggressiveness in work and his passivity +in marital life was upset by the new chief executive, who skilfully +hemmed in his activity. Alexander remarks that it is impossible for +a man who has struggled all his life against very strong unconscious +homosexuality to serve under a strong man. The dominating personality +arouses the latent attitude, and the subordinate must resort to special +means of maintaining his repression. In the case of B, which we have +previously considered, the means of restoring some sort of equilibrium +was escape (by resigning), but when that became very difficult, he fled +into a world of fantasy (a psychosis). J met the crisis by breaking +through the sublimation of his heterosexuality, and taking a mistress +as an outlet for his thwarted drives. Further than that, he vindicated +his masculinity in a very dramatic way. He not only took a mistress, +but he took the wife of another. + +From now on, he was dependent on both women to preserve the equilibrium +of his personality. Previously the equilibrium had been maintained +between wife and work; now it depended on wife, mistress, and work, for +the aggressive, masculine component required the mistress to make up +for the limitations imposed upon his working sphere. + +Alexander reports that in the course of a long analysis this remarkable +split in the personality was traced back to early childhood. “At the +age of four he was already the same person.” At the age of four he +continued to drink milk out of a bottle, stubbornly resisting every +effort to break him of the practice. But--and it was with an emphatic +“but” that J produced the reminiscence--at the same time the boy was +especially adventurous and independent, riding all by himself out on +the highway. Here was the same antithesis that later expressed itself +in his peculiar relation to wife and work. The child won the right to +indulge his infantile, oral tendencies in one particular by exaggerated +boldness in other respects. This solution was the prototype for his +later life. + + The rôle of the bottle was later taken by his wife, whom he often + treated like an inanimate object whose only function was to + minister to his needs, while his work, and later his mistress, were + the successors to the bicycle, by means of which he was able to + prove his independence and his masculinity to himself and the world. + +The castration fear, which was aroused by the means adopted to break up +his infantile masturbation, favored the oral fixation, and came into +conflict with his strong masculine genital drive, laying the basis for +this notable character split. + + * * * * * + +The records so far discussed have had to do with inventive or driving +administrators. A type often met with in the public service is the +conscientious, overscrupulous official, whose touchiness, fondness +for detail, delight in routine, and passion for accuracy at once +preserve the integrity of the service and alienate the affections +of anybody who has to do business with the government. K was such a +man. For some years he was in the forestry service, where part of his +duties was to mark the trees that might be cut by private lumbermen. +The lumbermen naturally argued that the straight, sound trees should +be cut and the damaged ones left for seed. K took a variety of other +factors into account, and spent days measuring and estimating position, +growth rates, and shade area, exasperating the lumbermen with his +everlasting and often superfluous scrupulousness. He keenly felt his +responsibilities as a public servant, and disliked the very appearance +of succumbing to private pressure. At one time K resigned the service +in disgust because of “uncivil” treatment by a superior, but his +“touchiness” was much more deeply rooted in his nature than he had any +idea. + +The record of K is not only the story of a pedantic official but of +an ardent patriot. One of the highest forms of patriotism is supposed +to be volunteering for posts of conspicuous danger in war. K pulled +all the wires within reach to get a place on the front line, and only +the point-blank refusal of his superiors to allow him to squander his +technical ability prevented him from achieving his desire. From a +close examination of his intimate history we learn how one variety of +superpatriot comes to be. + +K was the youngest of four children. His next brother was eight years +his senior, his sister was five years older than this brother, and his +oldest brother was eighteen years ahead of him. + +He never remembered a time when his mother and father, who were +divorced when he was eight, were on good terms with each other. They +seldom spoke, except to quarrel. This family background was reflected +in the mental life of the growing child. K was notoriously nervous and +timid. From a very early day he began to be preoccupied with why he +was different from everybody else in the world. His sense of isolation +and strangeness led him to believe that perhaps he was the only real +person in the world and that everybody else was an illusion. He would +sometimes come up wonderingly to touch his mother, and then himself, +to see if she, too, were real. He speculated on how he could get away +from the human shadows around him, and became convinced that he could +fly. Several times he laboriously climbed up on the seat of a kitchen +chair, spread his arms like a bird, and leaped into space. Every time +he crashed to the floor, his frightened mother rescued him, but he +always felt surprised and rather aggrieved that he should fall, and +secretly believed that he could fly after all. This type of reaction +characteristically appears where emotional conflicts in the home create +an acute problem of emotional orientation for the child. + +As a small boy he was sent by his mother to follow his father when he +left the house, and to report where he went. K developed a strong sense +of guilt for this, and after the divorce was afraid that his father +would return and take revenge on him in some unknown and horrible way. +His father did occasionally reappear, and once invited the boy to spend +the night with him, but K was too frightened to accept. + +The family often lived in the country, and the self-consciousness of +K in the presence of strangers was heightened by frequent removals +into new and often isolated places. One of the towns near which he +lived when about nine was on a frontier. Gun-play was frequent, and +K remembers having seen the corpses of men who had been shot down in +street brawls. There were ominous-looking fellows around town, and the +boy gave them a wide berth. + +The death of his mother when he was twelve robbed K of his main +emotional support in a dangerous world. She died after two years of +suffering from an infected limb. She would also spit into bits of +papers and burn them in the stove. K wondered why she did this, and +later developed a reverie the importance of which will soon appear. + +The older members of the family were left with K on their hands, and +they decided to club together and put all thought of marrying out of +their heads until he was able to stand alone. The boy did not then +realize the sacrifices they made for him, but he later discovered that +his older brother put off marrying the girl of his choice until she +broke off the engagement and married someone else. It was not until +about the time that he graduated from high school and the home was +broken up that he became aware of what he owed them, and ever after he +was plagued by the thought of his unworthiness, and his incapacity to +repay his brothers and sister for their care. Up to that time he had +experienced no particular sense of gratitude, and although his older +brother once or twice referred to his dependent position, his private +feelings were mainly of resentment against the restrictions imposed +upon him. + +And these restrictions were not inconsiderable. The family ran a +greenhouse, and the drudgery involved in such an occupation was +incessant. There were slips to transplant, beds to weed, and loads +to pull and carry. There were long hours of boredom over routine +occupations. K was expected to dash home from school at the earliest +possible moment, and to lend a hand with the endless chores about the +place. + +Occasionally he succeeded in evading his duties. He stopped to play on +the way home from deliveries, and he stayed at school on some pretext +or other to join the drill squad. But he was always haunted by fear +and guilt. His older brother was a strict disciplinarian, and beat +him several times. His sister occasionally let him have some spending +money, but as a rule he was tightly cramped financially. When his +gang organized into a drill squad, and chose their uniforms, he was +humiliated when the necessary dollars were not forthcoming from home. + +K was worried by what appeared to be a lack of physical stamina and +endurance. This idea (which had no basis in fact) in part grew out of +his efforts to do what his brothers did. They occasionally broad-jumped +or pulled weights, and of course K made a poor showing beside them. But +for the unconscious hostility against them, such unequal results would +not have disturbed him. His morbid worries about his strength led him +to submit to a great deal of bullying by town toughs. + +His adolescent years were marred by perpetual anxieties about his +social adequacy. He had been the victim of an explosion which left his +face marked with powder stains, and this repugnant tattooing, which +disappeared very gradually, embarrassed him for years. + +K’s older brothers and sister sometimes took him with them to parties +because there was nobody to leave him with, and an annoying sense of +being in the way added to his growing sense of social inadequacy. +During high-school days he fell in love with the daughter of the most +influential man in the locality, but as her social standards became +more exacting, his lack of money, leisure, and prestige made it +impossible for him to travel with her set. One of the most humiliating +episodes in his life was the one which broke up their relations. K had +arranged to meet her at a dancing class. Another girl called up to see +if he would take her, but he said he wasn’t going. His oldest brother +had listened in on the telephone extension, and was astonished to see +K appear all dressed up and on the way out. He launched forth on a +tirade, declaring that K gallivanted around throwing money away and +shirking his job, though he was absolutely dependent on others for his +daily bread. K was cut to the quick, and went back to his room churning +with too many emotions to call up and offer explanations to the girl. + +K had taken it for granted ever since he was a small boy that he would +go to college. He traced back his determination to an incident when +he was driving across the plains one magnificent starry night. He sat +in the bottom of the rig, rapt in contemplation of the sparkling sky, +while his mother chatted with her neighbor. Suddenly he asked how he +could find out about the stars, and she replied that people could study +all about them in college. He then and there resolved to go to college, +and never had a moment’s doubt about it, although the members of his +immediate family went no farther than the common school. + +In spite of his inferiority feelings, K was not cut off from some +measure of recognition in high school. His dependable and sympathetic +qualities impressed themselves upon those who came into close daily +contact with him, and he was made an officer of his high-school class. +He was respectful toward his teachers and good in his studies. + +College was an entirely different affair. His personal worries +multiplied during the transition period. Lacking funds, he sought +a scholarship. The only one tenable from his district to the state +university was in ceramic engineering, and after looking up “ceramic” +in the dictionary, he applied and was selected for admission. The work +proved to have no particular interest for him, and his social life was +even less satisfying. He was met at the college town by the members +of a church group who lived together in a dormitory (some friend had +written them), and he, though never devout, stopped with them during +the first term. This marked him as a non-fraternity man. He waited +tables in a fraternity house, and as bad luck would have it, a former +teacher wrote highly recommending him to the consideration of this +particular fraternity. When a committee broke the news to him, he was +utterly confused and made such a lamentable impression that it was not +possible to extend him the bid. One of his odd jobs was beating carpets +at a sorority house, and this turned out to be the sorority that had +pledged the girl with whom he had been (and still felt) in love. + +For relaxation K was forced into the domain of the kitchen maids. +A servant girl struck up a friendship with him, and he had sexual +relations with her. He had tried intercourse once during high-school +days, and had a premature emission, a practice which often bothered him +later, providing a permanent source of humiliation. + +Transferring to another college, he began his work in forestry, in +which he had acquired some interest during hikes with a friendly +high-school teacher. Handicapped by lack of money and worried by a +mounting sense of social inadequacy, his life was no more successful +than before. In high-school days he envied a talkative lad who +astonished the company by glibly recounting anecdotes about Napoleon. +One of his relatives whom he had known as a boy left an ideal of social +charm which never was attained. + +K’s inner uncertainties finally reached a point which led him to +resolve that he ought to discover once for all whether forestry +would prove to be a proper vocation. He left college and joined the +government service. This was to be the great test of his ability to +master himself. + +So keen was his preoccupation with self-mastery that he resented +every effort to influence him, and acted with unnecessary strictness +in dealing with private lumbermen. He was often deprived of human +relationships during his days in the field, and gradually his mind +became more and more enmeshed in morbid reflections about himself. +His mind simply refused to concentrate on the technical volumes which +he had brought with him to improve the solitude. Reveries which had +been slowly germinating on the periphery of his attention now began to +foliate. K had always wondered why his mother burned those little bits +of paper. It dawned on him one day that she might really have died of +tuberculosis, and that he must therefore be predisposed toward that +disease. Early in his high-school days, he had begun deep-breathing +exercises, though he had never freely admitted to himself or anybody +else what lay behind it. He always gave the usual account of his +mother’s death to insurance examiners, smothering his doubts in +affirmation. + +This was his state of mind when America entered the war. He found +himself saying that since he was going to die anyhow from a loathsome +disease, he might as well die at once and get it over with. Enlisting +without delay, he sought to reach an exposed position as rapidly as +he could. But the government had different ideas, and assigned him to +a branch of the service where his technical skill would prove useful. +In his disappointment, all the old feelings of inadequacy returned. +Interviewed by an officer he floundered and stumbled, neglecting +to report essential facts about his training and experience. The +accidental intervention of an acquaintance straightened out the matter, +and secured the authority to which his record entitled him. At first +he was very much embarrassed in the company of lumberjacks, but his +behavior never showed his confusion. His actual record was, as usual, +excellent, and his conscientious efficiency won the indorsement of +everybody who knew him. + +K married a rather dominating school-teacher whom he had known for some +time. When things went badly, as they often did, he was partially +impotent, and also showed the phenomenon which has been christened +“Sunday neurosis.” Every Sunday afternoon when he was at home he would +find himself assailed by deep depression, and would weep quietly to +himself.[43] In spite of these neurotic troubles, K was able to make +an important place for himself inside a bureaucracy, when he came back +from the army. + +From one point of view, K’s character may be summed up by saying that +his overscrupulous performance of duty was an elaborate effort to +demonstrate his potency, and that his longing for danger came at a +time when he was willing to surrender the struggle. K’s morbid moods +and persistent feelings of inadequacy are self-imposed penalties for +his hostilities against the environment. He possessed very powerful +aggressive drives which were partly expressed in the adoption of a +self-ideal which was far more ambitious than anything deemed feasible +by the family. His narcissism was such that he was prevented from +viewing himself as an object, and from modifying his demands upon the +world for recognition, and upon himself for production, until these +demands bore a closer relationship to his own skills and opportunities. +The basis for his obsessive scrupulousness was laid during early +childhood, when he was torn between father and mother-loyalties, and +acted out within his own nature the clashes that occurred between +them. His strong mother-identification is shown by his belief that he +suffered from her diseases, and would die from tuberculosis as she had +died. He preferred death to a reduction in his demands upon himself +and the world. Such a reaction has in it the primitive demand of the +child to treat the world as controllable at will by the omnipotent +fantasy. His genital difficulties testify to the intensity of the +castration conflict, and show the passive-oral regression. K deeply +resented having to adjust to the world at all. His capacity for hard +work was achieved against high resistance, and in part had the value of +a penance. Thus when workless days came around, he was always ill at +ease, and sometimes showed the spells of weeping on Sunday afternoons. +To work was to prove his potency, and to supply a ritual substitute +for and defense against his antisocial impulses. He was unable to +emancipate himself very far from the reactions of the people in his +immediate environment. + + * * * * * + +As a class the administrators differ from the agitators by the +displacement of their affects upon less remote and abstract objects. +In the case of one important group this failure to achieve abstract +objects is due to excessive preoccupation with specific individuals in +the family circle, and to the correlative difficulty of defining the +rôle of the self. Putting agitator A at one end of the scale, we may +place administrator K or H near the other. Agitator B was less able +to displace than A, as shown by the more personal character of the +reforms which interested him. K or H were so concerned about definite +people, and about their own failures in relation to many of them, that +emancipation was unattainable. + +As a hypothetical construction from these “marginal” cases, we may +suggest that another group of administrators is recruited from among +those who have passed smoothly through their developmental crises. They +have not overrepressed powerful hostilities, but either sublimated +these drives, or expressed them boldly in the intimate circle. They +display an impersonal interest in the task of organization itself, +and assert themselves with firmness, though not with overemphasis, +in professional and in intimate life. Their lack of interest in +abstractions is due to the fact that they have never needed them as +a means of dealing with their emotional problems. They can take or +leave general ideas without using them to arouse widespread affective +responses from the public. Tied neither to abstractions nor to +particular people, they are able to deal with both in a context of +human relations, impersonally conceived. Their affects flow freely; +they are not affectless, but affectively adjusted. Very original and +overdriving administrators seem to show a fundamental pattern which +coincides with that of the agitators; the differences in specific +development are principally due to the cultural patterns available for +identification at critical phases of growth. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +POLITICAL CONVICTIONS + + +Political prejudices, preferences, and creeds are often formulated in +highly rational form, but they are grown in highly irrational ways. +When they are seen against the developmental history of the person, +they take on meanings which are quite different from the phrases in +which they are put. + +To begin, almost at random, with L. He believes that the United States +ought to join the League of Nations and that our government ought to +lead the world toward conciliation and peace. He is a Republican in +party preference, and possesses well-rationalized judgments on a number +of public questions. It is for none of these reasons that his history +is of special value to the political scientist. What his intimate +history does disclose is an exact parallelism between his political +opinions and those of his father and mother, and, besides that, a +conscious anxiety on his part to conform to the parental pattern of +belief and occupation. He has a strange premonition that if he goes his +own way something terrible will happen. Thus L is not only a simple +conformer, but a compulsive conformer. + +He is the youngest of four children. The next older member was a +brother who was killed when L was eight and the brother was seventeen. +Since L was so much younger than the other children, he was at first +petted and spoiled. He slept around with all the members of the family, +but mostly with his mother. A cousin of his own age with whom he +visited provided the immediate point of departure for much exaggerated +sexual fantasy. The cousin initiated him into various sexual practices +when L was seven. He began very early to masturbate, and the habit +stayed with him as a problem until he was through college. A certain +masochistic element appeared when he got erections at an early age +upon being spanked by a girl playmate. He was sexually stimulated when +attending to the natural wants of small children. + +L developed his guilty fantasies about his sinful impulses until he +began to fear that grave retribution would be visited upon him or his +family on account of his secret crimes. It was at this time that his +brother, who was his favorite in the family next to the mother, was +killed while out on a boyish escapade. L was profoundly stirred by +this. His forebodings of disaster seemed to have direct confirmation, +and he soon developed whole congeries of compulsive rituals. + +When L went to the bathtub, he felt that something terrible would +happen to his family, and especially to his mother, unless he plunged +his head under water and held it there just as long as he had the +breath. He became afraid of taking a bath because of this compulsive +drive to duck his head under the water. Often in the bathroom he had +the same feeling that disaster could be prevented only if he succeeded +in drinking all the water that gushed out of a faucet. At night he +would be seized by the sudden conviction that he must bury his face in +the pillow and keep it there just as long as he possibly could without +suffocating. Once he swallowed a pin after long inner debate over the +efficacy of this measure. Several times he hung over the edge of the +roof on top of the house until he barely had strength enough to swing +back to safety on top of the porch. He felt that he could permit no one +to pass him on the street. Later he thought he must outstare people, +and calculated that if he kept staring until seven out of ten people +dropped their eyes, that all would be well. + +His mother was the central figure in L’s anxieties. He evolved quite +independently a theory which had been anticipated many centuries +before by some primitive people and philosophers. He believed that his +mother had a spirit which left her body the moment any member of the +family left her alone, and that this spirit was forced to undergo all +sorts of trials and tests. The spirit would always come back to his +mother’s body before any member of the family spoke to her. In some +magical fashion his own acts relieved the burden which was laid upon +his mother’s spirit. Even in adulthood, he found an occasional fantasy +which was reminiscent of the preoccupations of those years. Not long +ago he was floating on the water in a swimming pool and found himself +thinking that his mother could never hold her head under water as long +as he could hold his foot under water. + +With all his timidity, removal to a strange environment was a severe +trial. Just before high-school days his family moved to a new +community, and he never quite overcame his sense of strangeness. He +had always been a coward, shrinking from physical combat. One of his +first memories is of sitting on a curb with an older brother, who +suddenly proposed that he should fight the little brother of another +boy. L began to fight, but was overcome by fear and ran away. Later he +was the center of a small clique of children in his block, all of whom +were very much his junior. One of his group bragged about L’s physical +prowess to the leader of another group, but when the challenge was +issued L backed down. He was worried by his own timidity, but seemed +unable to do anything about it. + +He made a handful of friends in the new environment, but was on +intimate terms with no one. With one boy he was able to talk somewhat +freely about sexual fantasies, and L once proposed a sexual experiment +to a neighbor girl. When he was repulsed, his guilt was enormously +increased. + +About this time L began to think seriously of entering the ministry, +so that he might always think “pure” thoughts and do “pure” things. +When he went to college he at first roomed with boys from his high +school, but they talked so openly about sex that he felt the atmosphere +was deplorable and demoralizing. Before the month expired, he sought +a new room and went into a solitary retreat. During the first year of +his college life he was acutely religious and besought church services +regularly. He sought guidance from the sermons upon personal and +political questions. + +Having developed the idea that he must live up to the family ideal at +any price, L felt that he could never depart from the opinions and +customs of his parents. In politics he was a stout Republican, and +later, when in a religious mood, he heard his preacher espouse the +League. He felt that he ought to support the League, but was plunged +into a serious conflict, because he thought his parents were against +it. Greatly to his relief he discovered that his father and mother had +also been won over to the League by a preacher, and that his lapse from +orthodox Republicanism would not bring dishonor on the family. + +His father-hatred fantasies were very oppressive. They took the form +of believing that if only his father were dead, his mother would have +a much easier time of it. L’s father was suffering from a steadily +advancing paralysis. At nine he dreamed that his father was in the +bathtub and that around him were fat, red snakes that were bound to +devour him. L who was standing by in the dream, awoke in a fright. He +often dreamed that his father was away and that his mother was happy +with him. + +L still shows many signs of his early neurosis in some of his +ceremonial acts, and in the timid conservatism of his character. The +private meaning of his political convictions is clear enough, for +they are self-imposed obligations to lift his load of guilt for the +murderous and incestuous fantasies which he long struggled to repress. +The opinions of the family were sanctioned as a kind of religion. It is +interesting to see how at first he invented a large array of ceremonial +practices to substitute for his own illicit impulses, and later worked +off his guilt feelings through the religious patterns which were +provided by society, and which were revalidated on the basis of his +private meanings. The acceptance of the political convictions of the +family was on a par with the acceptance of theological dogma. + +Among the nonconformists to the family pattern we may choose M, whose +history was taken by Stekel. M was a prominent socialist who agitated +for an economic brotherhood of man, and whose most important private +motive in this particular was a bitter hatred of his own brother. +Most of this hatred was displaced from his brother on to capitalistic +autocracy, and overreacted against by a social ideal of fraternal +equality. His hatred of his own brother was not entirely disposed of by +this displacement, and it was necessary to keep at a distance from him, +and from many of his traits. Thus M despised music because his brother +liked it, followed a style of dress at the opposite pole from his +brother, and nearly walked out on the physician when he discovered that +the physician had treated his own brother. + +M spent the years agitating at home and abroad, spending a year and a +half in prison. Thus he succeeded in gratifying his masochistic desire +to be punished for his hatred by provoking society to avenge itself +on him. The motivation in this personality is notably similar to that +which has been more elaborately sketched in the history of A. + +Another nonconformist appears in the history of an anarchist who was +once a patient of Stekel. N carried his social doctrine beyond the +sharing of property, insisting that wives should be in common. He took +the initiative by urging his wife to cohabit with the male members +of his anarchistic society, while he demanded access to the wives of +others. His own wife finally fell in love with another man, and asked +N for a divorce. But before arrangements could be made, she became +pregnant by her new partner, who was poor, and asked N to acknowledge +the new child as his own, since this child would fall heir to some +money from its supposed grandfather, the father of N. He consented +to this, as he had to the divorce, but his self-esteem was hurt by +his wife’s desertion. He had always felt elated when his wife came +back to him after each of her erotic adventures, and now he was all +broken up. Stekel believes that N’s espousal of communal principles in +theory and practice was powerfully motivated by an irrational desire +to humiliate his father by playing a generous rôle with his sexual +partner, and substituting the morality of generosity for his father’s +possessive monopoly of the mother. When his wife-mother deserted +him, N’s brilliant career was ruined, and he resorted to opium, and +finally secured a revenge on his father by blocking his ambitions for a +successful son. + +A father-hatred (due to unrequited love) of remarkable intensity was +the basis of another career which Stekel examined. O was the young +leader of an anarchist band whose anarchism went beyond precept to +dramatic practice. O had his companions conduct some holdups to get +money to start an anarchist paper. O was an illegitimate child who was +brought up and spoiled by an overindulgent mother. When he realized +that he had a father who was still living, but whose identity was never +divulged, his anger boiled up against his mother upon whose affections +he no longer had monopolistic claim, and against his unknown father, +who refused him love and distinction. For he had no doubt that his +father was a rich and important personage. O displaced much of his +animosity on to remote, abstract symbols of authority, like kings +and capitalists, and devoted himself to destroying them. Much of his +affection was likewise displaced upon abstract ideals of a fatherless +fraternal society, living together without coercion. His sadistic +impulses were by no means entirely sublimated upon remote goals and +harmonious means, for he led his companions on common robberies. O +threw a thick mantle of rationalization over his murderous impulses +and his criminal acts, seeking to justify coercion in the name of a +coercionless ideal which could only be laboriously achieved in the +world. + +It is the history of such cases, in which the emotions are peculiarly +intense, which leads one to conclude that political assassins have +hated their fathers with unusual bitterness. E. J. Kempf remarks in his +psychopathology, after reviewing the historical evidence in the cases +of Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, and of Booth, the +assassin of President Lincoln, as follows: + + The writer does not hold that every case of severe affective + repression in youth, due to the father’s hatred or a father + equivalent’s, will lead finally to a parricidal or treasonable + compulsion. It is only held that such affective repressions produce + a revolutionary character which, if given an appropriate repressive + setting during maturity, will then converge upon the parricidal + act. Without the rather specific type of affective repression in + his youth, he would be invulnerable to parricidal suggestions later + on.[44] + +Illegitimate children, especially when the identity of their father is +undisclosed, carry with them the perpetual query, “Who is my father?” +Indeed, the fantasy of belonging to other parents than those physically +in the family is sufficiently widespread as a disguised hostile reverie +against the actual parents to enable everyone to appreciate in some +measure the mental state of the illegitimate child. “My father may be +rich and powerful.” “My father may be an aristocrat of distinguished +lineage, and he is denying me all my just privileges.” Such fantasies +are taken up and spun out in the reveries of the victim. There is a +presumption that those who suffer from this kind of social inferiority +are especially numerous among those who commit acts of political +violence, as Lombroso held. + +P accepted violence, but of a different kind. P is a patriot who proved +his patriotism by volunteering in the late war during the course of +which he was distinguished for bravery in action. His deepest longing +is for war to come again. He is in favor of an aggressive foreign +policy since it increases the chances of war, and war he would welcome +again as he welcomed it before. + +P has a younger brother and an older sister. His mother died when he +was six and his relations have been strained with his stepmother, who +entered the family shortly afterward. His father was a very successful +professional man. + +P began to fall behind in his schoolwork when he was about seven +years old. This brought him into disrepute at home, for his previous +promise led everyone to expect much from him, and the change seemed +to prove that he was “lazy.” The family has nagged him ever after, +hoping to stimulate him to work harder. Just why he failed to continue +to cope successfully with the demands of school becomes fairly clear +when his reminiscences of the period are recovered. He had loved his +second-grade teacher and had been her special favorite, and both his +marks and his enthusiasm were high. The third-grade teacher impressed +him as stern and cruel, and he soon began to despise the sight of her. +The boy’s work began to crumble, for his mind was full of hostile +fancies about his new teacher, and of yearning fancies for the teacher +whom he had just lost. + +His emotional life was further disturbed about this time by the loss +of his nurse. P’s stepmother discharged her as soon as she came. Now +the nurse was the lad’s main love, for his own mother had been ill +for some years before her death. The nurse’s presence gave the child +that stable reassurance which is so necessary if the mind of the child +is to be kept free from morbid fears. In P’s case, there were strong +reasons why this reassurance was necessary. An insane man lived across +the street and terrified the passers-by by screaming at everyone who +passed. Shortly after his mother’s death P went under ether for a minor +operation and was terrified that he would die. The fear of suffocation +reappeared in dreams and nightmares, and he was very timid about +learning to swim. + +The stepmother was a disturbing element as a strange and unknown +quantity in the environment, and a competitor for the affection of the +father. When she discharged the nurse, P thought of her as a malignant +influence. His troubles at school were exaggerated by his home changes, +and his mind became preoccupied with fantasies directed against his +stepmother, or some substitute. + +P’s father was ambitious for the boy. P remembers him as quick to +reprove and slow to praise. He dreamed of his father’s death, and of +seeing his father in an accident. But his manifest attitude was one of +respectful affection. No matter what happened in the home, he excused +his father by reflecting that the stepmother was to blame. However, on +the deeper level, it appeared that he held his father accountable for +the death of his mother and the disappearance of his nurse. + +At school P was popular because of his good physique and his docile +nature. But his studies came hard. Having failed on college-entrance +tests, P bolted and joined the army. The war came along just in time +to give him a dignified retreat from an unbearable personal situation. +He hoped that his father would think about him with pride. He was +bitterly self-accusatory because of his failure to “make good,” and +felt a strong unconscious need of punishment. Under these conditions he +entered army life with enthusiasm, and made a fine record for personal +courage. + +Once the war was over, his troubles began again. He succeeded in +entering college, but college felt like a nursery. He felt that his +army experience sophisticated him above schoolboy tasks and chatter. +All his old worries returned, complicated by his longing for a new war. +He had a long series of difficulties in his occupational life. + +Seen against this background, his militarism is perfectly intelligible. +War gave him a chance to destroy, wildly and extensively, and also a +chance to work off his guilt feelings by exposing himself to death. His +repressed hatreds were partly turned against himself. An interesting +feature of his ideology is that his longing for personal participation +in war is combined with indignation against the exploitation of +backward peoples by the imperialist powers. He identifies with the +“underdog.” + +Q, a contrast to P, is a pacifist and a socialist. His intimate history +shows that relatively simple association of ideas upon which this +depends. From an early age Q showed a morbid fear of blood. Later +on, when he heard that western capitalism meant war and bloodshed, +he experienced a profound emotional revulsion against “capitalism,” +“imperialism,” and their associated concepts, and called himself a +“socialist,” “pacifist,” and “internationalist.” + +The blood-phobia itself was a powerful factor in developing his +character. By slow degrees, he was able to push the screened memories +back until he recovered a simple incident which was heavily ladened +with affect, and whose recollection disposed of the blood-phobia, even +though it was not completely analyzed. Q’s father was accustomed to +shave in the kitchen on Saturday afternoon, and Q as a small child +took a great interest in the proceedings. Occasionally the father cut +a pimple on his face with the big razor he was using, and flinched as +the blood spurted out. He immediately swabbed the cut, and presumably +forgot it. But Q did not forget so quickly. He found himself much +engaged in speculating about it, drawing the inference that all the +reddish projections on the body are full of blood, that, indeed, the +body is a reservoir of blood; and that the reddish formations are in +danger of being punctured, so the blood will spurt out and run off. + +Q had previously seen his father naked in the bathtub, and he thought +that his father had rubbed soap over his nipples with the palm of his +hand and not with the fingers, from which he concluded that the nipples +must be especially tender, and whenever he washed himself, Q carefully +avoided his own nipples and massaged them most delicately with the palm +of his hand. + +His brother had the habit of biting his finger nails until the blood +came, and the family reproached him for it, prophesying that all sorts +of infections might set in. Q began to expect that something disastrous +would happen, and he was not altogether averse to having it happen +because of his jealousy of the brother. But it came with a great shock +when his brother did actually develop an infection, thus confirming his +own suspicions about the necessity for stopping outflows of blood. + +About this time Q was playing with his older sister, and in the course +of a scuffle his hand slid down his sister’s body and over her breast. +Q distinctly felt a nipple catch for a moment beneath his fingers, and +he was instantly terrified for fear that his sister would bleed to +death. The breasts, he thought, must be partly filled reservoirs of +blood, since they were soft and yielding. + +During his fourth year Q’s grandmother died, and he was horrified to +think of what would happen to one he loved. He had seen a photograph of +a reclining nude with a beatific smile and the caption “Death” beneath. +From this he surmised that people were undressed when they died, and +lowered naked into the ground. But he had seen worms in the ground, +and the worms would attack the body. Since the nipples were prominent +and therefore easy to reach, the nipples would be eaten through first. +He shuddered to think of the worms gnawing away at his grandmother’s +nipples, and sometimes woke up in a fright, having dreamed that the +worms were biting off his own nipples. + +Once Q came running into his aunt’s house and discovered a small infant +cousin nursing at the breast. His aunt hastily readjusted her dress. +Because of the care with which the breasts were guarded from exposure +by his mother, sister, and aunt, he leaped to the conclusion that they +had something to do with the secret relations of men and women. + +He had all sorts of trouble trying to figure out how these relations +were conducted, but when he was about eight he originated a theory that +temporarily solved the problem. Q figured that a man and woman must lie +on the bed with their faces close together. The male would then squeeze +the breasts, alternately pressing and releasing them, as if they were +balloons. Then they turned over and rubbed their anuses together. Not +long after, he completed his theory of procreation by imagining that +children must be born through a hole in the stomach from which the +blood gushed copiously. The cutting must be very painful and bloody. + +Haunted by the fearful prospect of a world which might at any time +knock a hole in his body and deprive him of blood, Q was a bundle of +excessive timidities. He was afraid of his grandmother’s cat, he ran +to his mother if he saw a dog, and he was afraid that a horse would +bite off his hand if he fed it. He hated to watch a ball game for fear +a foul tip would hit him, and he avoided bugs, worms, and lizards +like the plague. Q never put up a fight outside the house, and cried +when the other boys of the neighborhood bullied him. Sometimes he was +taunted as a Jew but he never fought back, much to the disgust of his +father. His forebodings spread to thunder, lightning, fire, redness, +and numerous articles of food. + +In marked contrast to his cringing demeanor abroad was his attitude +toward the older brother, ten years his senior. Time after time he +would pick a quarrel and pummel the older youth, until the brother +tired of the situation and gave him a sharp blow. Thereupon he went +to someone for comfort. Q’s father felt that the older boy might be a +little rough, but that the little fellow had something coming to him. +The mother was uniformly comforting, although she reproved both boys +for not behaving as brothers should. + +The boys were profoundly hostile to each other, although usually +cordial. The older brother made himself conspicuous for his tenderness +during a serious illness of Q, running errands with alacrity, and +watching constantly by the bedside. When it became clear that Q would +live, the older boy’s devotion stopped abruptly, indicating the +unconscious basis of the exaggerated reaction. He was overreacting +against a death wish against his brother as an intruder between him and +the mother. + +Q envied the achievements of his older brother, and often compared +himself unfavorably with him. The older boy not only stood at the +head of his classes, but earned his way by playing the violin. +Although Q stayed at the head of his classes, he was by no means as +self-supporting as his brother. The brother-hatred appeared in such +dreams as: + + _Dream 1._--My brother is getting married. He is in a dress suit. A + long line of young men in dress suits are coming up to congratulate + him. As the first one reaches out his hand, he falls backward and + all the others fall over one another like tenpins. + + _Dream 2._--My brother and I are walking down the street near + home. I hear a scream. An Italian is chasing a woman with a baby + who seeks refuge in a store. The Italian knocks her down. Then my + brother goes into the store and tries to deal with the Italian, but + is knocked down. I enter and knock down the Italian. + +The brother-jealousy is of secondary significance in Q’s history. The +crux of the blood-phobia was a critical experience whose traumatic +effects were due to the strength of the affects which were mobilized +and repressed. Q slept with his father, and the blood-letting incident +aroused his slumbering desire for the death of his father and his own +active fear of suffering mutilation (castration). Blood derived its +significance because it involved a reinstatement of the most acute +phase of the conflict. To escape from it, Q fainted unless he succeeded +in getting out of the sight of blood at once. It is noteworthy that +Q did not at once faint when the razor cut the pimple; it was not +until the elaboration of the fantasy had continued, and the affects +had become greatly concentrated, that the blood came to signalize +an instant and overwhelming emergency from which a kind of suicide +(fainting) was the only escape. + +The following terse dream expresses something of the underlying +situation: + + _Dream 3._--I am looking down a city street which is covered with + snow and lighted by street lights. The President of the United + States is walking along the street and suddenly slips and falls. My + attention is then called to a place farther down the street where + two tumblers are leaping over a rope stretched across the street. + They are leaping backward and forward with a curious mechanical + motion. + +The rhythmic leaping is a pictorial symbol for the pulsations of +genital excitement. The President is an authority substitute for the +father. When the father is out of the way, genital activity will become +safe. Since the father prescribes sexual abstinence (abstinence from +handling the genitals), this expresses a desire to give greater freedom +to the repressed impulses of the subject’s character. The repressed +positive identification with the brother shows itself in opposing two +tumblers instead of one to the father. + + _Dream 4._--A goose or ducklike creature is being chased back and + forth across the road by two dogs. The creature has a red bill + and head, a blue back and wing feathers, and a white breast. The + white, fuzzy dogs chase the animal back and forth but do not reach + it because of their overanxiety. After two round-trips the animal, + which moved with a curiously mechanical motion, runs toward a man + who has come to the door and jumps between his legs. The man is + middle-aged and his hair is white. He is in white pajamas. He says, + “My leg is the leg of weakness; my health is hell....” I am in a + winter coat standing outside the house of a friend of my sister’s + in whom I remember having had a mild interest, but which led to + nothing since she was older than I, and not very attractive. I had + just delivered a valentine. The scene is illuminated by a street + light, and is especially clear because snow is on the ground. The + man in the picture is unknown. + +The odd creature with the red bill and head symbolizes the penis. The +two dogs (brothers) try to capture it, but the father protects it. +However, the hope of achieving masculinity is not wholly dashed because +the old man is growing weaker. + +For some time the productions of Q showed that sexuality was powerfully +linked with death, and that the death was to be his own rather than +that of his father, or simultaneously with the death of his father. +As the castration anxiety lifted, the blood fear abated, and dreams, +word-associations, posture, and other significant reactions altered +toward greater ease and assertiveness. + +We have seen that well-rationalized theories and preferences are not +alien fungi on the personality, but an important expression of the +essential trends of the personality. Thus theories are at least as +indicative of the individual who espouses them as of the ostensible +subjects of speculation. Pessimism, for example, is common in old age, +when the sexual powers decline and the individual projects upon the +world the sinfulness which he feels for wanting to indulge beyond his +powers, and defy his inadequacy. The mechanism of this sort of thing +stands out most clearly in extreme cases, such as R. R believed that +the world was going from bad to worse and that wars and rumors of wars +were devastating the earth. He spent so many hours over a plan to +secure the peace of the world forevermore that he developed a confusion +state. He would go out in a park, find a secluded spot and weep over +the troubles of the world as Jesus wept over Jerusalem. One day in +passing a market he saw some chickens in a coop without any water. +The cruelty of this was more than he could bear, so he went home and +went to bed. His ideas were that he had been chosen to work out the +salvation of the world, and that he had been endowed with unusual, +indeed supernatural, understanding of men’s motives, and special power +to heal insanity. + +R elaborated a private form of religion. He said that he was worshiping +the sun as God, as a symbol of Christ and truth (actually, of masculine +virility). When it became necessary for him to commune with his spirit, +he was in the habit of facing the sun and repeating a litany of his +invention, which ran: + + To the sun, the heart of the world! It warmeth the earth with its + loveliness. Glory to God! It riseth in the east, lighting the dark + corners of ignorance and wickedness. Glory to God! It chaseth the + darkness before it like the host of Syria before the children of + Israel. Glory to God! It chaseth the darkness before it like the + host of Syria before the children of Israel. Glory to God! etc., + etc. + +He began to chant, and then assumed an exalted, heroic pose, with his +arms and head thrown back. Presently he felt that a big storm was +coming that would ruin the world. The world is like a giant serpent, a +serpent asleep. + +R’s story is not sufficiently detailed to show much about the +development of those reaction patterns which disposed him to meet +old age in such a way. He was the only child of a poverty-stricken +family who played by himself and got on well with his books. Some +local lawyers took an interest in him and helped him through school. +He read law and was admitted to the bar. After making a precarious +living for a number of years, he was elected to various local offices, +and then to Congress. He was reputed to be an impractical dreamer, and +enjoyed making rather fanciful speeches. His legislative career as +recorded in the _Congressional Record_ was undistinguished, containing +the usual quota of pension bills and “extensions of remarks” during +tariff debates. He was opposed to the annexation of the Philippines, +and hostile to imperialism; in this he went along with his party, and +likewise indulged a personal conviction. He practiced law desultorily, +after having been defeated for the legislature, and devoted himself to +study and writing. His one published volume is a vague disquisition on +human affairs, which accurately reflects the indeterminate, rhetorical, +and meliorative quality of his thinking. He married a woman of his own +age when he was a young man. There were no children. + +When the paranoid rather than the manic-depressive strain runs through +the character, nebulous and all-embracing pessimism about the world +is sharpened to specific accusations. Everyone who is prominent in +public life is a potential object of such attacks. One might hazard +the conjecture that the importance of an individual in the community’s +estimation may be measured by the number of “crank” letters to him and +about him. One such crank, S, wrote a trunkful of letters accusing +public men of graft, of being dominated by “Big Biz,” and offering +suggestions to government officials. He complained of being persecuted +and victimized by prominent people, especially by Harry F. Sinclair, +the oil man. This was attributed by him to the fact that he had written +a letter to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court calling His Honor’s +attention to the Teapot Dome scandal which was being ventilated in the +press, and naming Mr. Sinclair as the responsible party. Since then Mr. +Sinclair had prevented him from getting a job, and paid his own sister +to throw him out on the street. During his divorce proceedings he +wrote to the American Bar Association to protest against the “shyster +lawyers” who were representing his wife, and claims that Mr. Taft and +Mr. Root answered him in the papers the following day. When Mr. John +W. Davis was a presidential candidate he wrote to him, describing the +various attacks to which he, S, had been subjected. Mr. Davis neglected +to reply and did nothing about it, so S prevented his election, and +feels that Mr. Coolidge owes him something for being elected. “I wrote +to Hearst and I believe that turned the trick.” In this letter he +divulged the fact that Mr. Davis was connected with Wall Street, and +this hint was enough to arouse Mr. Hearst. In reply to the routine +question, “What is going on in the world?” he answered, “More deviltry +than there ever was before.” + +Unfortunately the history is too meager to explain S’s development, +except by analogy with others who have displayed the same behavior. +Certainly his life-story would, if accessible, reveal the effects of a +disorganizing family environment. We do know that his father was drunk +much of the time, and that the children had an unhappy lot. At five S +went to live with his grandparents who wanted to take him away from +his drunken father. At about fifteen he came back for a while. Shortly +afterward he saved his sister from being strangled to death by their +father, who in a drunken tantrum had her by the neck against the wall. +S became a good mechanic, but disintegrated in later life. + +Another “crank” devised an ingenious theory to explain President +Wilson’s conduct. T says that he discovered that Mr. Wilson was not +a citizen of the United States. He first made this revelation on his +draft questionnaire, and when this became generally known, Mr. Wilson +went to France to escape the anger of the enraged citizenry of the +United States; later Mr. Wilson fell ill of a guilty conscience at new +revelations that he made. Mr. Wilson was part of the Masonic conspiracy +which had been hatched against him when he was very young. T’s +stepfather, who was a Shriner, probably furnishes the material for this +delusion. As for T himself, he believed that he descended directly from +Mary, Queen of Scots, and that he had foreknowledge of the approaching +end of the world. The members of the millennium are “a creed and not a +denomination,” and only twenty million people will be saved, over whom +T will rule. + + * * * * * + +From the excerpts included, it appears that the significance of +political opinions is not to be grasped apart from the private +motives which they symbolize. The degree of insight into objective +relationships is one thing; the extent to which “private meanings” are +accreted to the “public” or “manifest” meanings is another. When we +see the private meaning of public acts, the problem of interpreting +the full significance of political behavior presses itself upon our +attention. Are there any implications for the general theory of +the political process which follow from the intensive scrutiny of +individual subjective (and objective) histories? This is the question +to which we next turn. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE POLITICS OF PREVENTION + + +Political movements derive their vitality from the displacement of +private affects upon public objects. The intensive scrutiny of the +individual by psychopathological methods discloses the prime importance +of hitherto-neglected motives in the determination of political traits +and beliefs. The adult who is studied at any given cross-section of +his career is the product of a long and gradual development in the +course of which many of his motivations fail to modify according to the +demands of unfolding reality. The adult is left with an impulse life +which is but partially integrated to adulthood. Primitive psychological +structures continue in more or less disguised form to control his +thought and effort. + +The state is a symbol of authority, and as such is the legatee of +attitudes which have been organized in the life of the individual +within the intimate interpersonal sphere of the home and friendship +group. At one phase of childhood development the wisdom and might of +the physical symbol of authority, typically the father, is enormously +exaggerated by the child. Eder traces the significance of this for the +state in the following words: + + What occurs as we come more in touch with the external world, when + the principle of reality develops, is the finding of surrogates for + this ideal father. We discover that the parent is not all-wise, + all-powerful, all-good, but we still need to find persons or + abstractions upon which we can distribute these and similar + attributes. By a process of fission these feelings are displaced + on to and may be distributed among a number of surrogates. The + surrogates may be persons, animals, things or abstract ideas; the + headmaster, the dog, the rabbit, the Empire, the Aryan race, or any + particular “ism.” + +He comments that it is upon this self-ideal that is formed the +possibility of leadership, of leaders, and of the supreme leader, +who is the one capable of doing all that the child once thought the +physical father could do. The unconscious motivation is reflected in +the sober formula of Blackstone, “The sovereign is not only incapable +of doing wrong, but even of thinking wrong: he can never mean to do an +improper thing; in him is no folly or weakness.”[45] + +There is very deep meaning in the phrase of Paley’s that “a family +contains the rudiments of an empire.” The family experience organizes +very powerful drives in successive levels of integration, and these +primitive attitudes are often called into play as the unobserved +partners of rational reactions. To choose another extract from Eder: + + The behaviour of the elected or representative politician betrays + many characteristics derived from the family. For example, during + the time I filled a political job in Palestine I noticed in myself + (and in my colleagues) the satisfaction it gave me to have secret + information, knowledge which must on no account be imparted to + others. Of course good reasons were always to be found: the people + would misuse the information or it would depress them unduly + and so on--pretty exactly the parent’s attitude about imparting + information, especially of a sexual nature, to the children.... + + At the back of secret diplomacy, and indeed the whole relationship + of the official to the non-official, there rests this father-child + affect. This also serves to explain the passion aroused in former + days by any proposed extension of the franchise. + +In the sphere of political dogma, unconscious conflicts play the same +rôle which Theodor Reik discussed when he drew a parallel between +religious dogma and obsessive ideas.[46] Dogma is a defensive reaction +against doubt in the mind of the theorist, but of doubt of which he is +unaware. The unconscious hatred of authority discloses itself in the +endless capacity of the theorist to imagine new reasons for disbelief, +and in his capacity to labor over trivialities, and to reduce his whole +intellectual scheme to a logical absurdity. Sometimes this appears in a +cryptic formula to which some sort of mysterious potency is ascribed, +but which is hopelessly contradictory in so far as it possesses +any manifest meaning. The celebrated doctrine of the unity of the +trinity is an instance of such culminating nonsense. Words lose their +rational reference points and become packed with unconscious symbolism +of the ambivalent variety. The description of sovereignty found in +Blackstone refers to nothing palpable, and functions principally as an +incantation. Much solemn juridical speculation, since so much of it is +elaborated by obsessive thinkers, ends thus. Deep doubts about the self +are displaced on to doubts about the world outside, and these doubts +are sought to be allayed by ostentatious preoccupation with truth. + +Defiance of authority is defiance of the introjected conscience, and +involves a measure of self-punishment. We have seen how a powerful need +for self-punishment is the stuff out of which martyrs and sensational +failures are made; but of more general importance is the rôle of +the sense of guilt in supporting the _status quo_. Deviation from +accepted patterns becomes equivalent to sin, and the conscience visits +discomforts upon those who dare to innovate. Radical ideas become +“sacrilegious” and “disloyal” in the view of the primitive conscience, +for they tend to represent more than a limited defiance of authority. +They put the whole structure of the personality under strain. The +childish conscience is easily intimidated into preserving order on +slight provocation; it knows little of the capacity to consider the +piecemeal reconstruction of values. “Radicalism” is felt as a challenge +to the whole system of resistances which are binding down the illicit +impulses of the personality, rather than as an opportunity for detached +consideration of the relation of the self to the rest of reality. There +is little boldness in political thinking which is not accompanied by an +overdose of defiance, for even those who succeed in breaking through +the intimidations of their infantile consciences must often succumb in +some measure and “pay out.” Much of the struggle, the fearful _Sturm +und Drang_ of the emancipated thinker, is his unconscious tribute to +the exactions of the tribunal which he erected within himself at an +early age, and which continues to treat innovation as _ipso facto_ +dangerous. The non-obsessive thinker is one who can coolly contemplate +revisions in the relations of man to reality unperturbed by his +antiquated conscience. Often readjustments of human affairs which are +proposed are driven to absurdity because the original mind is compelled +to transform his mere departure from the conventional into a defiance +of conventionality. When one perceives the operation of this powerful +self-punishment drive, and the secondary efforts to free one’s self +from feelings of guilt for defying the authorized order, it is possible +to remain understandingly tolerant of the eccentricities of creative +minds. To put the point a bit sharply, it is safe to say that the +adult mind is only partly adult; the conscience may be four years old. +The conscience, the introjected nursemaid, reacts undiscriminatingly to +change, and construes it as rebellion. + +The organization of motives which occurs in adolescence possesses +direct significance for the interpretation of political interests. + +The physical and mental storm of puberty and adolescence often +culminates in the displacement of loves upon all humanity or a +selected part of it, and in acts of devotion to the whole. It is here +that the fundamental processes of loyalty are most clearly evident +as they relate to public life. S. Bernfeld has written extensively +on the psychology of the German youth movement. He comments on the +very different lengths of puberty, and distinguishes between the +physical and the psychological processes. When the psychological +processes outlive the physical ones, certain characteristic reaction +types arise. Dr. Bernfeld believes that the discrepant type prevails +most characteristically in the youth movement, and he enumerates its +characteristics. The interests of this group are turned toward “ideal” +objects like politics, humanity, and art. The relation to these objects +is productive, since the youth tries to produce a new form of politics +or art. There is always a great deal of self-confidence present, or +many symptoms of a repression that has failed. This is expressed in +the high opinion of one’s self and the low opinion one holds of his +companions. An outstanding individual, the friend or master, is loved +and revered. Often this love for a friend is extended to the whole +group. The sexual components of the personality do not concentrate on +finding objects, but in creating a new narcissistic situation. Bernfeld +distinguishes this secondary narcissism from infantile narcissism on +the ground that it is accompanied by deep depression reminiscent of +melancholia. The reason lies in the formation of an ideal self that +attracts a great part of the libido and enters into contrast with the +real ego, a process which is particularly characteristic of the complex +or discrepant type which he found in the youth movement.[47] + +Political life seems to sublimate many homosexual trends. Politicians +characteristically work together in little cliques and clubs, and many +of them show marked difficulties in reaching a stable heterosexual +adjustment. In military life, when men are thrown together under +intimate conditions, the sublimations often break down and the +homosexual drives find direct expression. A German general has gone so +far as to declare that one reason why Germany lost the war was that +the command was shot through with jealousies growing out of homosexual +rivalry. Dr. K. G. Heimsoth has prepared a manuscript describing the +rôle of homosexuality in the volunteer forces which continued to +operate against the Poles and the communists after the war. In the case +of certain leaders, at least, the reputation for overt homosexuality +was no handicap; indeed, the reverse seemed to be true. Franz Alexander +has suggested that one reason why homosexuality is viewed with contempt +in modern life is the vague sense that complex cultural achievement +depends on an inhibited sexuality, and that direct gratification +tends to dissolve society into self-satisfied pairs and cliques. The +observations of Heimsoth throw some doubt on the wisdom of this “vague +sense.”[48] The prominence of alcoholism and promiscuity among like-sex +groups has often been observed, and both indulgences appear to be +closely connected with homosexual impulses.[49] + +Political crises are complicated by the concurrent reactivation +of specific primitive impulses. War is the classical situation in +which the elementary psychological structures are no longer held in +subordination to complex reactions. The acts of cruelty and lust which +are inseparably connected with war have disclosed vividly to all who +care to see the narrow margin which separates the social from the +asocial nature of man. The excesses of heroism and abnegation are alike +primitive in their manifestations, and show that all the primitive +psychological structures are not antisocial, but asocial, and may often +function on behalf of human solidarity.[50] + +Why does society become demoralized in the process of revolution? Why +should a change in the political procedures of the community unleash +such excesses in behavior? Reflection might lead one to suppose +that since important decisions are in process of being made, calm +deliberation would characterize society. Evidently a reactivating +process is at work here; there is a regressive tendency to reawaken +primitive sadism and lust. The conspicuous disproportionality between +the problem and the behavior necessitates an explanation in such +terms. Federn published a sketch of the psychology of revolution in +his pamphlet _Die vaterlose Gesellschaft_ in 1919. When the ruler +falls, the unconscious triumphantly interprets this as a release from +all constraint, and the individuals in the community who possess the +least solidified personality structures are compulsively driven to acts +of theft and violence. An interview which Federn gave to Edgar Ansel +Mowrer in 1927 on the occasion of the Vienna riots reviews in somewhat +popular form some of his conceptions. + + Vienna, Austria, July 20.--“Distrust of father was the chief + cause of the Vienna riot,” said Paul Federn, onetime president of + the Psychoanalytical Society. From a psychoanalytical standpoint + all authority is the father, and this formerly for Austria was + incorporated in the imposing figure of Emperor Franz Josef. But + during the war the father deceived and maltreated his children, and + only the material preoccupations of life and the joyous outburst + when at the close of the war the old authority broke asunder + prevented Austria from having a revolution then. + + The state again built up the old ruling caste and began to hope for + restoration, and therefore an abyss opened between Vienna, which + under socialist leadership is trying to replace the traditional + father principle by a new brotherhood, and the Austrian federal + state, which had returned to a modified father idea. Trust in + father is the child’s deepest instinct. Vienna first respected the + Austrian republic, but gradually this belief was undermined by the + continual misery, by newspapers preaching fanaticism and by legal + decisions which virtually destroyed the people’s belief in the new + father’s justice. + + Accordingly there occurred a spontaneous manifestation which + unconsciously drove the disillusioned and furious children to + destroy precisely those things on which the paternal authority + seems to rest--namely, records and legal documents. + + Why the peaceful Viennese should suddenly be transformed + temporarily into mad beasts is also clear to the psychoanalysts. + Had the police offered no resistance the crowd would soon have + dispersed and no harm would have been done. But once the police + fired blood flowed and the mob reacted savagely, responding to + the ancient fear of castration by the father which is present in + all of us unconsciously in the face of the punishing authority. + Therefore, fear grew along with the violence, each increase leading + to new violence and greater fear, as appeasement can only follow a + complete outbreak and as the inhabitants were widely scattered in + their houses it took three days before the last hatred could fully + get out. + + One further point can only be explained by psychoanalysis. The + social democratic leaders are at heart revolutionary, but they + did not wish this demonstration. They realized that revolution in + little Austria today would be suicidal, and, therefore, at a given + moment called out the republican guard with orders to interfere and + prevent violence. The guard arrived much too late. + + Why did not the leaders send out the guard at 6 a.m. when they knew + the demonstration was beginning? They say they “forgot.” This is + _a flagrant_ example of unconscious forgetfulness. The socialists + forgot to take the only step which could have prevented something + which they consciously disapproved, but unconsciously desired. + + The Vienna riots were in the deepest sense a family row.[51] + +Eder speculates about the unconscious factors in the well-known +tendency of certain political alternatives to succeed one another in +crude pendulum fashion. + + I think it was Mr. Zangwill who once said that it is a principle + of the British Constitution that the King can do no wrong and his + ministers no right. That is to say, the ambivalency originally + experienced toward the father is now split; the sentiment of + disloyalty, etc., is displaced on to the King’s ministers, or + on to some of them, or on to the opposition.... Modern society + has discovered the principle of election, and the vote to + give expression to the hostile feelings toward their rulers. + Psychoanalytically an election may be regarded as the sublimation + of regicide (primary parricide) with the object of placing oneself + on the throne; the vote is like a repeating decimal; the father + is killed but never dies. The ministers are our substitutes for + ourselves. Hence the political maxim of the swing of the pendulum. + +Alexander and Staub have undertaken to explain the unconscious basis +of the crisis which is produced in the community when criminals are +permitted to go with no punishment or with light punishment. The study +of personality genesis shows that the sublimation of primitive impulses +is possible on the basis of a kind of primitive “social contract.” The +individual foregoes direct indulgences (which have the disadvantage +of bringing him into conflict with authority), and substitutes more +complex patterns of behavior on the tacit understanding that love and +safety will thereby be insured. When another individual breaks over +and gratifies his illicit impulses directly on a primitive level, the +equilibrium of every personality is threatened. The conscious self +perceives that it is possible to “get by,” and this threatens the +whole structure of sublimation. The superego tries to maintain order +by directing energy against the ego, perhaps subjecting it to “pricks +of conscience,” for so much as entertaining the possibility of illicit +gratification, and seeks to turn the ego toward activities which reduce +temptation. This may involve the reconstruction of the environment +by seeking to eliminate the “non-ideal” elements in it, and may be +exemplified in the panicky demand for the annihilation of the outsider +(who is a criminal) for the sake of keeping the chains on the insider +(who is a criminal). Every criminal is a threat to the whole social +order since he reinstates with more or less success an acute conflict +within the lives of all members of society. The success of the superego +depends upon imposing certain ways of interpreting reality upon the +self. When reality grossly refuses to conform to the “ideal,” the +energies of the self are divided, and an acute crisis supervenes. The +superego undertakes to reinforce its side of the contradictory ego +trends by punishing the ego, and by forcing the projection of this +situation upon the outer world. Certain aspects of the outer world +become “bad” because they are connected in private experience with the +pangs inflicted by the taskmaster within, the conscience. A strong +conscience may enforce this “distortion” of reality upon the self +to such a degree that the self acts on quite fantastic assumptions +about reality. These are most acutely manifested in such phenomena as +confusion states, hallucinations, and delusions, all of which are forms +of deformed reality. When reality becomes “ominous,” violent efforts to +change may appear futile, and safety is sought in physical flight, or +in physical passivity and autistic preoccupation. Since our conceptions +of reality are based upon little “first-hand” experience of the world +about us, the superego usually has a rather easy time of it. + +Political movements, then, derive their vitality from the displacement +of private affects upon public objects, and political crises are +complicated by the concurrent reactivation of specific primitive +motives. Just how does it happen that the private and primitive drives +find their way to political symbols? What are the circumstances which +favor the selection of political targets of displacement? + +Political life is carried on with symbols of the whole. Politics has +to do with collective processes and public acts, and so intricate are +these processes that with the best of intentions, it is extremely +difficult to establish an unambiguous relationship between the symbols +of the whole and the processes which they are presumed to designate. To +the common run of mankind the reference points of political symbols are +remote from daily experience, though they are rendered familiar through +constant reiteration. This ambiguity of reference, combined with +universality of use, renders the words which signify parties, classes, +nations, institutions, policies, and modes of political participation +readily available for the displacement of private affects. The +manifest, rational differences of opinion become complicated by the +play of private motives until the symbol is nothing but a focus for +the cumulation of irrelevancies. Since the dialectic of politics is +conducted in terms of the whole, the private motives are readily +rationalized in terms of collective advantage. + +Politics, moreover, is the sphere of conflict, and brings out all the +vanity and venom, the narcissism and aggression, of the contending +parties. It is becoming something of a commonplace that politics is +the arena of the irrational. But a more accurate description would be +that politics is the process by which the irrational bases of society +are brought out into the open. So long as the moral order functions +with spontaneous smoothness, there is no questioning the justification +of prevailing values. But when the moral order has been devalued and +called into question, a sincere and general effort may be made to find +a reflectively defensible solution of the resulting conflict. Politics +seems to be irrational because it is the only phase of collective life +in which society tries to be rational. Its very existence shows that +the moral order, with all its irrational and non-rational sanctions, is +no longer accepted without a challenge. A political difference is the +outcome of a moral crisis, and it terminates in a new moral consensus. +Politics is the transition between one unchallenged consensus and the +next. It begins in conflict and eventuates in a solution. But the +solution is not the “rationally best” solution, but the emotionally +satisfactory one. The rational and dialectical phases of politics are +subsidiary to the process of redefining an emotional consensus. + +Although the dynamic of politics is to be sought in the tension level +of the individuals in society, it is to be taken for granted that +all individual tensions are not removed by political symbolization +and exertion. When Y hits a foreman in the jaw whom he imagines has +insulted him, Y is relieving his tensions. But if the act is construed +by him as a personal affair with the foreman, the act is not political. +Political acts are joint acts; they depend upon emotional bonds. + +Now people who act together get emotionally bound together. This +process of becoming emotionally bound is dependent on no conscious +process. Freud said that he was made clearly aware of the emotional +factor in human relations by observing that those who work together +extend their contact to dining and relaxing together. Those with +whom we work are endowed with rich meanings on the basis of our +past experience with human beings. Since all of our motives are +going concerns within the personality, our libido is more or less +concentrated upon those with whom we come in touch. This reinforces +the perception of similarities, and supplies the dynamic for the +identification process. Even the negative identification is a tribute +to the extent to which the affective resources of the personality +become mobilized in human contact. + +People who are emotionally bound together are not yet involved in a +political movement. Politics begins when they achieve a symbolic +definition of themselves in relation to demands upon the world. The +pre-political phase of the labor movement as sketched by Nexo in his +_Pelle the Conqueror_ is an able characterization of what the facts may +be. The workers had plenty of grievances against their employers, but +individuals took it out in sporadic acts of violence, and in frequent +debauchery. It was not until a new “set” of mind was achieved with the +appearance of socialist symbols, and their adoption, that the tension +found an outlet in political form. When J hits a foreman on the jaw +because the foreman swore at him, J is not acting for the working +classes; but after J becomes a socialist, his acts are symbolically +significant of the expanded personality which he possesses. Acts cease +to be merely private acts; they have become related to remote social +objects. The conception of the self has new points of reference, and +points of reference which interlock with those of others. + +It is of the utmost importance to political science to examine in +detail, not only the factors which contribute to the raising and +lowering of the tension level, but the processes of symbolization. In +regard to the former aspect of the problem, data will have to be taken +from specialists of many kinds, but in regard to the latter problem, +the student can come into ready contact with the raw material. The +stock in trade of realistic politics is the analysis of the history of +“pressure groups,” ranging from such associations as the Fabian Society +through political parties to conspirative organizations. What are the +conditions under which the idea is itself invented, and what are the +conditions of its propagation? That is to say: What are the laws of +symbolization in political activity? + +I wish to call attention to certain possibilities. Several social +movements will be found which represent a desire on the part of an +intimate circle to perpetuate their relationship at the expense of +society. It is worth remembering that Loyola and the other young men +who founded the Jesuits were in long friendly relationship before +they hit upon their famous project. Not only that: they were anxious +to remain in some sort of personal relation through life, and they +invented many expedients before they hit on the final one. What we had +here was a friendly group which desired to preserve their personal +connections before they knew how they could actually do it. It is less +true to say that institutions are the lengthened shadow of a great man +than that they are the residue of a friendly few. + +Other social movements will be found to have adopted their project +from a lone thinker with whom they have no direct connection. The +process here is that one member of the group, with whom the others are +identified, is impressed by the scheme, and interprets and defends it +to the others. He gets a hearing because of his emotional claim on +the others, and he may whip the doubters and waverers into line by +wheedling or by threatening to withdraw affection. + +The formation of a radiating nucleus for an idea is especially common +among adolescents, and among those who function best in single-sex +groups. Thrasher has described gangs which had a mission in his book +on _The Gang_, and the literature of youth study is full of instances +of two’s, three’s and quartettes which have sworn undying fealty to +one another, and to a project of social reform. When the idea is +embraced later in life it not infrequently appears among those who have +shown pronounced evidence of emotional maladjustment. Much social +and political life is a symptom of the delayed adolescence of its +propagators, which is, of course, no necessary criticism of its content. + +The psychology of personal, oratorical, and printed persuasion by means +of which support is won for particular symbols has yet to be written. +William I. Thomas long ago commented on the quasi-sexual approach +of the revivalist to the audience. Some orators are of an intimate, +sympathetic, pleading type, and resemble the attempts made by some +males to overcome the shyness of the female. Other orators fit into +the feared yet revered father-pattern; others are clowns who amuse by +releasing much repressed material; others address the socially adjusted +and disciplined level of the personality. Thus the relationship between +the speaker and the audience has its powerful emotional aspects, +which are not yet adequately explored. There are some who excel in +face-to-face relations, but who make a poor showing out on the platform. + +The processes of symbolization can be studied with particular ease +when widespread and disturbing changes occur in the life-situation of +many members of society. Famine, pestilence, unemployment, high living +costs, and a catalogue of other disturbances may simultaneously produce +adjustment problems for many people. One of the first results is to +release affects from their previous objects, and to create a state of +susceptibility to proposals. All sorts of symbols are ready, or readily +invented, to refix the mobile affects. “Take it to the Lord in prayer,” +“Vote socialist,” “Down with the Jews,” “Restore pep with pepsin,” “Try +your luck on the horses”--all sorts of alternatives become available. +The prescriptions are tied up with diagnoses, and the diagnoses in +turn imply prescriptions. “A sinful world,” “Wall Street,” “a collapse +in the foreign market”--all sorts of diagnoses float about, steadily +defining and redefining the situation for the individuals affected. +Political symbols must compete with symbols from every sphere of life, +and an interesting inquiry could be made into the relative polarizing +power of political and other forms of social symbolism. Certainly the +modern world expects to fire the health commissioner rather than burn a +witch when the plague breaks out. + +The competition among symbols to serve as foci of concentration for +the aroused emotions of the community leads to the survival of a small +number of master-symbols. The mobilization of the community for action +demands economy in the terms in which objectives are put. The agitation +for the control of the liquor traffic passed through many phases in +America until finally legal prohibition became the chief dividing-line. +To prohibit or not to prohibit grew into the overmastering dichotomy of +public thought. + +Symbolization thus necessitates dichotomization. The program of social +action must be couched in “yes” and “no” form if decision is to be +possible. The problem of he who would manipulate the concentration +of affect about a particular symbol is to reinforce its competitive +power by leading as many elements as possible in society to read +their private meanings into it. This reinforcement and facilitation +of the symbol involves the use of men of prestige in its advocacy, +the assimilation of special economic and other group aims, and the +invention of appeals to unconscious drives. Propaganda on behalf of a +symbol can become a powerful factor in social development because of +the flexibility in the displacement of emotion from one set of symbols +to another. There is always a rather considerable reservoir of unrest +and discontent in society, and there is nothing absolutely fixed and +predestined about the particular symbol which will have attracting +power. + +The analysis of motives which are unconscious for most people, though +widespread, gives the propagandist a clue to certain nearly universal +forms of appeal. The moving pictures which have been produced by the +communist government in Russia are often remarkable examples of the use +of symbols which not only have their conscious affective dimension, but +which mobilize deep unconscious impulses. In one film, for instance, it +is the mother who suffers under tsarism and fans the flames of revolt. +Analysis has disclosed the general, and presumably universal, meaning +of the attachment to the land. The boy-child’s wish for union with the +mother, for all-embracing care and protection, undergoes some measure +of sublimation in social life. Eder remarks that it finds expression +in attachment to the earth, the land, the mother-country, home. The +_Heimweh_ of the Swiss, the pious Jew’s desire for burial in Palestine, +and a host of similar manifestations are instances of this emotional +tie whose significance for state loyalty is large. + +At first sight it might appear questionable that political science +can ever profit from the disclosure of motives which are supposed to +operate in the unconscious of every human being. If these motives +are equally operative, how can they throw any light on differences +in political behavior? And are we not able to point to conditions of +a more localized and definite nature which suitably explain why the +Republican party loses out when the farmer loses his crops? Or why +there is revolution in 1918 and not in 1925? + +The mere fact that motives are more or less universal does not +mean that they are always activated with the same intensity. They +may block one another, until some exciting condition disturbs the +adjustment and releases stores of energy. Indeed, the exploration of +unconscious motivation lays the basis for the understanding of the +well-known disproportionality between responses and immediate stimuli, +a disproportionality which has been the subject of much puzzled and +satiric comment. Farmers do vote against the Republicans when the crops +fail through adverse weather conditions, although reflection would tend +to minimize the possibility that the party in power exercises much +authority over the weather. Oversights in personal relations which seem +very slight do actually give rise to huge affective reactions. The clue +to the magnitude of this notorious disproportionality is to be found +in the nature of the deeper (earlier) psychological structures of the +individual. By the intensive analysis of representative people, it is +possible to obtain clues to the nature of these “unseen forces,” and to +devise ways and means of dealing with them for the accomplishment of +social purposes. + +Modern democratic society is accustomed to the settlement of +differences in discussion and in voting. This is a special form of +politics, for differences may also be settled with a minimum of +discussion and a maximum of coercion. In its modern manifestation, +democracy and representative government have enthroned “government by +discussion,” that is, “government by public opinion.” President Lowell +some time ago pointed out that public opinion could only be said to +exist where constitutional principles were agreed upon. Differences +must be treated as defined within an area of agreement. Democratic +and representative institutions presuppose the existence of the +public which is made up of all those who follow affairs and expect to +determine policy in discussion and by measures short of coercion. The +public has a common focus of attention, a consensus on constitutional +principles, and a zone of tolerance for conflicting demands respecting +social policy. + +When debate is admissible, some standards of right are tacitly admitted +to be uncertain. The zone of the debatable is not fixed and immutable, +but flexible and shifting. Questions rise and debate proceeds; and +presently the resulting solution is no longer discussible. It has +become sanctified by all the sentiments which buttress the moral order, +and any challenge is met by the unanimous and spontaneous action of the +community in its defense. In the presence of a challenge, the public +may be dissolved into a crowd, by which is meant a group whose members +are emotionally aroused and intolerant of dissent. + +What light does the study of the genesis of personality throw on the +factors which determine which symbols are debatable? What is the +mechanism of the process by which the moral patterns are broken up, +discussed, and eventually reincorporated in more or less modified form +into the moral consensus of the community? + +The growth of emotional bonds among individuals of diverse cultural +and personal traits is the most powerful solvent of the moral order. +A valuable treatise could be constructed on the theme, “Friendship +versus Morality.” It is well-known that governments are continually +handicapped in the impersonal application of a rule by the play of +personal loyalties. Robert E. Park has stressed the importance of +curiosity in the field of interracial relations. In no small measure +this is very primitive curiosity about the sexual structure and +behavior of odd-looking folks. When personal ties are built up, +exceptions are made in favor of the friend; what, indeed, is the +constitution among friends? + +The mechanism is clear by which issues once settled are presently +non-debatable. Growing individuals incorporate the end result into +their own personalities through the process of identification and +introjection. Once a part of the superego of the rising generation, +the moral consensus is complete. Where no dissent is tolerated and +dialectic is impossible, we are dealing with a superego phenomenon. +Certain symbols are sacrosanct, and aspersions upon them produce the +crowd mind and not the public.[52] + +Even this brief sketch of political symbolization has shown ample +grounds for concluding that political demands probably bear but a +limited relevance to social needs. The political symbol becomes ladened +with the residue of successive positive and negative identifications, +and with the emotional charge of displaced private motives. This +accumulation of irrelevancy usually signifies that tension exists in +the lives of many people, and it may possess a diagnostic value to the +objective investigator. The individual who is sorely divided against +himself may seek peace by unifying himself against an outsider. This +is the well-known “peacefulness of being at war.” But the permanent +removal of the tensions of the personality may depend upon the +reconstruction of the individual’s view of the world, and not upon +belligerent crusades to change the world. + +The democratic state depends upon the technique of discussion to +relieve the strains of adjustment to a changing world. If the analysis +of the individual discloses the probable irrelevance of what the person +demands to what he needs (i.e., to that which will produce a permanent +relief of strain), serious doubt is cast upon the efficacy of the +technique of discussion as a means of handling social problems. + +The premise of democracy is that each man is the best judge of his own +interest, and that all whose interests are affected should be consulted +in the determination of policy. Thus the procedure of a democratic +society is to clear the way to the presentation of various demands by +interested parties, leaving the coast clear for bargain and compromise, +or for creative invention and integration. + +The findings of personality research show that the individual is a +poor judge of his own interest. The individual who chooses a political +policy as a symbol of his wants is usually trying to relieve his own +disorders by irrelevant palliatives. An examination of the total state +of the person will frequently show that his theory of his own interests +is far removed from the course of procedure which will give him a happy +and well-adjusted life. Human behavior toward remote social objects, +familiarity with which is beyond the personal experience of but a few, +is especially likely to be a symptomatic rather than a healthy and +reflective adjustment. + +In a sense politics proceeds by the creation of fictitious values. The +person who is solicited to testify to his own interest is stimulated +by the problem put to him to commit himself. The terms in which he +couches his own interest vary according to a multitude of factors, but +whatever the conditioning influences may be, the resulting theory of +his interest becomes invested with his own narcissism. The political +symbol is presumably an instrumental makeshift toward the advancement +of the other values of the personality; but it very quickly ceases to +be an instrumental value, and becomes a terminal value, no longer the +servant but the coequal, or indeed the master. Thus the human animal +distinguishes himself by his infinite capacity for making ends of his +means. + +It should not be hastily assumed that because a particular set of +controversies passes out of the public mind that the implied problems +were solved in any fundamental sense. Quite often the solution is a +magical solution which changes nothing in the conditions affecting the +tension level of the community, and which merely permits the community +to distract its attention to another set of equally irrelevant symbols. +The number of statutes which pass the legislature, or the number of +decrees which are handed down by the executive, but which change +nothing in the permanent practices of society, is a rough index of the +rôle of magic in politics. + +In some measure, of course, discontent is relieved in the very process +of agitating, discussing, and legislating about social changes which in +the end are not substantially affected. Political symbolization has its +catharsis function, and consumes the energies which are released by the +maladaptations of individuals to one another. + +But discussion often leads to modifications in social practice which +complicate social problems. About all that can be said for various +punitive measures resorted to by the community is that they have +presently broken down and ceased to continue the damage which they +began to inflict on society. + +Generalizing broadly, political methods have historically been of three +kinds: the method of violence, of exhortation, and of discussion. +All these methods have the common characteristic that they are to +be applied in the settlement of conflicting demands, and not in the +obviation of conflict. In so far as they rest upon a philosophy, they +identify the problem of politics with the problem of coping with +differences which are sharply drawn. + +The identification of the field of politics with the field of battle, +whether the theater be the frontier or the forum, has produced an +unfortunate warp in the minds of those who manage affairs, or those +who simply think about the management of affairs. The contribution +of politics has been thought to be in the elaboration of the methods +by which conflicts are resolved. This has produced a vast diversion +of energy toward the study of the formal etiquette of government. In +some vague way, the problem of politics is the advancement of the good +life, but this is at once assumed to depend upon the modification of +the mechanisms of government. Democratic theorists in particular have +hastily assumed that social harmony depends upon discussion, and that +discussion depends upon the formal consultation of all those affected +by social policies. + +The time has come to abandon the assumption that the problem of +politics is the problem of promoting discussion among all the interests +concerned in a given problem. Discussion frequently complicates social +difficulties, for the discussion by far-flung interests arouses a +psychology of conflict which produces obstructive, fictitious, and +irrelevant values. The problem of politics is less to solve conflicts +than to prevent them; less to serve as a safety valve for social +protest than to apply social energy to the abolition of recurrent +sources of strain in society. + +This redefinition of the problem of politics may be called the idea +of preventive politics. The politics of prevention draws attention +squarely to the central problem of reducing the level of strain +and maladaptation in society. In some measure it will proceed by +encouraging discussion among all those who are affected by social +policy, but this will be no iron-clad rule. In some measure it will +proceed by improving the machinery of settling disputes, but this will +be subordinated to a comprehensive program, and no longer treated as an +especially desirable mode of handling the situation. + +The recognition that people are poor judges of their own interest is +often supposed to lead to the conclusion that a dictator is essential. +But no student of individual psychology can fail to share the +conviction of Kempf that “Society is _not_ safe.... when it is forced +to follow the dictations of one individual, of one autonomic apparatus, +no matter how splendidly and altruistically it may be conditioned.” +Our thinking has too long been misled by the threadbare terminology of +democracy versus dictatorship, of democracy versus aristocracy. Our +problem is to be ruled by the truth about the conditions of harmonious +human relations, and the discovery of the truth is an object of +specialized research; it is no monopoly of people as people, or of the +ruler as ruler. As our devices of accurate ascertainment are invented +and spread, they are explained and applied by many individuals inside +the social order. Knowledge of this kind is a slow and laborious +accumulation. + +The politics of prevention does not depend upon a series of changes in +the organization of government. It depends upon a reorientation in the +minds of those who think about society around the central problems: +What are the principal factors which modify the tension level of the +community? What is the specific relevance of a proposed line of action +to the temporary and permanent modification of the tension level? + +The politics of prevention will insist upon a rigorous audit of the +human consequences of prevailing political practices. How does politics +affect politicians? One way to consider the human value of social +action is to see what that form of social action does to the actors. +When a judge has been on the bench thirty years, what manner of man has +he become? When an agitator has been agitating for thirty years, what +has happened to him? How do different kinds of political administrators +compare with doctors, musicians, and scientists? Such a set of +inquiries would presuppose that we were able to ascertain the traits +with which the various individuals began to practice their rôle in +society. Were we able to show what certain lines of human endeavor did +to the same reactive type, we would lay the foundation for a profound +change in society’s esteem for various occupations. + +Any audit of the human significance of politics would have to press far +beyond the narrow circle of professional politicians. Crises like wars, +revolutions, and elections enter the lives of people in far-reaching +ways. The effect of crises on mental attitude is an important and +uncertain field. Thus it is reported that during the rebellion of +1745-46 in Scotland there was little hysteria (in the technical +pathological sense). The same was true of the French Revolution and of +the Irish Rebellion. Rush reported in his book _On the Influence of the +American Revolution on the Human Body_ that many hysterical women were +“restored to perfect health by the events of the time.” Havelock Ellis, +who cites these instances, comments that “in such cases the emotional +tension is given an opportunity for explosion in new and impersonal +channels, and the chain of morbid personal emotions is broken.”[53] + +The physical consequences of political symbolism may be made the topic +of investigation from this point of view: + + When the affect can not acquire what it needs, uncomfortable + tensions or anxiety (fear) are felt, and the use of the symbol or + fetish, relieving this anxiety, has a marked physiological value + in that it prevents the adrenal, thyroid, circulatory, hepatic and + pulmonic compensatory strivings from becoming excessive.[54] + +Political programs will continually demand reconsideration in the light +of the factors which current research discloses as bearing upon the +tension level. Franz Alexander recently drew attention to the strains +produced in modern civilization by the growing sphere of purposive +action. He summed up the facts in the process of civilized development +in the following way: “Human expressions of instinct are subject to +a continual tendency to rationalization, that is, they develop more +and more from playful, uncoordinated, purely pleasure efforts into +purposive actions.” The “discomfort of civilization” of which Freud +recently wrote in the _Unbehagen der Kultur_ is characteristic of the +rationalized cultures with which we are acquainted. Life is poor in +libidinal gratifications of the primitive kind which the peasant, +who is in close touch with elementary things, is in a position to +enjoy.[55] Modern life furnishes irrational outlets in the moving +picture and in sensational crime news. But it may be that other means +of relieving the strain of modern living can be invented which will +have fewer drawbacks. + +Preventive politics will search for the definite assessment, then, of +cultural patterns in terms of their human consequences. Some of these +human results will be deplored as “pathological,” while others will +be welcomed as “healthy.” One complicating factor is that valuable +contributions to culture are often made by men who are in other +respects pathological. Many pathological persons are constrained by +their personal difficulties to displace more or less successfully upon +remote problems, and to achieve valuable contributions to knowledge +and social policy.[56] Of course the notion of the pathological is +itself full of ambiguities. The individual who is subject to epileptic +seizures may be considered in one culture not a subnormal and diseased +person, but a supernormal person. Indeed, it may be said that society +depends upon a certain amount of pathology, in the sense that society +does not encourage the free criticism of social life, but establishes +taboos upon reflective thinking about its own presuppositions. If +the individual is pathological to the extent that he is unable to +contemplate any fact with equanimity, and to elaborate impulse through +the processes of thought, it is obvious that society does much to +nurture disease. This leads to the apparent paradox that successful +social adjustment consists in contracting the current diseases. +If “health” merely means a statistical report upon the “average,” +the scrutiny of the individual ceases to carry much meaning for the +modification of social patterns. But if “health” means something more +than “average,” the intensive study of individuals gives us a vantage +ground for the revaluation of the human consequences of cultural +patterns, and the criticism of these patterns.[57] + +If the politics of prevention spreads in society, a different type of +education will become necessary for those who administer society or +think about it. This education will start from the proposition that it +takes longer to train a good social scientist than it takes to train +a good physical scientist.[58] The social administrator and social +scientist must be brought into direct contact with his material in +its most varied manifestations. He must mix with rich and poor, with +savage and civilized, with sick and well, with old and young. His +contacts must be primary and not exclusively secondary. He must have an +opportunity for prolonged self-scrutiny by the best-developed methods +of personality study, and he must laboriously achieve a capacity to +deal objectively with himself and with all others in human society. + +This complicated experience is necessary since our scale of values is +less the outcome of our dialectical than of our other experiences in +life. Values change more by the unconscious redefinition of meaning +than by rational analysis. Every contact and every procedure which +discloses new facts has its repercussions upon the matrix of partially +verbalized experience, which is the seeding ground of conscious ideas. + +One peculiarity of the problem of the social scientist is that he must +establish personal contact with his material. The physical scientist +who works in a laboratory spends more time adjusting his machinery +than in making his observations, and the social scientist who works in +the field must spend more time establishing contacts than in noting +and reporting observations. What the instrumentation technique is to +the physicist, the cultivation of favorable human points of vantage is +for most social scientists. This means that the student of society, as +well as the manager of social relations, must acquire the technique +of social intercourse in unusual degree, unless he is to suffer from +serious handicaps, and his training must be directed with this in mind. + +The experience of the administrator-investigator must include some +definite familiarity with all the elements which bear importantly upon +the traits and interests of the individual. This means that he must +have the most relevant material brought to his attention from the +fields of psychology, psychopathology, physiology, medicine, and social +science. Since our institutions of higher learning are poorly organized +at the present time to handle this program, thorough curricular +reconstructions will be indispensable.[59] + + * * * * * + +What has been said in this chapter may be passed in brief review. +Political movements derive their vitality from the displacement of +private affects upon public objects. Political crises are complicated +by the concurrent reactivation of specific primitive motives which +were organized in the early experience of the individuals concerned. +Political symbols are particularly adapted to serve as targets for +displaced affect because of their ambiguity of reference, in relation +to individual experience, and because of their general circulation. +Although the dynamic of politics is the tension level of individuals, +all tension does not produce political acts. Nor do all emotional bonds +lead to political action. Political acts depend upon the symbolization +of the discontent of the individual in terms of a more inclusive self +which champions a set of demands for social action. + +Political demands are of limited relevance to the changes which will +produce permanent reductions in the tension level of society. The +political methods of coercion, exhortation, and discussion assume that +the rôle of politics is to solve conflicts when they have happened. +The ideal of a politics of prevention is to obviate conflict by the +definite reduction of the tension level of society by effective +methods, of which discussion will be but one. The preventive point +of view insists upon a continuing audit of the human consequences of +social acts, and especially of political acts. The achievement of +the ideal of preventive politics depends less upon changes in social +organization than upon improving the methods and the education of +social administrators and social scientists. + +The preventive politics of the future will be intimately allied to +general medicine, psychopathology, physiological psychology, and +related disciplines. Its practitioners will gradually win respect in +society among puzzled people who feel their responsibilities and who +respect objective findings. A comprehensive functional conception of +political life will state problems of investigation, and keep receptive +the minds of those who reflect at length upon the state. + + + + +CHAPTER XI[60] + +THE PROLONGED INTERVIEW AND ITS OBJECTIFICATION + + +The empirical material assembled in this book has appeared in the +course of prolonged interviews with individuals under unusually +intimate conditions. This method of the prolonged interview has now +had a history of some thirty years in the form devised by Freud, +but so far there are very few efforts to objectify the events which +transpire there. Otto Rank has written a series of studies of the +“interview situation” which is the most important effort so far made to +characterize the distinctive features of the method. But the empirical +material which is so far reported does not rest upon the verbatim +recording of what happens, except in a few specimen instances of highly +pathological cases, and attempts are only now being made to record some +of the principal physiological changes in the subject. + +It will be remembered that Freud learned to predict the future course +of reminiscence by watching word slips, random movements, and many +other acts which were formerly dismissed as chance occurrences. He also +found that he could abbreviate the laborious efforts of the patient +to recall the traumatic (the original) episode by proposing various +interpretations. It is at this point that the cautious physician +and psychologist have picked serious quarrels with psychoanalytical +findings. They allege that the patient produces the kind of material +which the analyst suggests is to be brought forth, and that the whole +process is one of putting a rabbit in the hat which you triumphantly +extricate later on. They have seized upon the schisms in the analytical +fold, and declare that you eventually dream about anima figures if you +are analyzed by Jung, that you relive birth traumas if you are analyzed +by Rank, and that you welter in a galaxy of anal, oral, and urethral +symbols if you are deeply analyzed by Freud. You talk about inferiority +feeling if you work with Adler, and about castrative anxiety if you +work with Freud. + +One might suppose that after thirty years of labor there would be in +existence a body of documents which could be consulted by a group of +competent specialists who were trying to reconcile their differences +and doubts about what actually goes on in the analytical interview.[61] +At the present time the interview situation is poorly reflected in the +notes taken by the analyst at the expiration of each period (if and +when he takes them). Nobody knows what processes distort the reporting +practices of different listeners, and nobody knows the value of the +published scraps. Since one of the avowed purposes of therapeutic +analyses is to bring the person to stand on his own feet and to stop +leaning on others, or upon symptom indulgences, personal relations +are usually broken off at the end of the interview. This obviously +impedes the possibility of following up the subsequent history of +the personality, and of ascertaining the stability of the supposed +therapeutic results. The case-history documents available in good +institutions have the advantage of representing the combined product +of several people who are in touch with the subject, and who may be +supposed to operate as a check upon one another. But these documents +are usually short, and betray the psychopathological slant of the ones +chiefly responsible. And these documents are typically incomplete +in reporting the whole personality of the subject on account of the +clinician’s interest in the more circumscribed disease phenomena +displayed. + +When John Brown reports an episode in which he was told that his nose +would be cut off if he didn’t quit handling himself, how do we know +what importance to assign to the alleged reminiscence? Are we to accept +this as a historical statement? Are we to construe it as a fabrication +which, however, shows what he wanted to have happen, or supposed would +happen, if he disobeyed orders? Are we to interpret it as a sign of his +fear of the interviewer, couched in the language of the past, because +this mode of exercising the imagination has been trained into him? Are +we to interpret this as a sign of his hatred of the interviewer, on the +theory that a self-punishing fantasy is a defense of the conscience +against a murderous impulse of the unadjusted portion of the self? Are +we to accept it as an effort to win the approval of the interviewer +by reporting the kinds of things which he has learned to suppose the +interviewer wants to hear, a supposition which is based upon a private +study of psychoanalytical literature? Are we to accept it as an +“original trauma” and to expect an immediate or eventual decrease in +the neurotic anxiety which the individual shows? Are we to look upon it +as a screen reminiscence for a genuinely traumatic episode in which the +threat was made, not against his nose, but against his penis? Or is it +a screen for a prohibited impulse which was once activated, and which +seized upon a past episode and gave it the significance of a threat? + +These are a few of the specific questions which can be raised about +the proffered material, and the scientific problem is to devise more +convincing demonstrations of the available theories, or more conclusive +refutations, than we now have. What are some of the criteria of a +“traumatic episode”? If the reminiscence is accompanied by much affect +(excitement), there is a presumption of its authenticity. And how is +affect measured? We depend at the present time upon the observer’s +judgment of the variations in the voice, and shifts in posture, or +the twitches and jerks of the body. This can be augmented under +experimental conditions by taking a continuous record of variations in +blood pressure, respiration, galvanic reflex, etc.--all of which offer +some indication of excitement.[62] We are thus able to improve our +assessment of the possible significance of the reports, speculations, +and general fantasies of the subject. It may be that in due course +we shall be able to differentiate on a physical basis between +“suppressions” and “repressions,” and that we shall be able to follow +through the transformations from beginning to end of the interviewing +process. + +Our judgment of the “traumatic episode” is also influenced by the +subject’s certainty. If the subject reports that he believes what +he remembers, this has some value in raising a presumption. This is +especially true if the subject has fought against the idea, but it has +spontaneously continued to appear and plague his associations. But a +reported sense of certainty is flimsy stuff, unless this certainty +survives for some time. We know that individuals try to escape from +anxiety feelings by a flight into explanations, and that they are +ready to volunteer or to accept all kinds of interpretations of their +behavior rather than to continue to endure anxiety. This is the +basis for the credulity of the neurotic, and explains why everything +from mysterious “glandular unbalances” to “astral perturbations” are +accepted from time to time as completely adequate explanations of +personal troubles. So the subject’s reported certainty must survive +even disparaging suggestions and prolonged self-scrutiny, and become +emancipated from affect, if it is to be taken very literally. + +Another criterion is the consistency of the reported episode with all +the other relevant facts. There must be something wrong about the +report that K was brutally punished by his father at a time which was +some years after the parent’s death.[63] + +The obstacles which lie in the path of a research program which calls +for objective records of as much as possible of what transpires in the +interview situation are not to be minimized. The bulk of a verbatim +report of an hour’s conversation per day over several months is +almost overwhelming. But historians are accustomed to plow through +whole libraries of pages about Napoleon or Bismarck, and from the +standpoint of a comprehensive theory of personality development any +personality is almost as good as any other, although high elaboration +and distinguished achievement are advantages. + +There are some points in favor of applying this technique of +personality study to people who are normal, at least in the sense +that they are suspected of normality by themselves and others. There +is a moral to be learned from some of Freud’s early mistakes when he +assigned critical significance to certain childhood experiences which +later investigation showed were very common. The clinical caricature +is invaluable for the high relief in which certain tendencies of +the normal are revealed. Indeed, “normality” is more difficult to +understand than disease, from one point of view, since it involves a +complicated integration of many tendencies, a flexible capacity to +snap from one mood, preoccupation, and overt activity to another, as +the changing demands of reality require. Normality is complexity and +integration, and it ought to be approached as directly as possible as a +control on the pathological. + +The main advantage which the normal subject hopes to glean from the +analytical interview is a judgment of the importance of this, in +comparison with other, psychological methods. Records being as they +are today, only one who has been through the mill can talk with +much assurance about what happens, and if he has a critical mind, +he isn’t too sure then. The analytical interview is a discipline in +self-scrutiny. The subject learns to exploit a new method of using the +mind, which he tries to cultivate and to correlate with the logical +methods to which he is partly accustomed in ordinary adult life. The +new technique of using the mind is the free-fantasy technique, whose +chief function is to produce new material for logical consideration. + +The interview necessitates the reactivation of the individual’s +struggle with his antisocial impulses. This happens be the subject +sick or well, for every individual possesses more or less active and +powerful antisocial drives. Every personality displays some pathology +in the form of remainders of the Oedipus phase of growth. The socially +adjusted portion of the personality takes up the battle again against +the unsublimated drives, and a considerable amount of neurotic anxiety +is generated in the process. The problem is to encourage the subject +to face these unadjusted remnants frankly, to bring them to the full +focus of waking consciousness, and to discharge their bound energy. +This comes to pass in the roundabout way of recapturing the original +episodes in which the neurotic solution was invented. The work of +reminiscence is the preliminary to liberation and understanding. + +The interview substitutes the talking-out for the acting-out of +personality drives. One learns to recover the critical points in +one’s past history by watching the present for clues to the full +meaning of the present situation, and this includes the inspection +of reminiscences. A reminiscence is always relevant to a present +situation, and serves the double rôle of annotating the present and +reporting the past. The interview experience is long and arduous, and +the subject learns very slowly to deal with himself as an object in +a world of objects, and to free his judgment more and more from the +distorting effects of primitive psychological structures. + +The analytical situation is so arranged as to facilitate this process +of self-inspection. The provocations to act out rather than think out +are reduced by simplifying the sensory present. The subject lies in +a relaxed position, and is better able to observe those stiffenings +of the body, those variations in respiration, those oscillations of +visceral tension, those impulses to scratch and finger which escape +ordinary attention, but which are indicative of the meanings put in +the current situation. The sensory environment remains substantially +constant, and the interviewer handles the situation on a rather fixed +routine. The subject is temporarily encysted from the demands of +professional and conventional tasks, but the interviewer is present +to prevent the individual from dissipating his energy in musings which +are quickly forgotten. The interviewer is a prod to associate freely, +and a spur to the critical consideration of the material supplied by +the freely moving fancy. The necessity for verbalization brings the +acts of fantasy into clearer focus than usual, which is a necessary +preliminary to moments of sustained logical reflection. Since the +interviewer permits the subject to disregard the usual amenities of +society, and to let his fantasies fly for the sake of finding where +they land, regressive responses are permitted to appear. That is, the +individual is not required to adjust to a conventional world of adult +reality, but is permitted to reactivate earlier forms of dealing with +the world. In the world of adult reality, the multiple tendencies of +the individual are canalized into conventionally acceptable forms, +and the most maladapted drives may display themselves in unobtrusive +variations on the pattern. When conventional reality is no longer +present, and the individual is encouraged to watch his partly forming +responses, rather than to co-ordinate, condense, ignore, or suppress +them, these tendencies spread forth diffusely in imagination and +reminiscence. When this process continues far enough, the individual +achieves a high degree of insight into the genetic development of his +current preoccupations and traits. + +Since the analytical process is a period of strain for the subject, it +may be wondered why it is bearable. Fortunately for the investigator, +there are many advantages to the participant which sustain and fortify +his conscious purpose to persevere until understanding has been +substantially deepened. The analyst treats every manifestation of the +personality, no matter how trivial, with respectful interest. This is +exaggerated unconsciously by the subject, who greatly overestimates +the personal affection which the interviewer has for him. Some of +the energy of the personality is always free to begin new object +attachments, and this energy is concentrated upon the interviewer. +The subject is permitted to talk at length about himself, and when +the interviewer listens attentively and patiently, the subject +identifies himself with the listener on the basis of a common attitude +of interest in a beloved object. The interviewer’s ascendancy in +technical knowledge (his authority) resembles the authority of the +adults who were once supposed to possess unlimited knowledge. The +day-by-day solicitude tends to reinstate the emotions of the early +family situation in which the child could play irresponsibly, under the +watchful, responsible care of the adult. The subject relaxes the effort +to keep bawdy, disloyal, mean, and revengeful thoughts from welling +into this mind. The frank expression of these thoughts in ordinary +social life would bring down punishment upon his head, or mark him +out as a victim of mental disorder. The subject is enabled to welter +in unsocial or antisocial ravings and imaginings, and the process of +developing these symptoms in the presence of another person becomes +an absorbing part of his daily, weekly, and monthly existence. The +subject intensifies his warm emotional interest in the one who exempts +him from society’s code of reticence. This is a mark of the analyst’s +tremendous power, and also of the analyst’s special interest in the +subject. The free-fantasy procedure even exempts the individual from +abiding by the ordinary forms of logic and grammar. He is also able to +enjoy the pleasure of impressing someone else with the brilliance of +his language. From time to time, new insight comes into old habits and +worries, and the zest of intellectual comprehension is added to the +other pleasures. + +At first sight the teaching or research interview might seem to +sacrifice the most powerful motive upon which the interviewing +procedure has relied, namely, that of securing relief from disturbing +symptoms. The individual who is suffering from some crude pathological +disturbance, like a functional gastro-intestinal disorder, +psychological impotence, obsessive ideas and compulsions, comes to +the interviewer as a weak person seeking aid of a stronger. If he has +been shuttled from one internist to another perhaps receiving derisive +looks and contemptuous preachments, the objective interest with which +the psychotherapist treats his symptoms produces a keen conscious +and unconscious gratification. Even the symptoms are beloved parts +of the self, and like the ugly ducklings, they are sometimes treated +with special affection (Ferenczi). The hope of being relieved of the +annoying symptoms, which is consciously present in many pathological +cases, is supported on the unconscious level by an old infantile +attitude which expects the interviewer to work miracles. Even some of +the antisocial impulses of the personality may welcome the therapeutic +situation. These antisocial tendencies are themselves not entirely +gratified in the symptoms, for the nature of a symptom is a compromise +between these antisocial tendencies and the socialized impulses of the +self. Nunberg has pointed out that the unsocialized portions of the +personality may support the misguided hope that the outcome of therapy +will be the boundless and unlimited gratification of their demands. +There is also evidence of the existence of a compulsion to confess +(Reik) to antisocial tendencies, which are rejected by the socialized +self, and thus to gratify an unconscious need of punishment. + +Now the sense of being sick and the desire to get well are not entirely +absent from any normal person. No one is entirely free from remnants +of his adjustive problems, and no one is entirely satisfied with +himself. At the beginning of the interview, this motive may appear in +consciousness as nothing more substantial than the innocuous belief +that any increase in self-knowledge will enable one to deal even more +satisfactorily with personal problems as they arise. + +Among the other motives which play into the analytical situation, +and enable the subject to go through with it, may be mentioned a few +very primitive ones. Life has meant the blocking of many impulses by +authorities whose power cannot be successfully defied on the spot. +Hatreds can only express themselves under these conditions with some +prospects of success when they seek to overcome the superior by +trying to take his power into one’s own personality by copying him. +That is to say, the individual seeks to identify himself with the one +who possesses superior knowledge in the analytical situation, and by +becoming like him, to secure independence, and thus to annihilate +him as an intimidating and obstructive external object. There may be +a desire to secure a weapon by means of which other people may be +eviscerated, and deprived of their power to outstrip the individual. +On the conscious level, these motives are partly visible in excessive +aspirations for self-mastery and control. This taking-in and biting-off +of the analyst’s power is also rooted in some of the earliest reaction +patterns which the infant displays toward objects. The sheer pleasure +of talking, and giving and withholding information is also present. + +As the subject withdraws attention from the original symptoms or +motives, concentrates on the game of dilating upon the past, and +indulges in prohibited delights, the analytical situation becomes an +orgy of illicit pleasure. Emotions are released from old channels and +find new objects of crystallization, especially in the person of the +analyst. The interviewer who permits this “transference” is now in a +position to aid the subject in coming to grips with the underlying +unsocialized impulses of the personality. The behavior of the subject +has by this time given a host of clues to the history of his emotional +growth. The analyst continues to stimulate the individual to scrutinize +his associations, to state honestly the wayward wishes flit across his +mind, or which lurk half-seen in the marginal recesses of attention. +Back and forth, bit by bit, there is reconstructed the subjective +history of a life. To put it metaphorically, old sores run anew, +smoldering embers of jealousy and lust flame once more, and ancient +wounds yawn again. Reminiscence reguilds the faded tapestries of the +past, and restores to the full glare of consciousness the cobwebs of +the mind which house the spiders of malevolence and lechery. Primitive +meanings, once appropriate to a situation, and later projected +unintentionally into the adult world, are recovered and criticized in +the light of their appropriateness to society. Regressive reliving, +which is powerfully supported by narcissism and the repetitive +compulsion, is observed and overcome. + +It should not be supposed that the secrets of the mind are exposed for +the asking. The method of repression is a primitive means by which +the feeble, nascent self seeks protection from impulses which, if +tolerated, if not shut out with unreflecting violence, would overrun +it (Alexander). When the self becomes strong and stable, primitive +impulses can be permitted to develop farther in consciousness without +imminent danger that they will pass over into action by controlling +the motor apparatus. Now the critical, reflecting, deciding self must +not be crippled by an unduly strong conscience. The structure which +we know as the conscience is begun in early childhood, and is formed +by the incorporation into the self of the orders and commands which +are administered by authority. When the self is weak, as during these +formative years, the conscience relies on crude methods to protect its +hard-won ascendancy over the antisocial drives in the personality. +It visits penalties of anxiety upon the self whenever there are any +signs of leniency toward these impulses. The conscience keeps its +summary, sadistic quality long after, and neurotics are properly said +to suffer from an excess of conscience. Blind denial of the existence +of fundamental trends in the personality must be supplanted, and the +_obiter dicta_ of the conscience subjected to the criticism of the more +mature and experienced self. An obstacle to this procedure is furnished +by those energies of the personality which are specialized in resisting +the antisocial impulses which have been repressed and denied direct +and undisguised access to consciousness. Any lowering of resistance +subjects the individual to acute anxiety, as the conflict between the +socialized and the unsocialized drives is reinstated. All sorts of +subterfuges are hit upon to obviate the necessity for enduring this +anxiety and bringing the hidden into consciousness, where it can lose +its charge. The overcoming of this resistance to taking up the battle +again is a major process in the prolonged analysis. + +The recapitulation of the drives which the individual has experienced +throughout his life is the process which lends unique value to the +psychoanalytic interview record. The literature of psychoanalysis +is full of sample fantasies which are assigned to places in the +hypothetical sequence of personality growth. Over twenty years ago +Freud wrote some preliminary remarks on character types, especially +stressing the rôle of certain excretory pleasures in the development of +some psychological structures. The sucking, biting and anal retention +interests of the infant and young child have been the subject of +theoretical treatment by several analysts, among whom Abraham is the +most important. Ferenczi has sketched a comprehensive theory of the +rise of genital interests on the part of the child, and this has been +amplified in various directions by Reich. The differences between male +and female development have been sketched by Sachs, Deutsch, and Horney. + +It is not within the necessary limits of this discussion to go farther +into the nature of the hypotheses which have been proposed by these +various investigators. We will be able to formulate them more precisely +when we have succeeded in objectifying what happens in the course of +the interview, and this is to be achieved along the lines previously +sketched. Some day we can state hypotheses more definitely which can be +taken and tested by non-analytical methods. Some of these conceptions +can be confirmed or eliminated by the direct observation of children +of all age groups. It is quite possible, however, paradoxical though +it may sound, that the best way to study some phases of infancy and +childhood will be to study the adult. There is some reason to believe +that the superior expressive power of the adult, whether in words or +in drawing, may render explicit many states which are beyond the scope +of one who merely looks at movements. If we find that the subjective +reconstructions during the adult analysis check closely with the +results secured by modified analytical and behavioristic procedures +applied directly to older children, we will have more confidence +in the material which purports to relate to very early experience. +We may also test out as far as possible the “historicity” of the +reminiscences produced at different phases of the analysis. It should +be said in passing that the analysis of children requires important +revisions in the externals of the technique, as Anna Freud has shown. + +I want to stop at this point to comment upon the significance of the +fact there should be such a thing as the psychoanalytic method of +dealing with the genesis of personality. How does it happen that at +the end of the nineteenth century there appeared in Western European +civilization this remarkably intricate procedure? Why do we regard it +as worth while to spend months or even years in constant introspection? + +Viewed in the large, I suppose this is the most spectacular sign of the +value crisis in our civilization. Here is an effort to stimulate the +individual to the reconstruction of values, not on the basis of imposed +authority, but through prolonged scrutiny of the self as a process. +The processes of the human personality are subjected to the same +patient, arduous, and minute inspection which has proved so successful +when applied to the objects of the physical world by the naturalist, +astronomer, and microscopic specialist. The end result of a long and +successful analysis is an individual who is able to interpret his +relation to the world in terms of a few master-symbols. These symbols +take on meaning because they have been acquired in the course of a long +apprenticeship under the exacting eye of another. These symbols define +for the individual in comprehensive terms his relation to unfolding +reality. They permit in favorable instances added smoothness of +adjustment, and offer a means of relief from disproportionate feelings +of futility, despondency, persecution, and omniscience. + +The appearance of a system of communicable master-symbols for the +definition of one’s relation to the universe is anything but a novel +phenomenon in the culture history of mankind. At one time a leading +question was, “What is God’s will for me?” The belief was that this +could be made manifest after the reading of Holy Writ, reverent +supplication, and sudden revelation. Our Western civilization has +sapped at the pillars of this structure of thinking. We are committed +to the persistent querying of the world of change, and the problem is +always “_How_ does it change?” How do the routines of the seeable, +smellable, touchable, audible, tasteable universe actually work? In +what characteristic order do the subjective events of the mind follow +one another? In what order do subjective and objective events occur? +And no matter how many intermediate links in the sequence have been +named there always remain new intermediate and new all-embracing frames +of reference to be identified and placed in orderly relationship. + +Values are sought to be defined, not on the authority of another, but +in the act of scrutinizing processes. We place enormous value upon +the quest for sequences, and discover our new values in the act of +broadening or deepening our understanding of change. If you tell a +sophisticated carrier of Western culture that God reveals his wisdom +after the reading of a printed passage, he will be less impressed by +what is put in than by what is left out of the account. What relation +is there between what is read and what is decided? Can you set up +controlled repetitions for the sake of testing the predictive value +of these generalizations? Are there other words which can be read but +which will result in the same decisions when the reader has the same +pecuniary stake in acting a certain way? And so on and on. + +It is worth noticing that the symbols supplied by analysis are not +“ought” words but “process” words. You are not told to die for your +country; you are told to face all the values which you can find in the +situation. This does not, however, eliminate the “arbitrary” character +of decisions actually reached. The decision comes with all the shock +of revelation, of inevitability, of unexpectedness; the individual may +only control decisions by rehearsing the pertinent values until he +finds himself in the clutches of a judgment. This willingness to accept +uncertainty, to scrutinize intermediate terms and pertinent values, is +an outcome of the analytical discipline. + +Such a procedure grew up in a civilization whose values have been in +confusion since the medieval cosmology broke down. President Masaryk, +serious thinker and scholarly writer, began his sociological work with +a study of suicide, which he found to be a rough index of the value +strains in culture. When emotional bonds are forged with exponents of +life-patterns of different design, the mental stage is set for both +creative originality and destructive disintegration. The individual +must assume the load of working out his own scheme of values, and many +are disorganized in the attempt. + +The validation of the prolonged interview as a contributor to our +dependable knowledge about life depends upon objectifying its +processes; the achievement of its implications for the reconstruction +of the hierarchy of individual values is an impressionistic and often +turbulent experience.[64] + + + + +CHAPTER XII[65] + +THE PERSONALITY SYSTEM AND ITS SUBSTITUTIVE REACTIONS + + +So far in this book human behavior has been interpreted in terms of +various “tendencies” which such behavior is supposed to manifest. +Suppose we call into question this type of psychological explanation. +What, after all, is a “tendency”? It postulates a relationship between +events, one of which is taken as the terminal situation, and others of +which are treated as relative approximations to the type situation. +Terms like “wishes,” “desires,” “instincts,” “impulses,” “drives,” and +“motives” are all employed in this sense. + +For purposes of analysis, tendency interpretations may be divided into +five main classes, depending on the nature of the relationship which +is postulated between the approximate and the terminal situation. +First, personality events may be interpreted as approximations toward, +or realizations of, goals (terminals) which are communicated by the +subject. We may believe a man who tells us that he is running for a +train when we see him dashing along the street toward the railway +station. + +Second, personality events may be interpreted as degrees of +approximation to subsequent events which are actually observed. Mr. C’s +solicitude for the health and welfare of the needy ones of the district +may be construed in the light of his subsequent campaign for Congress. + +Third, personality events may be treated as degrees of resumption of +terminal situations of a type which have already been observed. Lying +in bed after waking up in the morning, whenever there are difficulties +to cope with, may be interpreted as a reactivation of an earlier +psychological impulse to lie still and be waited on. + +Fourth, personality events may be construed as approximations to +“normal” terminal events which are observed for the biological or +cultural category of the individual. Thus heterosexuality may be +postulated as a tendency of a human being, although he consummates no +heterosexual adjustments. + +Fifth, personality events may be interpreted in terms of end situations +which are “extreme” for the members of the species or the culture. Thus +the acts of man may be viewed as degrees of approximation to murder, +suicide, and incest. + +Each sense in which the tendency conception is used is valid and useful +for certain purposes, and is exposed to characteristic liabilities to +error. Thus if we accept the man’s statement that he is running to +catch a train, we may be wrong; he may be running to the woods beyond +to escape the constable. + +The reactive type of statement is an alternative (I should prefer to +say a supplement) to tendency generalizations. When we make a reactive +statement, we specify quite definitely the antecedent-consequent +relation to which reference is made. The specific stimulus-response +description of the events which elicit the knee jerk, or call out an +avoidance reaction to yellow cloth, illustrates what is meant here. +Of course the stimulus-response style of thinking is not nearly as +exhaustive, and the tendency style of thinking is not nearly as +ambiguous in actual application, as might appear at first glance. The +stimulus-response statement of how to elicit the knee jerk which is +usually given may be predictively valid in eight cases out of ten; but +there are “exceptions” which show how wide is the context of factors +which it would be necessary to include in the picture, were it nearly +complete. And when the stimulus-response mode of thinking is extended +from such relatively stable and touchable situations to those which +involve complex central (subjective) events in the sequence, it becomes +in reality a disguised form of tendency interpretation. + +The chief possible virtue of tendency conceptions is in introducing +some sort of order in complex phenomena. If the observer tries to +enumerate all the body movements, all the electronic gyrations, all +the nuances of social adjustment which are thinkable in a given +constellation of personality events, he is likely to become lost +in aimless classification, and to prove barren in the invention of +procedures which are calculated to elicit particular aspects of the +whole which may be of high predictive value. The human mind is able to +operate with a very small number of categories with which to introduce +order into events, particularly when these are, for the most part, +still defined qualitatively. Clarity of thought demands economy in the +orienting frames of thought. + +How a tendency simplification may lead to fruitful research for +predictively valuable particulars is shown in the case of Freud, in +contrast to Janet. Janet made remarkably clear classifications of +the psychopathological facts as he saw them, and although his terms +and categories were abundant, his work was comparatively sterile of +novel procedures for the modification of human personalities. Even +his classificatory pursuits were hampered by his little-criticized +assumptions. His notion that dreams were passing confusions which +were traceable to diminished psychological tension in sleep deprived +dream material of all significance as classifiable data, and he almost +completely ignored it. Freud, who tended to operate with a few bold +tendency simplifications, brought into the range of observation whole +categories of data which have high predictive value. + +When tendency simplifications are used until vast numbers of instances +accumulate of their supposed operation, “subtendencies” (such as +the variations of the manifestations of the Oedipus constellation) +multiply apace until the problems of rendering one tendency consistent +with the expressions of another one carry scientific speculations +into the logical molds of legalism and dogmatic theology. If the +subtendencies are not modified, and long lists of special tendencies +are added, terminological difficulties likewise arise in applying the +unwieldy list. The long inventories of supposed instincts are less at +fault because they imply an unwarranted assurance about the innate +propensities of man than because they are “too numerous to mention,” +and introduce confusion rather than orienting principles in the field +of study. + +Although the prediction of one set of tangible reactions from another +is the aim of scientific formulation, this by no means implies, then, +that the reactive style of thinking is the one best calculated to guide +the attention of the thinker to the selection of the most fruitful +hypotheses (“if” predictions). Indeed, especially valuable results have +been secured in the personality field by the pattern of thinking which +views a cross-section of facts as an expression of a few tendencies. + +But a reactive style of thinking which operates with a few +simplifications might prove useful in the study of human personality +at the present time, since both the psychoanalytical and the +“itemistic” psychologies have a plethora of particulars with which they +are familiar, but suffer from certain crippling viewpoints inherent in +their early starting-points. Psychoanalysis is well accustomed to the +use of a few orienting terms, but since these are stated in “tendency” +form, there is much lack of emphasis upon rendering the objective marks +of their manifestation precise. The inventory psychologies though +accustomed to precision are accustomed to overlooking the woods for the +trees. + +Can the personality be viewed as a system, and can we think of it in a +few terms which can be gradually objectified, and which indicate the +principal varieties of personality manifestation? If the personality +is a true system, interferences which are introduced at various points +ought often to produce substitutive reactions at many remote parts of +the personality. Personalities may be compared from one cross-section +to another, and from one personality to another, by exposing them to +similar interferences, and by examining the substitutive reaction +sequences which emerge. + +For the purpose of summing up the personality at any given period, we +may consider it to be a constellation of the following action patterns: +object orientations, adjustive thinking, autistic reveries, somatic +reactions. + +The object orientations of the individual are describable as various +degrees of assertiveness, provocativeness, or submissiveness toward +sexual and non-specifically sexual objects in the environment. In +extreme instances the individual may be abusive, insulting, domineering +toward superiors, colleagues, clients, and subordinates in his +profession, and toward his wife or mistress in intimate life; or he +may be cowed in his work and timid in his sexuality; or he may show +extreme variations between his professional and private levels of +behavior. These are the differentiating reactions upon which it is +hoped to throw some light by the examination of the personality system +in its principal manifestations. + +Adjustive thinking has to do with the relationship of the individual +to reality. It issues in socially relevant acts, which on the +creative level mean contributions to science, art, administration, +and philosophy. Autistic thinking is highly egocentric, but adjustive +thinking when it dwells upon the relationship of the self to its +surroundings is able to treat the self as an object among objects. + +Autistic reveries are non-adjustive to reality. They may be divided +into several classes of which morbid-suicidal, pessimistic, +megalomanic, denunciatory, and persecutory reveries are particularly +common. In exaggerated form they become the most conspicuous feature +of the personality, and various clinical names are used to distinguish +them. Common, and representative, themes are suggested by these +quotations: “I’m a hopeless sinner”; “The world’s going to the dogs”; +“I’m the slickest guy in the world”; “The President is the Judas of +mankind”; “The President is using death-rays on me.” Autistic thinking +flourishes in greater or less abundance in every personality whose +history is taken for any length of time. + +The somatic reactions at any given cross-section of the personality are +striped muscle movements and tensions; heart and circulatory reactions; +gastro-intestinal responses; skin adjustments; organic sexual behavior; +respiratory, pupillary, and urogenital adaptations; inner glandular +action on the biochemical balance of the blood; heat production (fever +and certain metabolic alterations not included before); electrical +conductivity; and immunological responses. Under the same environing +conditions individuals show wide variations in physical behavior, and +when these manifestations show certain gross deviations from norms, +though no organic lesion can be shown to be present, the presumption +is that the energy of some mental process has been converted into +somatic form. This notion of hysteria (and what may be called hysteroid +reactions) was classically formulated by Freud. Every individual who +is closely scrutinized shows, from time to time, tendencies to urinate +excessively (though no adequate physical explanation is apparent), to +refrain from passing feces, or to suffer pains in the back or neck. + +The comparisons which may be made among personalities on the basis of +the nature of the substitutive reactions which arise when they are +subjected to similar conditions may be illustrated on the gross level +by citing some “experiments” which society has tried. Mr. A is a member +of the city council in one of our large cities. On two occasions, +when he was defeated for re-election, he developed autistic reveries +to such an extent that he was confined in a sanitarium under the care +of a psychiatrist. Thus Mr. A met a deprivation in the sphere of his +orientation to social objects (political activity) by developing +exaggerated autistic reveries (depressive preoccupations). The case of +A may be thrown up against that of Mr. B. When Mr. B lost out in his +campaign for re-election to the legislature, he began to worry about +his health, and although the physicians could find no adequate physical +basis for his trouble, he developed a host of gastro-intestinal +disturbances which incapacitated him from regular professional +life. His substitutive reaction was somatic. Another man, a Mr. C, +was defeated and spent most of his time writing a subsequently +well-recognized book on political theory. His substitutive reaction +was in the sphere of consecutive, theoretical, adjustive thinking. +It will be remembered that one of our driving administrators, J, had +his administrative duties curtailed and immediately took the wife of +another for his mistress showing that his object orientation in the +world of affairs was a substitute for his object orientation in the +sexual field. + +From this point of view, we are able to examine the relative function +which political activities and preoccupations play in the personality +integration of the individual. For one it is an alternative to mental +disorder, for another it is an alternative to physical disease, for +another an alternative to aggressive sexuality. + +Now it is of interest and importance to observe that the study of +the life-histories of these men showed that their mode of meeting +the world had become organized rather early. The man who developed +somatic symptoms had shown a physical upset after losing a contest for +the presidency of his class in college, and also in adolescent and +preadolescent deprivation situations. Alexander traced the basis for +the personality splitting in J to very early childhood. + +I want now to indicate how the prolonged interview throws much light +on personality development, and lends itself to consideration from +the point of view outlined here. If the analyst is “insulted” by +the subject in the course of a day’s interview, the subject may the +next day report somatic trouble, or morbid reveries, or unusual +kindliness toward an annoying person, or a burst of creative work. The +interviewer, taking such facts in juxtaposition to others, may be able +to predict the kind of substitutive reactions which this person is +likely to show in a whole range of social situations, and to predict +retrospectively the form of reaction which was manifested at different +levels of development. The trained psychoanalyst watches the subject +like a hawk for clues of this kind; the possibility of removing his +“hunches” from the realm of art into the area of dependable knowledge +depends upon the objectification of his observations, and upon the +development of specifically experimental methods. + +A method by which some certainty is to be introduced in personality +records is by testing the coincidence of observations taken through +time by observers who occupy specified positions in relation to the +subject. Very important applications of this procedure have been made +to child study by several child psychologists, more particularly by +Florence Goodenough and Dorothy Thomas. A set of categories were set +up to describe various acts, such as “smiling,” “physical contact with +other child,” and “physical contact with object.” The definiteness of +each term was then tested by having two independent observers make the +same number of observations at fixed intervals during a prescribed +period. The results showed which categories were ambiguous, and +which categories were sufficiently clear to justify their inclusion +in behavior studies. It was discovered, for example, that “smiling” +behavior showed much less definiteness than “physical contact with +another child.” This procedure makes it possible to measure the error +of a measuring procedure and is strictly comparable to the calibrating +process common to the physical sciences in determining the relative +reliability of measurements made by a particular instrument. The social +scientist is compelled to rely on the use of his eyes, and the problem +is to standardize the use so that objective results can be secured.[66] + +Such methods of devising and testing categories for the observation +of behavior need urgently to be developed for the study of courtroom, +legislative, committee, mass meeting, and other types of behavior in +situations of immediate political interest. It is possible to record +the differential reactions of participants, and to distinguish that +which is inherent in the rôle performed (chairman), and that which is +the individualized penumbra of the act (individual gesture). + +These objective categories and recording practices can be extended +to the study of behavior wherever dominating and submissive behavior +is found. The gap between the studies of children and the study of +personalities in complicated adult political situations can be filled +in with the idea of finding reliable criteria of the stability of +political reactions. Some early studies have been made which suggest +that types of dominating behavior are isolable at very early ages. +Charlotte Bühler detected children who dominated through pressure of +activity, despotic behavior, and “leadership” behavior. Her monograph +reproduces photographic illustrations of what she means by the terms +employed.[67] An outgrowth of her work is the experimental study by +Marjorie Walker at the Minneapolis Institute of Child Welfare (under +direction of Anderson and Goodenough). An observational study by +Mildred Parten at the same place showed that in uncontrolled play +activities the dominating or submissive rôles might be strikingly +monopolized by individual children.[68] By methods which are less +objective but much better than simple impressionism, there have been +a number of “political types” observed in later development. Karl +Reininger kept a careful record of the behavior of his pre-puberty +schoolboys, and brought out very clearly the functional distinction +between the “leader” and the “specialist.” The specialist might +temporarily guide the group in some activity for which he was +particularly competent, but the leader kept him within limits and +reassumed the direction as soon as the special activity was over. +Reininger has many shrewd observations to offer about the bearing of +what he saw on the whole range of social psychological theory, and +his monograph is a beautiful example of how a circumscribed empirical +study can be given meaning and distinction against a broad theoretical +background.[69] Hildegard Hetzer watched the spontaneous groupings +of children in play groups, and shrewdly distinguished organizers, +specialists, and social leaders from one another.[70] + +At a still later level is the study which Viktor Winkler-Hermaden +made of the psychology of youth-movement leaders. These leaders are +recruited from youths who are not much ahead of their groups in age, +and in a well-balanced and penetrating chapter he contrasted the +“ruler,” “teacher,” and “apostle.”[71] + +Special studies of dominating and submissive types in various +situations ought to be made with some reference to the reaction-type +classifications for the age period which are made by competent +students. Since puberty-adolescence is of so much importance, the +categories which are proposed in the literature ought to be examined +by the special investigator. H. Hoffman gives a modified list of the +puberty types described by Spranger and Croner in one section of +his general book on character formation.[72] Suggestions on various +distortions of development which lie behind certain forms of dominating +and submissive behavior are to be found in August Aichhorn’s lectures +on _Verwahrloste Jugend_.[73] This is the most valuable book to a +student of youth which has yet been explicitly devoted to the subject +by an analyst. Aichhorn reports in his eighth lecture the results of an +extremely important experiment which he made with the most aggressive +and uncontrollable boys under his supervision (he has served for many +years as the head of a home for homeless boys). The whole group was +put together, and the staff members were instructed never to interfere +with them, short of stopping permanent injury. These “hard-boiled” +youths broke up the furniture, mauled one another, and wore out several +attendants before they gradually tamed down. After having learned that +they could not taunt the environment into punishing them, and into +justifying their own suspicions of it, they went through a process +of character re-education. The behavior of the group is reported in +graphical form, and representative instances of what occurred are +recited in the text of the lecture. Several specific genetic hypotheses +are set up to explain particular kinds of behavior on the part of the +boys with whom Aichhorn has had intimate touch.[74] + +Will we be able to predict from objective studies made of preadolescent +boys who dominate their play groups that one set of them will stand +a high chance of dominating play and work groups in adolescence? Can +we thus isolate rather stable developmental sequences for various +trait constellations which are of direct importance to the student of +politics? Can we achieve a composite picture for a given culture by +studying overlapping age groups for a two-year period? Certainly the +way is becoming clearer to an effective relationship between political +science and the disciplines associated with the study of the growing +individual. + +One of the difficulties which lie in the path of successful +collaboration with psychiatrists and child psychologists is that the +political scientists have not themselves made it entirely clear just +what the adult differentials are whose genetic history they would like +to understand. What are the questions about the specifically political +life of the individual which the political scientist would like to +have included in any master-inventory of possible facts about the +intensively studied individual? + +The following classification of political attitudes is intended to +have suggestive value rather than formal completeness. The first +section of this classification refers to the political preferences +and expectations or forebodings of the individual investigated. +Some individuals cherish a fraternal and some a paternal ideal. The +anarchist, socialist, and democrat talk the language of equality among +a family of brothers; the monarchists preserve a father.[75] A series +of other ideological distinctions are perhaps sufficiently clear from +the terms used. + + CLASSIFICATION OF POLITICAL ATTITUDES + + SECTION A. POLITICAL VIEWS + +I. Preferences + + Paternal ideal + Fraternal ideal + + Strong central authority + Weak central authority + + Revolutionary ideal + Counter-revolutionary or reactionary ideal + + Cataclysmic change + Evolutionary change + + Indulgent toward coercion, secrecy, ruthlessness + Insistent upon persuasion, openness, scrupulousness + + Emancipatory, defensive, expansive ideal for group + World-unity ideal + +II. Expectations and forebodings + + Small political change can have great results + Small political change can have some results of value + Little of value can be accomplished by politics + Revolutionary changes imminent, eventual, contingent + +It is probably in relation to political practices, as distinguished +from political views, that the intensive study of the individual +has the most to offer. I have included a list of questions in +Appendix B which are intended to suggest the sort of thing which +is directly pertinent to the interest of the political scientist +in this regard. How has the individual acted as a subordinate when +confronted by superiors of various kinds (in the army, in school, in +fraternity organizations, in business, in party clubs, in propaganda +organizations, in administrative hierarchies, and the like)? How has +the individual acted as a superior when confronted by subordinates +of various kinds? Besides considering the behavior of the person as +subordinate or superior, we may inquire into his attitude toward +individuals who have not been members of his various organizations, +but who have been possible helpers or obstacles. Thus he may have +approached strangers for money, or sought to win diplomatic support +from another organization against a common menace. His tactics may be +classified according to the means employed and the measure of success +attained. Special attention may likewise be devoted to the behavior +of the individual, not toward particular persons, but toward publics, +which are necessarily anonymous. Summarizing: + + SECTION B. POLITICAL PRACTICES + +I. As subordinate + + Confronted by superiors who are + A. Strong, brutal + B. Masterful but rather objective + C. Weak + + Reaction (conscious) + + 1. Does not assume a friendly mask (exterior) even though + he sees it would be an advantage (seeks to escape, becomes + stubborn, surly, assaultive, joins anti-authoritation acts + engaged in by associates, continues to contemplate revenge long + after) + + 2. Does not see or press up own individual advantage because + of attachment or intimidation (deference without conscious + hostility, pronounced affection, intimidated sacrifice of + associates to curry favor, overgratitude) + + 3. Combines friendly mask with conscious acts of hostility + (plays up qualities admired by chief, whether imitative of + chief or expressive of the chief’s repressions) + + 4. Irrational elements in adaptation at a minimum + +II. As authority + + Confronted by subordinates who are + A. Strong, hostile, dangerous rivals + B. Strong and objective + C. Weak + + Reaction + + 1. Does not refrain from taking up a hostile front even when it + is recognized to be inappropriate + + 2. Takes apparently friendly line while pursuing hostile + purposes + + 3. Does not take strong-enough measures to secure efficiency or + respect (too indulgent of mirrors of self or of those who work + out frustrations) + + 4. Objective (inflicts narcissistic wound when advantageous, + reassures when useful, develops abilities of subordinates, + thwarts when dangerous) + +III. In dealing with possible helper or obstructor who is outside +organization (most effective tactics chosen and range of tactics) + + Appeals to logical standards + Appeals to sentiment + Non-violent and violent coercion + Inducement (tangible advantage) + +IV. In dealing with public + + Types of tactics chosen, success + +Forms of expression, thought, and interest may be singled out for +special consideration. What is intended here is sufficiently apparent +from the captions: + + SECTION C. FORMS OF EXPRESSION, THOUGHT, INTEREST + +I. Forms of expression + +(Includes all symbolizing forms: political editorials, novels, +poems, paintings, cartoons, plastic media, plays, acting) + +Most effective style + Analytical and dialectical + Persecutory (sarcastic, denunciatory) + Enthusiastic + Humorous + Commanding +Range of style wide or limited + +II. Mode of thought + + Quick or slow to suggest policies or tactics + Almost totally uninventive + Systematically collects data prior to judgment + Impressionistic improvisation + Welcomes suggestion and criticism before decision + Impatient of suggestion and criticism before decision + Anxious to justify decision to those about or to world + Indifferent about justifying decision + Stubbornly holds to decision + Oscillates in decision + Much influenced by facts and arguments (or little) + Much influenced by appeals to sentiments (or little) + Much influenced by personal inducements (or little) + Much influenced by coercion (or little) (note that influence may + be negative as to direction) + Genuine pursuit of general interest in exercise of discretion, or not + Elated by victory or depressed + Genuine or narrow in sharing credit + Deeply depressed by defeat or satisfied in defeat + Interested in programs and values + Interested in processes and methods + Long-run or short-run objectives + Aims at immediate or eventual political action + Presses through to a decision capable of being tested + Conclusions or decisions vague + Ideal of responsible personal participation + Consistency between opinion and practices + Self-consciousness of own techniques + Conforms or not to family pattern (exaggerated, adoption of + opposite, ...) + +III. Political interest + + Formulated early and persists through life + Formulated early, lies dormant, reawakened + Aroused early, disillusioned + Aroused late + +By this time it is perhaps superfluous to comment that every fact is +defined from the point of view of an observer, and that the problem +is to specify as definitely as possible the angle of observation of +the recorder. Trait lists are meaningless unless they can be filled +in by a fact-collecting process which surveys the various situations +with respect to which it is of possible relevance. It is very obvious +to the psychopathologist that the man who is “aggressive” at work +may be “timid” in sexuality. All too frequently personalities are +supposed to be “aggressive” when a certain number of raters have +agreed on it, without stopping to consider whether the raters have a +chance to become acquainted with the behavior of the individual in +many situations. The multiplication of ratings by persons who are in +a poor position to judge the subject (even by “intimate” friends who +do not, however, act as sexual partners) adds nothing but a spurious +specificity to the data. The interviewer who listens to the intimate +life of the individual through many weeks and months is in a very +strategic position to become acquainted with details of individual +reactions which even intimates have not seen. A “rating” must be taken +with special reference to the history of the relations of the rater +and the rated. It may be that we shall presently find that the ratings +of analysts in dealing with certain types of people who can be easily +identified do not substantially deviate from those of “intimates” or +even rather casual acquaintances of certain kinds. Such knowledge will +enable research to proceed with more certain pace toward the time when +we shall know what to look for and how to elicit what we want with the +maximum of economy. The specialist who interviews a man for an hour may +be able, during the course of what appears to be an ordinary social +relation, to find the tell-tale signs which detailed research has shown +to be invariably, or almost invariably, connected with particular +impulse systems and developmental histories. As Bjerre so well put it: + + As soon as our intercourse with a certain person is no longer + governed by common interests, but by a desire to acquire a + knowledge of his inmost being, we immediately abandon the formal + content of his utterance and begin unconsciously to seek for + whatever indication of his inner life appears in his speech + independently of, or even in spite of, his conscious will.[76] + +What is achieved is a correlation of the results of “casual” contact +and “intensive” study, a correlation which is the common target of a +converging attack upon the understanding of the human personality. + +Some day we shall know how to validate the saying of the old physician +which is on the title-page of this book: “From him who has eyes to +see and ears to hear no mortal can hide his secret; he whose lips are +silent chatters with his fingertips and betrays himself through all his +pores.” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE STATE AS A MANIFOLD OF EVENTS + + +Implications have continually been drawn in the foregoing pages +about the bearing of the intensive study of individual personalities +upon the meaning of the political process as a whole. Since the +psychopathological approach to the individual is the most elaborate +procedure yet devised for the study of human personality, it would +appear to raise in the most acute form the thorny problem of the +relation between research on the individual and research upon society. +We are therefore justified in devoting more extended attention to the +theoretical problem involved than we have yet taken occasion to do. + +It may be asserted at the outset that our thinking is vitiated unless +we dispose of the fictitious cleavage which is sometimes supposed to +separate the study of the “individual” from the study of “society.” +There is no cleavage; there is but a gradual gradation of reference +points. Some events have their locus in but a single individual, and +are unsuitable for comparative investigation. Some events are widely +distributed among individuals, like breathing, but have no special +importance for interpersonal relations. Our starting-point as social +scientists is the statement of a distinctive event which is widely +spread among human beings who occupy a particular time-space manifold. + +Subjective events occupy definite positions in the flow of events, and +the problem of explanation is the problem of locating stable relations. +Since subjective events are not open to direct observation, but are +inferred from movements, the observer, O, must infer the existence of +subjective terms in the sequence by imagining what he would experience +under all the similar circumstances which he can survey and compare +to his own experience. Reduced to its simplest terms, the observer’s +procedure is that of isolating a subjective event which he wishes to +investigate, and of searching for the “externals” which will make +the conditions of its occurrence clearly communicable to others. +These externals are sometimes fairly clear, and can readily be stated +in precise, “touchable” form. The sensation of “roughness” can be +predicted to follow the application of certain objects to specified +parts of the skin. A transition from a rough to a smooth object may +also produce “flinching,” which can be somewhat definitely described, +and which accompanies and (perhaps) initiates some of the subjective +events. + +When any observer undertakes to talk about the state, he may choose +specific subjective experiences, such as a sense of loyalty to a +community, and say that all who have this experience (and/or certain +others) under specified conditions make up the state. Such specified +conditions may include the act of testifying to it when asked by an +intimate friend, or when warned that the community is in danger. The +concept of the state may be amplified by searching for the external +circumstances which precipitate the appearance of the subjective events +which are characteristic of stateness. + +Such a method of defining the state absolves us from “superindividual” +constructs. The locus of the subjective events is still individual. +The group is not a superindividual phenomenon but a many-individual +phenomenon. The time-space abstraction of the “group” is just as “real” +or “unreal” as the time-space abstraction called the “individual.” +They are both equally real or unreal, and they stand and fall together. + +The state has duration. It is a time-space frame of reference for +individual events. Particular individuals may pass on, but if the +overwhelming majority of those who occupy a certain geographical +area continue to experience the subjective events of the type chosen +as critical for the state, the state endures. The state is thus +independent of any one individual, but it ceases to exist when enough +individuals change their minds or die without procreating. + +I have not yet defined the particular events which are to be treated as +the marks of the state. In the sea of subjective events we must choose +certain typical ones. Now definitions of this kind can be developed +most advantageously when we proceed, not by a method of rigorous +exclusion, but of relative emphasis. Suppose we tentatively begin by +saying that the distinguishing experience is that of communal unity, +when it is manifested by the use of coercion against outside and inside +disturbers of the communal order. Imagine an observer is overlooking +a primitive village. He sees a band of young men whose behavior he +interprets thus: They are wearing painted stripes, brandishing spears, +and having left the village, they engage in fighting a band of young +men from a neighboring village. Is this evidence of the existence of +the state? The facts are insufficient to justify a decision. Closer +observation may show that these young men all live in one quarter +of the village and that other young men are idling about. When the +“warriors” come back, they are only cheered by those who live in one +section. Those who live there may prove to be members of one family, +some of whose young men have avenged a private wrong in which the +village as a whole has no part. The system of claims and expectations +which is the essence of the communal order is not at stake. The +communal order must be involved if the state is involved. + +Robert H. Lowie[77] has shown that the term “state” may properly be +used to designate even the most primitive communities, and that the +common distinction between a prestate and a state period of cultural +development is a distortion of the facts. The simplest peoples known, +the Yurok of northwestern California, the Angami of Assam, and the +Ifugao of northern Luzon, all have a sense of belonging to a social +unit larger than a kin group, and act in overt defense of this +order. The theft of property of one kin group, when committed by a +fellow-villager, is mulcted by a traditional fine, but the theft, when +committed by a marauding outsider, is punished by death. In the case +of adultery, warring families inside the village are merely engaged in +adjusting the size of the penalty; it is universally assumed that some +penalty is due. + +The marginal cases notoriously play havoc with definitions. The +statement made before that the distinguishing mark of the state is +the experience of communal unity, when it is manifested by the use of +coercion against outside and inside disturbers of a communal order, is +too narrow to cover a small but extremely interesting series of facts. +There may be no use of coercion against outsiders, for the war pattern +may be entirely absent from the community, although violence against +insiders who threaten the communal system of claims and expectations +appears to be universal. + +The view so far proposed rests upon a frank acceptance of social +“parallelism.”[78] Hans Kelsen has subjected the theories of +parallelism of psychological states (common emotion and the like) to a +sharp, and in many ways devastating, criticism. He says that “common +emotion, common volition and common idea can never mean anything more +than a description of the coincidence in consciousness of a number of +individuals.” But + + if one really wished to consider the state as consisting of a + community of consciousness such as this, and as a matter of + fact, such a realistic, empirical psychological meaning is often + attributed to what is called the collective will or the collective + interest of the state, then, in order to avoid inadmissible + fictions, one would have only to be consistent enough really to + consider the state as formed only by the contents of those whose + consciousness had shown the necessary agreement. One would be + bound to realize that community of will, feeling or thought, as + a psychological group manifestation, fluctuates tremendously at + different times and places. In the ocean of psychic happenings, + such communities may rise like waves in the sea and after a brief + space be lost again in an ever-changing ebb and flow.[79] + +In this keen dialectic Kelsen has been led astray by a failure to +recognize the time dimension of the events referred to by such a +concept as the state. Subjective facts are located in time in relation +to one another when viewed from the standpoint of any observer. The +concept of the state involves similar events in relation to one +another within a duration. The concept of the state includes this +idea of a temporal frame, and can best be grasped as a relational +system (a manifold) in which a certain frequency of subjective events +is maintained. Thus the state is not abolished when some individuals +sleep or occupy themselves with the banalities of existence, unless +the state is defined with reference to a duration of a few seconds +or hours or days. But there is no reason whatever for choosing such a +transitory frame of reference. It is just as valid to use a year as a +minute, or a decade as a year, for the time dimension. Thus the state +can be treated in what Kelsen speaks of as an “empirical psychological” +sense. It is a durable empirical fact just so long as a certain +frequency of subjective events occurs. If Kelsen agrees that contents +of consciousness are “empirical,” he is bound to see them in a world +of duration, and he has no authority to prescribe that the state must +refer to subjective events as a “knife-edge instant.” + +The state, then, is a time-space manifold of similar subjective events. +Kelsen is incorrect in alleging that the acceptance of the parallelism +of psychological phenomena as a fundamental fact destroys the state as +a permanent institution. + +Mere parallelism of psychological events does not give us the state, +for a distinguishing type of subjective event must be selected if +we are to characterize the state, the family, and other social +groups. Kelsen is entirely correct in criticizing those theories +of the state which invoke parallelism but neglect to specify the +particular “contents of consciousness,” “since not every and any group +manifestations formed upon the parallelism of psychic processes is able +to constitute that community.” + +That subjective event which is the unique mark of the state is the +recognition that one belongs to a community with a system of paramount +claims and expectations. This recognition of belonging does not +necessarily imply an indorsement of this state of things. The essence +of the state is this recognition, and the individual may indorse or +deplore the fact without abolishing it. One need not be sentimentally +bound to the order; it is enough if the order is noted. + +This unique experience is never found unassociated with other +subjective events. The recognition is usually amplified by pride in +belonging to the state, and by a determination to enforce the order +upon one’s self and others. One’s recognition of the order is usually +accompanied by an idealization of one’s participation in it, by an +idealization of the order itself, and by a condemnation of deviations +from it. All this is frequently expressed as the “sense of justice” +which is the foundation of certain theories of law and the state. + +The subjective event which marks the state is usually manifested in +various “externals.” Thus the use of coercion is well-nigh universal. +The externals may be broadened to include behavior which may be treated +as a substitute for coercion. Ordering and obeying relationships which +function in a coercive crisis may continue when peace comes. There +may be an apparent “elaboration backward” of processes antecedent to +coercion in foreign and domestic affairs, and this may obviate a resort +to the _ultima ratio_. The regulation of the use of coercion, and the +maintenance of a certain degree of mobilization during non-crisis +periods, devolves upon “leaders,” who may preside over initiations, +goods distribution, and general ceremonials. The process by which +“heads” are selected may involve electoral colleges, elections, and +agitations. + +It is worth observing that in the description of political processes +terms are employed which often carry no “subjective” connotations on +their face. But in fact every term unavoidably carries subjective +implications, and if these be ignored, there is danger that social +theory will hypostatize “patterns” or “traditions” as extra-subjective +entities, endowed with distinctive energies and amenable to special +laws. + +Often the subjective “burr” on the pattern is so dim that the +subjective need scarcely ever be made explicit. Many generalizations +can be made by disregarding the subjective element and focusing +attention upon the transformations through which the associated +patterns pass. Linguistics has achieved notable success by this method. +Phonetic arrangements are named as objects of investigation and the +fact discovered that those sounds which occur in certain relationships +presently alter in regular ways. + +It is theoretically possible to make a rough scale of descriptive +conceptions according to the relative fulness or thinness of the +subjective element in the pattern. To express this symbolically, the +complexity of the _S_ to the _E_ (subjective to external) varies +between nearly 100 and nearly 0. The contemporary prominence of what is +called “social psychology” is due to the effort to draw attention to +the consideration of patterns in which the _S_ factor is large. + +The failure to stress the subjective dimensions of the events +referred to as “processes,” “patterns,” or “customs” is not only due +to the circumstance that the _S_ is often negligible, but that the +objective element may often appear with other subjective elements. +John B may rise when the national anthem is played, but he may do so +“automatically” with his mind mostly preoccupied with the sore on +his heel. The particular _S_ which is meant when the full pattern of +patriotic ceremonialism is discussed may thus be supplanted by another +_S_ with the same _E_. Thus the act becomes an entirely different +phenomenon, and may erroneously be classed with patriotic ceremonialism +in the full sense. + +This point has far-reaching consequences for political science. The +accurate comparison of behavior patterns depends upon comparison of +the whole pattern. It must not be automatically inferred that _S_ +exists where _E_ is found. The nature of the subjective factor can be +inferred from extending the observation in several directions. It may +be lengthened (John B may complain of a sore heel after the anthem). It +may be more intensively scrutinized within the same period (John B may +be seen to shift his weight from one foot to another, and to frown when +one heel touches the floor). + +Descriptive political conceptions are undergoing a continuous +redefinition in the life of society, and unless the student of +political processes is on the alert to test his descriptive conceptions +in the light of changing reality, he will operate with falsifications +and not with simplifications. “Voting,” to choose an instance, is a +concept of the greatest complexity. It does not alone consist in the +dropping of ballots into urns or boxes or hats, or in the punching +of buttons on a machine. These external elements, the _E_’s, in +the concept of voting are not the heart of the matter. What count +especially are the subjective terms in the constellation of which these +externals are a part, and a highly variable part at that. How seriously +do people take the responsibility of collecting information about the +personalities and issues with which they are confronted and judging +these matters in the light of a conception of the public interest? +Voting is an entirely different matter when individuals are coerced +into casting ballots a certain way and when they are free, leisured, +and interested. To call the casting of ballots under all circumstances +“voting” is to deprive the term of most of its significance. + +It is highly probable that the phenomenon which is loosely called +voting in Chicago is today quite different from what is was fifty years +ago; it is radically true that the phenomenon called voting in London +is something different from voting in Cook County.[80] How are we to +decide what meaning to assign to particular aspects of the political +process as we observe them at different times and places? The ocean +of subjective happenings which are related to external movements of a +kind often associated with politics is ever changing, and it cannot be +described by inventory methods. Not inventory but sampling is essential +if empirical definiteness is to be attached to a term. + +Speaking very generally, two modes of procedure are possible. The first +is to begin with the externalities which are a rather fixed feature of +a pattern of social behavior with which the investigator is familiar, +and to proceed to find out how the subjective features of this pattern +change. One may study “balloting” or “modes of punishment” and the like +from this point of view. Throughout Western European culture there +prevails such relative homogeneity of pattern that research may proceed +directly from this starting-point. + +The field ethnologist, who deals with cultures of a drastically +different kind, must often use another avenue of approach. A set of +external movements like “balloting” may not be sufficiently widespread +to permit comparison. The ethnologist must proceed by stating to +himself the subjective fact whose presence he would like to detect +(such as a desire to participate earnestly in deciding communal +problems), and participate as fully in the daily life of the people +as he can, in the hope that presently he will divine such a subjective +viewpoint and its characteristic modes of expression. It is true that +there are some movements of man whose significance is practically +universal, but these are too few to enable the utter alien to dispense +with a long period of participation in the day-to-day life of the +people. What happens is that the observer presently begins to recognize +the subjective fact behind the movements of the body, but this +primitive judgment of his is a diffused judgment, based upon a mass +of subtle particulars which he may long be unable to isolate in his +own thinking and to point out to others; indeed, this process is never +complete, or we should have a complete understanding of human life. + +Obviously both points of departure for research have their advantages. +The American student of social patterns in Western Europe has thousands +of subtle meanings established in common with Frenchmen, Germans, or +British. This is an enormous time-saving asset. If anyone undertakes to +use the ethnologist’s approach to a familiar culture, the results are +likely to strike the participant in that culture as perfectly obvious +and hardly worth the effort.[81] + +The whole aim of the scientific student of society is to make the +obvious unescapable, if one wishes to put the truth paradoxically. The +task is to bring into the center of rational attention the movements +which are critically significant in determining our judgment of +subjective events, and to discover the essential antecedents of those +patterns of subjectivity and of movement. For all the people who are +startled to find that they have spoken prose all their lives, there are +many to emulate the rustic who “know’d it all the time” when scientific +facts are stated about human nature. That which is known implicitly and +based upon diffused, unverbalized experience must be made explicit if +new ways of dealing with the world are to be invented. + +The work of investigation may eventuate in statements of the subjective +constellations which find expression in particular cultural forms, or +in the description of the subjective constellations which are connected +with forms which are universal for all men. The frame of reference of +the social scientist is the culture; the frame of reference of the +human psychologist is the species. + +What is known as the “quantitative method” provides a valuable +discipline for the student of culture because it directs his attention +toward the discovery of events which are often enough repeated to raise +a strong presumption that a particular sequence does actually exist. +These events must be so defined that similar events can be identified +by other workers. This necessitates an operational definition of the +concept, which is to say, terms must be used to specify the position of +the observer in relation to the configuration which it is proposed to +describe.[82] + +The impatience among students of culture with the slow-footed +quantitative approach is partly due to the diffuse, implicit nature of +the experiences upon which is based the judgment about a subjective +event outside one’s self, and the resulting bias of the student of +culture against exaggerating the significance of items in the pattern. +The statement that “his life-experience has been hued with melancholy” +is a generalization which presupposes a knowledge of a prodigious +number of facts. Or the statement that “the prestige of public office +is greater in Germany than in any country” depends upon possible +observations as numerous as the sands of the sea. Any proposition +in Bryce’s _Modern Democracies_ or in Masaryk’s analysis of Russian +civilization refers to tremendous ranges of data. Of course, the +experience of any observer is puny beside the Gargantuan proportions +of the facts, and able inquirers always proceed upon a sampling basis. +They get in touch with men of every income group, every religious, +every racial, and every provincial group; they study the manifestations +of the culture in painting, literature, mathematics, legislation, +administration, and physical science. + +The procedure of a Bryce was quantitative in the sense that many +observations were accumulated before inferences were fixed, but it was +not quantitative in the special mathematical sense of the word. The +student of culture is often alienated by the quantitative approach, +because the quantitative method necessitates the simplification of the +number of facts taken into account; the impressionistic-quantitative +approach of the student of culture gets an undivided reaction to the +whole and makes simplification afterward, perhaps revising and indeed +oscillating at frequent intervals. + +There is more in common between the student of culture, and +especially of alien culture, and the student of the individual by +prolonged-interview methods than might appear at first sight. The +ethnologist confronting the manifestations of an alien culture and +the psychopathologist confronting the alien manifestations of the +unconscious secure unique training in their research for meanings in +details which escape the attention of the naïve man. Both form their +idea of the subjective events from a multitude of signs, which may +be spread over months of intimacy, and both are somewhat inclined to +disparage the search for simple external facts which can be relied upon +to indicate a specific subjective content. + +The psychopathologist possesses the most elaborate known means of +exploring the manifold subjective events which may be associated +with external movements. Besides the conscious subjective experience +there is a rich unconscious life which he is especially proficient +in exposing. Thus our movements are not alone the outcome of simple +conscious processes; they are said to be “overdetermined” by a variety +of factors. + +This concept of overdetermination is not unknown to popular common +sense. We know that John B is proud of being an American, and that he +wants to fight for his country; we comment slyly that John B’s best +girl likes the uniform, and this is one reason why he volunteers. +And more than that. We know that action is not always the outcome of +experiences that point in the same direction. We may know that John B. +is anxious to stay on the job a month longer and to get a promotion, +and that going into the army at a given moment means sacrifice. Thus +his mind is partly divided against itself. What psychopathological +methods do is to disclose yet wider vistas, and to expose the operation +of factors which cannot be readily seen. Thus a deep longing for death +may be a contributing factor to heroism. + +The psychopathological approach is embarrassing less in the specific +content of its revelations than in the wealth of meaning which it +discovers behind what is at first glance but a simple pattern. The +rôle, of a particular subjective experience and of a movement cannot +be fully appraised apart from the total context at which it functions, +and this method discloses a wider context than common sense is aware of. + +Now the multiplicity of human motives has always been a source +of embarrassment to people who wanted to manage men or merely to +understand them. The clumsy machinery of judicial administration has +been worked out along certain lines in the hope of introducing some +degree of uniformity into adjudication by limiting the consideration +of the motives which operate in a particular case. The judge is thus +supposed to limit himself to the determination of the existence +of a particular state of facts, and to act in a particular way if +these facts can be established according to a prescribed procedure. +The movement toward the standardization of the discretion of public +officers expresses itself in this general pattern of thought: + +An act is prohibited by the state. + +Certain prescribed “externals” shall establish the fact of the act +having been committed. + +The actor shall be dealt with in certain specified ways. + +This crusade against the subjective element in the mind of the public +officer is in some measure determined by the desire of the judge or +civil servant to avoid responsibility.[83] + +The psychopathological approach precipitates something very like a +panic among those who have tried to box the manifestations of human +life into conventional common-sense categories. A dozen motives seem to +bloom where but one was found to bud before. + +Let us see what this does for political theory. The prolonged study +of individuals enables us to discern the details of the process by +which the political pattern, as we meet it in adult life, comes to be +achieved by individuals. + +When X runs for office or passes judgment, his behavior is +overdetermined by motives, conscious and unconscious, which were +organized in successive patterns during infancy, childhood and youth. +The recognition of belonging to a communal order never functions in +isolation, and the comparison of life-histories shows that this is +implanted in the child on the basis of meanings which he has elaborated +in his struggle, first against inhibitory factors in the environment, +and presently, when he has introjected the demands of the environment, +against his own antisocial impulses. + +The early restrictions which the environment imposes upon a child +are important in that they are met by reactions on his part which +predispose him to meet subsequent limitations in certain ways. These +early restrictions are imposed upon the child by inflicting pain or +by distracting attention to pleasurable stimuli. Inhibition is thus +established in the organism by _force majeur_ on the part of the +environment, since the infant is simply overpowered or outgeneraled by +the environment. + +Thus far in his development the growing individual has not become +socialized in the sense that he has become self-regulating in +relation to objects in the environment. The infant learns “sphincter +morality” (in the phrase of Ferenczi), but this involves no emotional +relationship to objects. His pleasures remain on his own body +(autoplastic), and the environment is an instrument for removing bodily +tensions in the simplest manner. Gradually the child begins to look for +gratification by lively erogenous activities upon the body of another. +This outward push of activity is again limited and frequently blocked +by _force majeur_. In the place of sexual relations to objects there +now appears a new form of relation, and the child socializes himself by +incorporating the practices of those about him. + +It will be remembered that emotional bonds are established in two +ways: by object choice (for sexual acts) and by identification. +Identification, Freud writes, is the original form of emotional tie +with an object. It can become a substitute for a libidinal object tie, +and it may arise with every new perception of a common quality shared +with some other person who is not an object of the sexual instinct. +This latter is partial identification. The qualities of the object are +copied (introjected). The energy for the identification is said to be +supplied by aim-inhibited sexual instincts. The name of the state, the +ceremonial acts of deference toward ceremonial symbols--all this and +much more is characteristically a feature of the child’s growth. + +Characteristic, that is to say, frequent, but not invariable. Children +are always brought in relation to a system of interferences and +indulgences (ways of raising children), and they always perceive an +order of some kind. But in some cases when a nation lives subjected to +a state, the recognition of the state relation may be accompanied by +resentment. + +The state pattern itself prevails when many people take it as more than +a mere state of affairs, and the idea is reinforced by “irrelevant +meanings.” Some individuals impose motivations upon others through the +state pattern. These individuals, whether despots or enthusiasts, may +be termed “radicles,” the active ones who serve as radiating centers +for the preservation and amplification of the state pattern. + +Freud treats the state as an emotional unity.[84] The members of the +state identify themselves with an abstract object (the idea of the +state) and are bound emotionally by the partial identification which +arises in perceiving an analogous relationship to the object. Kelsen +has objected to this conception of the state as a real subjective unity +by arguing that identification is a process between individuals, and +that each member of a state cannot be thought of as having entered into +personal relationships with every other member. Even if his narrow +construction of identification were well founded, the state could still +be treated as a real subjective unity on the basis of interlocking +identifications. A has identified with B and B with C, and one of the +features of B which the child A would typically take over (introject) +would be the name and other symbols of the state. + +Indeed, it is the interlocking character of identifications which +reasonably insures the incorporation of the state symbol into the +child’s conception of himself. There is such a process as negative +identification, the rejection of patterns which are connected with +hated persons. The child is usually exposed to many adults and +contemporaries, and if they all associate themselves with the state, +the child is almost certain to reject only those patterns which pertain +exclusively to the hated individuals. This is the fundamental reason +for the staying power of patterns once accepted in a group. + +It has been customary in the psychoanalytical literature on social +and political processes to describe the state as a universal +father-substitute. We are at length in a position to discuss the +problems raised by such a generalization. The distinctive contribution +of the psychopathological approach is the plurality of individual +meanings which it discloses. It is an anticlimax to discover that +the appearance of diversity is, after all, spurious, and that those +who insist upon the strenuous simplification of human motives are +justified. The point which I wish to insist upon is that the data +revealed by the psychopathological procedure are far more significant +for political and social science than this single-track generalization +would lead one to suppose. + +The special value of the psychopathological approach is that it +represents a supermicroscopic method of utilizing individual instances +for the study of culture patterns. If we begin with a political pattern +and view it against the private histories of actual people, we find +that this pattern takes on variable meaning from one individual to +another, but that broad groupings of associated meanings are possible +of ascertainment. Any subjective event which is frequently associated +with a political pattern is important. Valid generalizations depend +upon multiplying cases which are selected from different groups in +the culture, and which are studied by methods capable of disclosing +subjective contexts. This is the point where quantitative procedures +can be made profitable to the student of culture, whose attention is +riveted on patterns whose subjective element is important. + +But are these studies likely to lead to anything valuable if subjective +events are so variable that any subjective event may be associated +with any other subjective event? Why not terminate the investigation +at the outset by saying that the general law of probabilities can be +relied upon to predict the frequency with which any two of a number +of specified subjective events may be expected to occur together? +Is not our empirical inquiry likely to terminate in an inventory +of subjective states and their frequently accompanying movements, +thus foredooming any effort to discover more-frequent-than-chance +simultaneities, antecedents, and successions? If you look long enough, +won’t you find every subjective event associated with every other one? + +A great many facts tend to substantiate this point of view. It is true +that many imposing psychological schools of thought have arisen, run +swiftly for a time in narrow channels, and then stagnated in a shallow +pool of “faculties” or “instincts,” mere inventories of patterns which +are abstracted from all concrete events and which are therefore capable +of being combined in any event in nearly infinite combinations. The +search for specific connections slacks down, and the psychological mill +pond is only stirred when somebody throws a stone in the pool in the +form of a new theory of specific causation, which troubles the waters +until it is found that the specific event is found to occur with only +chance frequency. In this sense the only contributors to psychology +are those who are sufficiently naïve, or sufficiently unscrupulous, +to exaggerate the rôle of a specific type of experience. So we have +psychologies based on “fear” or “love” or “imitation,” or we have a +long string of separate terms, “sub-fears,” which multiply as the range +of concrete observation widens, and the failure of the selected factor +to explain everything is made manifest, or disguised. + +Thus a history of psychology could be written by taking “completed” +systems, analyzing the functional equivalence of the categories +applied, and reducing every new system to a collection of synonyms +for the terms of preceding systems. This hypothetical history of +psychological theories would show how an inquirer, much impressed by +certain experiences, would seize upon certain terms to describe them, +and how, confronted by more and more empirical realities, he would +modify the distinctive meaning of his explanatory conceptions out of +existence. A history of psychoanalytic terminology, such as Rank has +sketched in his treatment of genetic psychology, might be raw material +for such a comparison. + +Would nothing remain but dictionaries of synonyms, all rather dubious +contributions to the grist of linguistic research? It might be that +our projected history would show that each psychological system left +a permanent legacy behind it in the form of a significant “mechanism” +which had not previously been stressed. Now the whole world of +“causation” is implicated in any event, and the whole number of +significant mechanisms which may be discerned in the “mind at a moment” +is infinite. So our hypothetical volume might conclude by accepting the +assumption that some events can be brought about by more than chance +frequency, subject to the reservation that experimental confirmation is +never reliable as to the future. The critical configurations may never +“reappear.” We commonly say that the probability of an event’s future +repetition is greater if it has been oft repeated in the past. But +there is no means of demonstrating that the future contains analogous +configurations to the elapsed. The probability of the future repetition +of an event is “no probability.” If events appear to be predictable, +this is so because our knowledge of contingencies is limited, and our +sequences of similar configurations may still be treated as special +instances of “no sequence.” The stable is a special case of the +unstable, to put the ultimate paradox. The discovery of aggregates +of mechanisms whose rearrangement in short periods would enrich the +apparatus of social control is the dream (the mirage?) of psychology. + +Whether these objections will be well founded depends on the outcome +of the test, and are incapable of dialectical resolution. It may be +pointed out that the search for generalized mechanisms rests on no +firmer logical foundations than the search for subjective sequences, +since mechanisms are likewise aspects of the world of events, and as +such are subject to the same “no probability” laws of recurrence. + +It should be repeated that the aim of life-history investigation is +not to arrive at such thin generalizations as the statement that the +state is a universal father-imago (symbol). What matters to the student +of culture is not the subjective similarities of the species, but the +subjective differences among members of the same and similar cultures. +The life-history configuration is precisely the one which has special +meaning for the study of culture, and has its own valid place as an +object of investigation in the world of events. + + * * * * * + +We may at this point briefly retrace the steps which have been taken in +this monograph. The psychopathological approach has been examined in +its historical setting, and the distinctive value of the free-fantasy +method of using the mind has been illustrated. Its importance, +likewise, for the understanding of political types has been shown with +special reference to the agitators and the administrators. + +The general formula for the developmental history of the political man +employs three terms: + + _p_ } _d_ } _r_ = _P_ + +_p_ equals private motives, _d_ equals displacement on to public +objects, _r_ equals rationalization in terms of public interest. _P_ +signifies the political man, and } means “transformed into.” + +The political man shares the _p_, the private motives which are +organized in the early life of the individual, with every man, and +the _d_, the displacement on to public objects, with some men. The +distinctive mark of the _homo politicus_ is the rationalization of +the displacement in terms of public interests. Political types may be +distinguished according to the specialized or the composite character +of the functions which they perform and which they are desirous of +performing. There are political agitators, administrators, theorists, +and various combinations thereof. There are significant differences in +the developmental history of each political type. + +The hallmark of the agitator is the high value which he places on +the response of the public. As a class the agitators are strongly +narcissistic types. Narcissism is encouraged by obstacles encountered +in the early love relationships, or by overindulgence and admiration +in the family circle. Libido is blocked in moving outward toward +objects and settles back upon the self. Sexual objects which are like +the self are preferred, and a strong homoerotic component is thus +characteristic. Among the agitators yearning for emotional response of +the homoerotic kind is displaced upon generalized objects, and high +value is put on arousing emotional responses from the community at +large. The oratorical agitator, in contradistinction to the publicist, +seems to show a long history of successful impostorship in dealing +with his environment. Agitators differ appreciably in the specificity +or in the generality of the social objects upon which they succeed in +displacing their affects. Those who have been consciously attached +to their parents and who have been successful impostors (“model +children”) are disposed to choose remote and general objects. Those +who have been conscious of suppressing serious grievances against +the intimate circle, and who have been unable to carry off the +impostor’s rôle successfully, are inclined to pick more immediate and +personal substitutes. The rational structure tends toward theoretical +completeness in the former case. The object choices for displaced +affects depend on the models which are offered when the early +identifications are being made. When the homoerotic attitude is the +important one, the assaultive, provocative relation to the environment +is likely to display itself; when the impotence fear is active, +grandiose reactions figure more prominently. + +As a group the administrators are distinguished by the value which they +place upon the co-ordination of effort in continuing activity. They +differ from the agitators in that their affects are displaced on less +remote and abstract objects. In the case of one important group this +failure to achieve abstract objects is due to excessive preoccupation +with specific individuals in the family circle, and to the correlative +difficulty of defining the rôle of the self. Very original and +overdriving administrators show a fundamental pattern which coincides +with that of the agitators. The differences in specific development are +principally due to the culture patterns available for identification +at critical phases of growth. Another group of administrators is +recruited from among those who have passed smoothly through their +developmental crises. They have not overrepressed powerful hostilities, +but either sublimated these drives, or expressed them boldly in the +intimate circle. They display an impersonal interest in the task of +organization itself, and assert themselves with firmness, though not +with overemphasis, in professional and intimate life. Their lack of +interest in abstractions is due to the fact that they have never needed +them as a means of dealing with their emotional problems. They can +take or leave general ideas without using them to arouse widespread +affective responses from the public. Tied neither to abstractions nor +to particular people, they are able to deal with both in a context of +human relations, impersonally conceived. Their affects flow freely; +they are not affectless, but affectively adjusted. + +The psychopathological method was also employed to discover the +significance of political convictions, for it is evident that beliefs +are expressive of a rational and logical “manifest” content, and that +they symbolize a host of private motives. In this connection there +was passed in review the history of a compulsive conformist to the +pattern of the family, and the histories of several nonconformists. The +private meaning of militarism and pacifism, and of the pessimism and +censoriousness of old age, were explored. + +Attention was then turned from the case-history fragments to the +problem of drawing out the implications of intensive personality study +for the theory of the collective political process. + +Political movements derive their vitality from the displacement of +private affects upon public objects. The affects which are organized in +the family are redistributed upon various social objects, such as the +state. Political crises are complicated by the concurrent reactivation +of specific primitive impulses. One might suppose that when important +decisions are in process of being made society would deliberate very +calmly; but the disproportionality between the behavior of man during +wars, revolutions, and elections, and the requirements of rational +thinking is notorious. Evidently a reactivating process is at work +here; there is a regressive tendency to reawaken primitive sadism and +lust. + +Political symbols are particularly adapted to serve as targets for +displaced effect because of their ambiguity of reference, in relation +to individual experience, and because of their general circulation. +Although the dynamic of politics is the tension of individuals, all +tension does not produce political acts. Nor do all emotional bonds +lead to political action. Political acts depend upon the symbolization +of the discontent of the individual in terms of a more inclusive self +which champions a set of demands for social action. + +Political demands are of only a limited relevance to the changes which +will produce permanent reductions in the tension level of society. The +political methods of coercion, exhortation, and discussion assume that +the rôle of politics is to solve conflicts when they have happened. +The ideal of a politics of prevention is to obviate conflict by the +definite reduction of the tension level of society by effective +methods, of which discussion will be but one. The preventive point +of view insists upon a continuing audit of the human consequences of +social acts, and especially of political acts. The achievement of +the ideal of preventive politics depends less upon changes in social +organization than upon improving the methods and the education of the +social administrators and the social scientists. + +The empirical material utilized in the book was brought together in +the course of prolonged interviews with individuals under unusually +intimate conditions. At the present time there are no satisfactory +records of what actually happens under these interview conditions, +and it is important for the future of personality study to improve the +methodology of these procedures. The objectification of what transpires +in the interview can be secured by arranging for a verbatim transcript +of what goes on, and by recording the physical changes which occur. + +Effective personality research depends upon viewing the personality +reactions as a system, and upon perfecting the procedures by which the +substitutive reactions of this system may be exposed. Broadly speaking, +the personality may be treated as a system of object orientations, +adjustive thought, autistic reveries, and somatic reactions. The +problem is to introduce interferences into the system, and to reveal +the substitutive reactions for comparison and further analysis. Every +“fact” about personality events is to be defined from the standpoint +of a specified observer, and a major problem for the future is to +check the “facts” of the observer in the prolonged interview against +the “facts” of observers in other situations. Personality research can +be made more valuable for political science when the adult reactions +are clearly seen which chiefly interest the political scientist (see +Appendix B). + +What, in general terms, is the relationship between research upon the +individual and upon society? There is no cleavage; there is but a +gradation of reference points. Events which are of collective interest +always have an individual locus, and these events may be studied in +their relation to the sequence of events “within the individual” or in +relation to the events “among individuals.” The distinctive event which +serves as the orienting frame for political research is the recognition +of belonging to a community with a system of paramount claims and +expectations. This event, when distributed with sufficient frequency +among the individuals who occupy a given territory during a specified +time period, define the state, which is thus a manifold of events. +Research which studies the order of events “within the individual” or +“among individuals” is equally relevant to the understanding of the +state; the difference is a difference of starting-point and not of +final result. + +When the state is seen as a manifold of events the conditions of whose +occurrence are to be understood, the theoretical foundation is laid +for both the intensive and the distributive inquiries upon which the +politics of prevention can be built. In particular will it be possible +to profit as the years pass, and as psychopathology widens the range of +its investigations, and increases the dependability of its methods. + + + + +APPENDIX A + +SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +The literature of psychoanalysis from its inception to 1926 is +conveniently available in John Rickman’s _Index Psychoanalyticus, +1893-1926_. The _Gesammelte Schriften_ of Sigmund Freud have been +published by the Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, Vienna, +in eleven volumes. This publishing house puts out most of the +literature of the circle around Freud. Of Freud’s books the beginner +may be referred to his _General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, +The Interpretation of Dreams_, and _Three Contributions to Sexual +Theory_. An English edition of Freud’s collected papers is in +process of publication. The most important technical journal is the +_Internationale Zeitschrift für arztliche Psychoanalyse_. There is an +English journal, _The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis_, and +an American one, _The Psychoanalytic Review_. (A French periodical has +recently appeared.) + +Among the “orthodox” psychoanalytical treatises the following are of +particular importance: + + Ferenczi, S. _Bausteine zur Psychoanalyse_. Leipzig, 1926. + + ----. _Versuch einer Genitaltheorie_. Leipzig, 1924. + + Ferenczi, S., and Hollos, S. _Psychoanalysis and the Psychic + Disorder of General Paresis_, “Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph + Series,” No. 42. New York and Washington, 1925. + + The psychological manifestations of a physical disease are + predicted on the basis of the psychoanalytical theory of + personality development. Of great methodological importance. + + Abraham, K. _Klinische Beitrage zur Psychoanalyse aus den Jahren + 1907-20_. Leipzig, etc., 1921. + + ----. _Psychoanalytische Studien zur Charakterbildung_. Leipzig, + etc., 1925. + + The most influential approach to the problem of character + formation. Amplified in many directions by Jones, Glover, etc. + + Alexander, S. _Psychoanalyse der Gesamtpersönlichkeit_. Leipzig, + etc., 1927. + + A notably lucid presentation of the general theory. Recently + translated as _The Psychoanalysis of the Total Personality_ and + published in the “Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series.” + + Hartmann, H. _Die Grundlagen der Psychoanalyse._ Leipzig, 1927. + + A very important book which views analytical concepts in relation + to the data of experimental psychology. + + Deutsch, Felix. “Experimentelle Studien zur Psychoanalyse,” + _Internationale Zeitschrift_, IX (1923), 484-96. + + Reports the demonstration of the mechanism of repression by the + use of post-hypnotic suggestion. + + Kempf, E. _Psychopathology_. St. Louis, 1921. + + Stresses the function of the autonomic functions, and undertakes + to amplify psychoanalytical theory in this direction. + +Among those who have broken off from Freud, after having been +associated with him, are Stekel, Jung, and Adler. Stekel has published +ten volumes of case histories which are valuable for the beginner +who needs to acquire a sense of what sort of thing the human mind is +capable. The other two are of more theoretical importance. Jung’s +_Psychological Types_ is of the most immediate interest to social +scientists, although his speculations about the “racial unconscious” +are suggestive. Alfred Adler’s standpoint is set out in his _Individual +Psychology_. His circle in Vienna publishes a journal. + +An excellent manual is _The Structure and Meaning of Psychoanalysis_ +(New York, 1930), by William Healy, Augusta F. Bronner, and Anna Mae +Bowers. + +The psychoanalytical movement can be placed in the general perspective +of medical psychology by referring to such a manual as William A. +White’s _Outlines of Psychiatry_ or Bernard Hart’s _Psychopathology_. +There are excellent books in German on medical psychology by Kronfeld, +Birnbaum, Schilder, Kretschmer, and many others. The general movements +in the field can be followed in the _American Journal of Psychiatry_ +or the _Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases_, the latter of which +is edited by William A. White and Smith Ely Jelliffe, who also +supervise the well-known series of books, usually translations, called +the “Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series.” Pierre Janet’s +_Psychological Healing_ reviews the general history of psychopathology. +Among the innumerable articles and books which undertake to appraise +the clinical and normal implications of psychoanalysis, the symposium +edited by Hans Prinzhorn may be chosen, _Krisis der Psychoanalyse_ +(Leipzig, 1928), Band I (the projected second volume will not appear). +Otto Rank, who has likewise broken with Freud, is publishing a series +of books on the psychoanalytical interview which promises to serve as +a bridge between the general theory and the objective studies of the +interview situation which are in progress in America. + +On the special problem of personality and character types, the volume +by A. A. Roback, _The Psychology of Character_, may be instanced as +a very comprehensive guide to the literature. His _A Bibliography on +Personality_ is also available. An acute analysis of typologies was +offered by O. Selz before the German experimental psychologists in +1923. See the following: + + Selz, O. “Über die Personlichkeitstypen und die Methoden ihrer + Bestimmung,” _Bericht über den VIII. Kongress für experimentelle + Psychologie_. Jena, 1924. + + Klüver, H. “An Analysis of Recent Work on the Problem of + Psychological Types,” _Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases_, + LXII, No. 6 (December, 1925). + + The current output is reviewed from time to time in relation + to tests by Mark A. May, Gordon W. Allport, and certain other + psychologists who are especially interested in the field. The + _Psychological Index_ can be consulted for the purpose of keeping + abreast of the large quantity of published material. + +The most influential recent book is Kretschmer’s _Physique and +Character_. The somatic factors in personality are stated with charm +and brevity by E. Miller, _Types of Mind and Body_. Useful summary and +critical volumes are by William I. Thomas and Dorothy S. Thomas, _The +Child in America_ (New York, 1928), chapters viii-xiii inclusive, and +by R. G. Gordon, _Personality_ (New York, 1926). + +The psychoanalytical literature which has undertaken to deal with +politics or politicians explicitly may be appended here: + + Pfister, Oskar. “Analytische Untersuchungen über die Psychologie + des Hasses und der Versöhnung,” _Jahrbuch der Psychoanalyse_, II + (1910), 134-78. + + ----. “Die Bedeutung der Psychoanalyse für die Staats- und + Gesellschaftslehre” (Vortrag an VI. Int. Psa. Kong., Hague, + September 8-11, 1920), abstract in _Internationale Zeitschrift_, + VI, 400. + + ----. “Die menschlichen Einigungsbestrebungen im Lichte der + Psychoanalyse,” _Imago_, XII (1926), 126-35. + + The _Imago_ is the psychoanalytical journal which is devoted to + applications of psychoanalytical theory to the interpretation of + culture. + + Sachs, Hanns. “Die Bedeutung der Psychoanalyse für Probleme + der Soziologie” (Vortrag), abstract in _Centralblatt für + Psychoanalyse_, II (1911), 464-69. + + ----. “Ein Traum Bismarcks,” _Internationale Zeitschrift_, I + (1913), 80-83. + + Sachs, Hanns, and Rank, Otto. _Die Bedeutung der Psychoanalyse für + die Geisteswissenschaften._ Wiesbaden, 1913. + + This was published in the “Grenzfragen des Nerven und + Seelenlebens,” No. 93, a series which contains many volumes + of great interest to social scientists. Kretschmer now is the + responsible editor. The book also appears as No. 23 in the + “Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series.” + + Rank, Otto. “Der ‘Familienroman’ in der Psychologie des + Attentäters,” _Der Künstler_ (virte vermehrte Auflage; Leipzig, + etc., 1925), pp. 142-48. + + This fragment first appeared in 1911. + + Storfer, A. J. “Zur Sonderstellung des Vatermordes.” Leipzig, etc., + 1911. + + Parricide and regicide are punished with unusual severity in + different legal systems. + + Abraham, Karl. “Amenhotep IV (Echnaton),” _Imago_, I (1912), 334-60. + + One of the earliest applications of analytical concepts to a + historical personage. + + Freud, Sigmund. _Totem und Taboo_. Leipzig, etc., 1913. + + Outlines his hypothesis of the origin of culture in an original + parricide by a band of revolting brothers, who resented the + monopoly of the females by the old man of the tribe, and who + undertook to repress memories of the crime. See the discussion by + Malinowski of this hypothesis in _Sex and Repression in Savage + Society_ (New York, 1927). + + ----. “Zeitgemässes über Krieg und Tod,” _Imago_, IV (1915-16), + 1-21. + + ----. _Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse_. Leipzig, etc., 1921. + + An application of Freud’s theories to the psychology of crowds + and social institutions. See William McDougall, “Professor + Freud’s Group Psychology and His Theory of Suggestion,” chapter + xvii of _Problems of Personality_ (ed. Campbell and others; New + York, 1925). + + ----. _Unbehagen der Kultur_. Leipzig, etc., 1929. + + Jekels, Ludwig. “Der Wendepunkt im Leben Napoleons I,” _Imago_, III + (1914), 313-81. + + Kaplan, Leo. “Der tragische Held und der Verbrecher,” _ibid._, IV + (1915), 96-124. + + Jones, Ernest. “War and Sublimation.” Read before the British + Association for the Advancement of Science, Section of Physiology, + September 10, 1915; published in _Reports_ of the Association, + LXXXV, 699 ff. + + ----. (ed.). _The Social Aspects of Psychoanalysis_. London, 1923. + + Tausk, Viktor. “Zur Psychologie des Deserteurs,” _Zeitschrift_, IV + (1916-17), 193-204, 228-40. + + Blüher, Hans. _Die Rolle der Erotik in der männlichen + Gesellschaft_. 2 vols. Jena, 1917. + + Bernfeld, Siegfried. “Die Psychoanalyse in der Jugendbewegung,” + _Imago_, V (1919), 283-89. + + ----. “Über eine typische Form der männlichen Pubertät,” _ibid._, + IX (1923), 169-188. + + Federn, Paul. _Die Vaterlose Gesellschaft_. Leipzig, etc., 1919. + + Clark, L. Pierce. “A Psychologic Study of Abraham Lincoln,” + _ibid._, VIII (1921), 1-21. + + ----. “A Psycho-historical Study of the Epileptic Personality in + the Genius,” _ibid._, IX (1922), 367-401. + + ----. “The Narcism of Alexander the Great,” _Ibid._, X (1923), + 156-69. + + ----. _Napoleon: Self-Destroyed_. New York, 1929. + + Kolnai, Aurel. _Psychoanalyse und Soziologie_. Leipzig, etc., 1920. + + Lazell, Edward W. “Psychology of War and Schizophrenia,” + _Psychoanalytic Review_, VII (1920), 224-45. + + Rinaldo, Joel. _The Psychoanalysis of the Reformer_. New York, 1921. + + White, William A. _Thoughts of a Psychiatrist on the War and + After_. New York, 1919. + + Low, Barbara. “Civic Ideals: Some Psycho-analytical + Considerations,” _Sociological Review_, 1922. + + Boven, William. “Alexander der Grosse,” _Imago_, VIII (1922), + 418-39. + + Berger, G. “Zur Theorie der menschlichen Feindseligkeit,” _ibid._, + IX (1923), 344-67. + + Lorenz, Emil. _Der politische mythus, Beitrage zur mythologie der + Kultur_. Leipzig, etc., 1923. + + Illustrates the state-father relationship from the lore and + literature of many cultures. + + Reik, Theodor. _Geständniszwang und Strafbedürfnis: Probleme der + Psychoanalyse und der Kriminologie_. Leipzig, etc., 1925. + + Outlines in masterly fashion the implications of the need for + punishment and the compulsion to confess for criminology. + Reik has also published extensively on religion from the + psychoanalytical standpoint. + + Kohn, Erwin, _Lasalle der Führer_. Leipzig, etc., 1926. + + Alexander, Franz, and Staub, Hugo. _Der Verbrecher und seine + Richter_. Vienna, 1929. + + A sketch of criminology from the psychoanalytical standpoint, + drawing heavily on Alexander’s conception of the neurotic + character, as distinguished from the neurotics who show hysteric + or compulsive symptoms. + + Friedjung, Josef K. “Zur Psychologie des kleinen Politikers,” + _Imago_, XIV (1928), 498-501. + +Among those who have undertaken from allied fields to apply +psychoanalytic viewpoints may be mentioned William F. Ogburn, who read +a paper before the economists in 1918; Thomas D. Eliot, sociologist; +Harry Elmer Barnes, historical sociologist; E. D. Martin, social +psychologist; Preserved Smith, historian; R. V. Harlow, historian; +W. H. R. Rivers, ethnologist; and Theodore Schroeder, lawyer. See +especially: + + Barnes, Harry Elmer. _The New History and the Social Studies_, + chap. iii. New York, 1925. + + Discusses the bibliography in English. + + Swoboda, Hermann. “Zur Psychologie des Parlamentarismus,” + _Oesterreichische Rundschau_, Band XIV, Heft 1, January 1, 1908. + + ----. “Die Kunst des Regierens,” _ibid._, Band XVII, December 15, + 1908. + + ----. “Der Volksvertreter,” _ibid._, Band XXXII, Heft 3, August 1, + 1912. + + These articles of Swoboda are the first well-considered + applications of psychoanalysis to politics by a non-specialist. + The first article treats the rôle of parliamentarism as + “catharsis,” and specifically refers to the work of Breuer and + Freud. + +Aside from specifically psychoanalytical efforts to interpret +individuals and collective trends, there have been many efforts on the +part of other psychiatrists and physicians, or their followers, to +offer such interpretations. The whole literature of “pathography” is +abstracted and discussed here: + + Lange-Eichbaum, Wilhelm. _Genie-Irrsinn, und Ruhm._ Leipzig, 1928. + +Students of politics will be most interested in the references and +abstracts concerning Rousseau, Alexander the Great, Amenhotep IV, +Bismarck, Blücher, emperors and princes, Frederick the Great, Lincoln, +Loyola, Ludwig II of Bavaria, Napoleon, and Robespierre. Möbius put +“pathography” on a scientific basis. The following is one of the best +of the “pathographies,” since it stresses the diseased aspects of +the personality in the perspective of the total development of the +subject’s career: + + Heidenhain, Adolf, _J.-J. Rousseau, Persönlichkeit, Philosophie and + Psychose_, “Grenzfragen des Nerven-und Seelenlebens,” Heft 117. + Munich, 1924. + +The study of the effect of individual pathology on culture, and of +culture upon individual pathology, is envisaged as a program in the +following: + + Birnbaum, Karl. _Grundzüge der Kulturpsychopathologie_, + “Grenzfragen des Nerven- und Seelenlebens,” Heft 116. Munich, 1924. + +The reckless extension of individual pathological terms to the state of +society as a whole has caused much confusion, but a case can be made +out for a valid use of the concept of the pathological. Thus: + + Schneersohn, F. “Zur Grundlegung einer Völker- und + Massenpsychopathologie (Soziopsychopathologie),” _Ethos_, I + (1925-26), 81-120. + + This includes an exhaustive bibliography of the efforts of + psychiatrists to extend their conceptions to society, and a + detailed consideration of the methodological issues involved. + +Special attention should be called to the forthcoming volume by Harry +Stack Sullivan on _Personal Psychopathology_ in which a systematic +treatment of the whole field of psychiatry and sociology is presented. +Dr. Sullivan has vastly stimulated a _rapprochement_ between physician +and social scientist in the United States. See the _Proceedings_ of +the two colloquiums on personality investigation, held under the +auspices of the American Psychiatric Association, first published in +the _American Journal of Psychiatry_ for May, 1929, and May, 1930, and +separately obtainable. + + + + +APPENDIX B + +QUESTION LIST ON POLITICAL PRACTICES + + +This question list refers directly to the organized political life of +the subject. Questions which are designed to elicit preferences are not +included. For general personality questions and trait lists, the usual +sources may be consulted for suggestions.[85] + +The question list here must, of course, be modified if used orally or +with naïve subjects. An effort is always to be made to elicit specific +incidents which arise in the mind. “Reminiscences” and not theories +about the self are desired. + + 1. List the various associations and organizations of which you + have been a member and in which you enjoyed rights which were + approximately equal to those exercised by everyone else. Specify + in each case whether you were almost inactive, moderately active, + quite active. State when you became a member and how your + subsequent activity fluctuated. Give dates when possible. Remember + that you have been a member of various democratically organized + political units. Mention also the prep-school class organizations, + school and college organizations, alumni associations, profession + organizations, civic associations, parties, and elective public + offices. Organizations which were autocratically organized (that + is, which exercised authority over those who had no formal right + to choose the officials) should not be included. Do not omit + associations of war veterans, Daughters or Sons of the Revolution, + pacifists, anarchists, reform agitators, constitutional defense + leagues, etc. + + 2. List the various organizations with which you have been + associated either as one in autocratic authority or as one subject + to autocratic authority. This should include schools which you + have attended, appointive offices in the government, most business + connections, trusteeships, etc. + + 3. List your various free-lance activities which have involved + scarcely any organization but which have been a source of income. + Partnerships which have involved practically no staff, private + secretaryships, and such are meant to be listed here. + +The following questions are intended to bring out the salient facts in +connection with your relationship to each democratically organized and +autocratically organized association or institution with which you were +affiliated. Answer for each organization which you have listed in so +far as applicable. + + 4. Just how did you become a member of this organization? What + steps did you take? Who helped you? Why were you taken in? If + you organized this body, why did you do it? When did you first + entertain the idea? How did your plans develop? What assistance + did you get and by what means? What was your reputation inside + the organization when you first came in? Were you, for instance, + ignored or regarded as promising or accepted and given + responsibility immediately? + + 5. What friends or enemies did you have inside the organization + when you first came into it? + + 6. To what offices or positions of authority in the organization + were you elected or appointed? + + 7. In each case explain how it came about. When did you first + entertain the idea that selection was possible? How much did you + hesitate and ponder before deciding to try for the position or + before accepting it if it was thrust upon you? What alternatives + did you consider? With whom did you talk over the matter? What was + urged on you? What were the disadvantages which deterred you or + the advantages which lured you? Just what did you do to get the + office or position? Who were your chief aids? Who were your chief + competitors? What were the points in your favor and in favor of the + others? How did the various cliques, groups, and other components + of the organization line up? Sketch your strategy and practices in + dealing with each one before selection. Did any issues of policy + figure and how? + + 8. What were the cases in which you ran or were considered at one + stage or another for selection? Answer the questions as before for + each instance. + + 9. What appointive power or influence did you exercise in office? + Whom did you consult in making or influencing these appointments? + To what extent did you consider competence? The rewarding of + friends? The division or elimination of your opponents? + + 10. What objectives, if any, had you thought out when you assumed + responsibility? + + 11. What were the chief issues on which you took a position? How + did your influence make itself felt in each instance (in public + speaking, interviewing, appointive pressure, etc.)? How did each + major issue happen to emerge? How did you arrive at your position? + Whom did you consult? What considerations were balanced on both + sides of the question? To what extent did you make issues by + interjecting specific proposals into the situation? How did you + happen to do this? What were the elements in the organization which + were lined up on either side of the question? What concessions + did you make in order to achieve your ends? Do you regard your + concessions as too cheaply bought as you look back upon them? What + results did you secure which satisfy you? + + 12. During your tenure were there personal misunderstandings, + quarrels, and hatreds between you and anybody? How did they come + about? What did you do and what was the relation of what you did to + what happened? + + 13. Were there personal misunderstandings, quarrels, and + antipathies among others inside the organization which you were + asked to settle or which you tried to settle? What did you do and + what relation did it bear to what finally happened? + + 14. Were there personal misunderstandings, quarrels, and + antipathies between members of your own organization and people in + other organizations which you were asked to settle or which you + tried to settle? What did you do and what relation did it bear to + what finally happened? + + 15. Did your organization have any ill feelings as a body for other + organizations or groups when you came into office? What did you do + to inflame or reduce it? What effect? Why? + + 16. Did your organization have any friendly feelings as a body for + other organizations or groups? What did you do to cement or to + disrupt these relations? Why? With what effect on the course of + events? + + 17. Did your organization develop any friendly or unfriendly + relations with organizations or groups to which they had been + previously indifferent during your term in office? What did you do + that had anything to do with this result? Why? + + 18. Did your organization use physical, legal, or other forms of + pressure upon any other organization or group during your term? + What was your rôle in suggesting, supporting, directing, or + obstructing the adoption of these tactics? Why? What resulted? + + 19. Did your organization use physical, legal, economic, or other + forms of pressure upon any of its own members during your term? + What was your rôle in suggesting, supporting, directing, or + obstructing the adoption of these tactics? Why? With what effect? + + 20. By whom were you praised during and after your term of office + for your record? How were you praised or recognized and honored and + for what? Effect on you? + + 21. By whom were you adversely criticized during and after your + term in office for your record? How were you censured and for what? + Effect on you? + + 22. Were you re-elected or reappointed, promoted or demoted, after + serving your term or before? Why? + + 23. How did you get along with your immediate superiors, + collaborators, and assistants? To what extent did you manipulate + them? What different tactics did you employ with each? What success? + + 24. What were your formal and ceremonial duties in the organization + as an officer? Did you enjoy them? + + 25. How did you enjoy your other official activities? + + 26. As a non-official, or non-position-holding member of the + organization, what did you enjoy about it? The ceremonies? The + routine operations? The uncertain features? + + 27. As a member of the rank and file, what policies and activities + did you initiate, support, or oppose? Why? How much did you do and + to what effect? How did the elements of the organization line up? + Were you usually in the minority or the majority? What elements + were usually with you? + + 28. How did your reputation change during your years in the + organizations? + + 29. What particular friends and enemies did you acquire? + + 30. As a member of the rank and file, did you have personal + misunderstandings, quarrels, and hatreds between you and other + members? Why? What did you do? Results? + + 31. Did you arbitrate any grievances or try to smooth them out? + Success? Why? + + 32. What was your attitude toward other organizations or groups + with which your organization either competed or had some relations? + As a member of the rank and file, what did you do to change or + intensify prevailing attitudes? Influence? + + 33. Did your organization use physical or other means of + pressure against outside organizations and other members of your + organization? As a member of the rank and file, what did you do and + with what effect? Did you think your organization was the best of + its kind? + + 34. Have you severed your connection or become inactive? Why? + + 35. If you are still active, what are your plans and hopes? + + 36. How did this particular organization touch the administrative, + legislative, and judicial branches of the government? The political + parties? How? What methods were used to bring pressure to bear? + What was your part in them? + + 37. As you look back on your life in the organization do you think + of practices which you indulged in or tolerated which you regard + as perhaps questionable? Instances? Did you so regard them at the + time? What would have happened if you had not indulged in them? + Should an organization be run on a different basis now? + + 38. What effect did life in the organization have upon your + activity in the politics of the community at large? Did you have + impulses to express yourself publicly or privately upon matters + which you felt it expedient to follow? Or were you driven to such + expression and activity? + + 39. If you were to judge entirely in terms of your experience as + a member of this organization, what would be your judgment of the + honesty and efficiency of the public service and the party machine? + + 40. What political prejudices or philosophies were current among + various elements inside the organization? + + 41. Think of various members of this organization who were rather + typical. How did you act toward them when you met them? What topics + of conversation, of anecdote, etc., did you indulge in? What + activities in common were there? + + 42. Did you think that you were imposed upon by any members as you + look back upon it now? Did you estimate some of them too highly? + Who? Why? + + 43. Did you underestimate some? Who? Why? + + 44. Were you estimated too high or too low? By whom? Why? + + 45. What things apart from common dishonesty would have caused you + to lose standing in the organization? What opinions and activities + would have compromised you? + + 46. Did you risk loss of standing at any time by word or deed? Were + you tempted to? Why did you refrain? + + 47. When you tried to add others to the organization, whom did you + seek? What type of people, in general, were you interested in? + + 48. Did the organization live up to your ideal? Why? + + 49. Who were the most powerful ones in the organization at + different periods? What were your relations with them? What did you + do consciously to win them? Success? What did you do to antagonize + them? How did they take it? What, in short, was the attitude of the + leaders toward you? + + 50. Did you ever have a sense of frustration arising from your + failure to participate in discussions of policy, either because you + hesitated to express yourself or because you expressed yourself + badly? + + 51. What is your matured judgment of the utility of this + organization in society? + + 52. How did your organization connections help or hurt you socially + or any other way? + + 53. How did your outside connections help or hurt you in the + organization? + + 54. What, generally speaking, were your advantages and + disadvantages with reference to securing and holding a prominent + position in the organization? + + 55. In general, what place did this organization play in your life? + + 56. With respect to each one of your so-called free-lance or very + personal activities, answer such questions as these: How did you + happen to take it up? Upon what factors would your success and + failure depend? What did you do to manage the persons upon whom + success or failure depended? With what result? What reaction + did your experience have upon your outlook upon political life + generally? + + + + +INDEX + + + Abraham, Karl, 103, 150 n. + + Adjustive thinking, 226 + + Adler, Alfred, 71 ff. + + Administrators: + definition and histories of, 127 ff.; + general theory of, 151 ff. + + Adolescence and politics, 187 + + Agitators: + definition and histories of, 78 ff.; + general theory of, 124 ff. + + Aichhorn, August, 230 + + Alexander, Franz, 139, 178, 182, 199, 220 n., 254 + + Allport, Floyd, 58 + + Anderson, John, 232 + + Apfelbach, Hans, 61, 62, 64 + + Aristotle, 39 + + Attitudes, 234 ff. + + Autistic reveries, 226 + + + Bernfeld, S., 177 + + Bernheim, 20 + + Biography, political, uses and limitations of, 3 + + Birnbaum, K., 200 n. + + Bjerre, 239 + + Blackstone, 175 + + Bleuler, 71 + + Blondel, 11 + + Blüher, Hans, 178 n. + + Boas, 13 + + Bodin, 54 + + Boss, 48 + + Breuer, 19 + + Bridgman, P. W., 251 n. + + Brücke, 18 + + Bryce, 252 + + Bühler, Charlotte, 230 + + Burrow, Trigant, 201 n. + + + Carlyle, 42 + + Case histories, 3 ff., 78 ff. + + Catharsis, 195 + + Catlin, G. E. G., 46 + + Charcot, 18 + + Chave, 59 n. + + Chicago, University of, 13, 201 n., 207 n. + + Christensen, 39, 53 n. + + Composite types, 53 + + Comte, 10 + + Consensus, 192 + + Convictions, political, 153 ff. + + Conway, 52, 53 n. + + Co-relational types, 55 + + Cowley, W. H., 59 + + Crises, political, 179 ff. + + Croner, Else, 232 n. + + Crowd, 193 n. + + + Debate, zone of, 192 + + De Grange, 10 n. + + Democracy, 194 ff. + + Despot, 46 + + Deutsch, Helene, 123 n. + + Developmental types, 60 + + Dicey, 1 + + Dictator, 197 + + Dilthey, 11, 49 + + Discussion, 194 ff. + + Dream, 26 + + Durkheim, 10 + + + Eder, 173, 181, 190 + + Education, 201 + + Ellis, Havelock, 83 n., 199 + + Emotional bonds, 185, 192 + + Energy of developed personality, 65 + + Events, subjective and external, 240 ff. + + Exhortation, 196 + + + Fabian Society, 186 + + Familiarization, a purpose of the study, 14 + + Federn, Paul, 180, 234 + + Ferenczi, S., 71, 97, 103 n., 105 n., 150 n., 213, 220 n., 255 + + Fliess, 62, 69 + + Follett, Mary L., 48 + + Forms of expression, thought and interest, 235 ff. + + Formula for development of political man, 75 + + Frazer, 73 + + Free-fantasy, 32 + + Freud, 12, 17 ff., 64, 65 ff., 103, 104 n., 111 n., 179 n., 199, 204 + ff., 223, 256 ff. + + Friendship and politics, 192 + + Functional meaning of politics, 42 + + + Garner, J. W., 2 + + Giese, Fritz, 55, 56, 57, 60 + + Glover, E., 103 n. + + Gneist, 1 + + Goodenough, Florence, 229 + + Gosnell, H. F., 53 n., 249 n. + + Gould, 7 n. + + + Hall, G. Stanley, 71 + + Hamilton, G. V., 70 + + Hartman, Dale, 59 n. + + Healy, William, 13 + + Heimsoth, K. G., 178 + + Hetzer, Hildegard, 231 + + Hobbes, 54 + + Hoffmann, 232 + + _Homo politicus_, 50 + + Hoover, 54 + + Hypnosis, 20 + + + Identification, 256 + + Institutional meaning of politics, 42 + + Interview as a method, 204 ff. + + Intimacy and politics, 187 + + Ireland, 7 n. + + Irrationality and politics, 184, 193 ff. + + + Janet, Pierre, 18, 104 n., 223 + + Jellinek, 2 + + Jones, E., 103 n., 179 n. + + Jung, 62 ff., 73 ff., 205 + + + Keilholz, A., 179 n. + + Kelsen, Hans, 2, 243 ff., 257 ff. + + Kempf, E. J., 115 n., 159 n., 197 + + Kjellén, 2 + + Koller, 19 + + Kretschmer, 40, 81 + + Kropotkin, 92 + + + Laband, 1 + + Lange-Eichbaum, W., 7 n., 200 n. + + Laski, H. J., 2 + + Lassalle, 53 + + Lasswell, H. D., 3 n., 28 n., 39 n., 202 n., 204 n., 205 n., 221 n. + + Lazarus, 12 + + Lee, Sir Edward, 1 + + Lenin, 54 + + Liébeault, 20 + + Logical thought, limitations of, 28 ff. + + Lombroso, 7 n. + + Lowell, A. L., 53 n., 191 + + Lowie, R. H., 243 + + Lynd, R. S. and Helen, 250 n. + + + Machiavelli, 39 + + Marx, Karl, 53 + + Masaryk, 53, 220 + + Masturbation, cultural history of, 83 n. + + Meaning of political patterns, 248 + + Mechanism types, 63 + + Merriam, Charles E., 39, 46, 52, 53 n., 59, 249 n. + + Meynart, 18 + + Michels, Robert, 39, 52, 53 n., 60 + + Möbius, 7 n. + + Moore, Henry T., 58 + + Morgan, J. P., & Co., 45 + + Morley, John, 1 + + Movements, vitality of political, 173 ff. + + Mowrer, E. A., 180 + + Munro, W. B., 40, 53 n. + + + Nancy, 20 + + Nexo, 186 + + Nuclear types, 49 + + Nunberg, 220 n. + + + Object orientation, 225 + + Old Testament prophets, 54 + + + Paine, Tom, 54 + + Paley, 174 + + Park, Robert E., 192, 193 n. + + Parten, Mildred, 230 + + Pathological, 200 + + Personality, 221 + + Persuasion, personal, oratorical and written, 188 + + Political methods, 196 + + Political movements, 173 ff. + + Political patterns, 248 ff. + + Political practices, 235 + + Political symbolization, 183 ff. + + Political tension level, 185 + + Political types, 38 ff. + + Politician, 47 + + Politics: + and conflict, 196; + effect of, on politicians, 198; + institutional and functional meaning of, 42 + + Prevention, politics of, 173 ff. + + Propaganda and unconscious motives, 189 + + Psychoanalysis, 15 + + Psychopathology, 15 + + Public, 193 n. + + + Quantitative approach, 251 + + + Radiating nucleus, 187 + + Radin, Paul, 13 + + Rado, S., 179 n. + + Rank, O., 74, 205, 220 n. + + Reactive interpretation, 222 + + Reich, Wilhelm, 105 n. + + Reik, Theodor, 175, 213 + + Reininger, Karl, 231 + + Revolution, 179 + + Rice, S. A., 41 + + Rich, Gilbert J., 59 + + Rinaldo, Joel, 104 n. + + Rohmer, 53 n. + + Rôles, specialized and composite, 54 + + Rousseau, 54 + + Ruggiero, 40 + + Ruml, B., 201 n. + + Rush, 199 + + + Sadger, Wilhelm, 103 n. + + Schmidt, 2 + + Sexuality, rôle of, 66 ff. + + Shaw, Bernard, 78 + + Sidgwick, 2 + + Simmel, Georg, 11, 52 + + Smith, Adam, 48 + + Social scientist, 201 + + Somatic reactions, 226 + + Specialized types, 53 + + Spranger, Eduard, 49 ff., 232 n. + + Statesman, 46 + + Staub, 182, 254 + + Steindhal, 12 + + Stekel, Wilhelm, 71, 74, 157 + + Strachey, Lytton, 1 + + Sullivan, Harry Stack, 126 n., 207 n., 233 n. + + Sward Keith, 59 n. + + Symbolization in politics, 185 ff. + + Symbols, political, as targets of displacement, 183 + + + Tendency interpretations, 221 + + Tension level, 185 + + Thomas, Dorothy S., 229, 230 n. + + Thomas, W. I., 12, 188, 230 n. + + Thurstone, L. L., 59 + + Tissot, 83 n. + + Types: + co-relational, 55; + developmental, 60; + institutional and functional, 42; + nuclear, 49; + specialized and composite, 53 + + Typologies, popular and scientific, 39 + + + Values, changes of, 201 + + Vienna, University of, 18 + + Vierkandt, 12 + + Views, political, 234 ff. + + Violence a political method, 196 + + Voltaire, 83 n. + + + Wagner-Jauregg, 19 + + Walker, Marjorie, 230 + + Wallas, Graham, 46 + + Weber, Max, 39, 52 + + Weininger, 62 + + Wertheimer and Hesketh, 81 + + White, William A., 179 n. + + Willoughby, W. W., 2 + + Winkler, Viktor, 231 + + Wittals, Fritz, 22 + + Wordsworth, W., 70 + + + Zilboorg, Gregory, 123 + + Znaniecki, F., 12 + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +[1] See Harold D. Lasswell, “The Study of the Ill as a Method of +Research on Political Personalities,” _American Political Science +Review_, November, 1929. + +[2] “Psychosis” means the more serious mental disturbances; “neurosis” +means the less serious ones. + +[3] The best summary of this literature is Wilhelm Lange-Eichbaum, +_Genie-Irrsinn und Ruhm_. See also the works of Ireland, Lombroso, +Möbius, and Gould. + +[4] See De Grange’s excellent treatment of this matter in his paper on +the methodology of Comte in the case book to be published by the Social +Science Research Council. + +[5] What has been said above is current in the biography of Freud by +Fritz Wittals, and in Freud’s autobiographical sketches. + +[6] Modified from “Self-Analysis and Judicial Thinking,” _International +Journal of Ethics_, April, 1930. + +[7] The training should, of course, be conducted by a specialist alert +to his responsibilities. + +[8] “Politik als Beruf,” in _Gesammelte Schriften_. + +[9] I summarized some of this literature in “Types of Political +Personalities,” _Proceedings of the American Sociological Society, +1927_. Reprinted in _Personality and the Group_ (edited by Burgess). + +[10] _Personality in Politics._ + +[11] _The History of European Liberalism._ + +[12] _Physique and Character_, chap. xiii. + +[13] _Quantitative Methods in Politics_, chap. v. + +[14] _The Science and Method of Politics._ + +[15] _The New State._ + +[16] It is not profitable to pursue these distinctions farther. I +should prefer to distinguish the statesman from the politician by +treating the latter as a function of a democratically organized +community and as one who is limited to persuasion in the advancement of +his conceptions of public right. The statesman may use force, and is +not necessarily a function of democratically organized society. + +[17] His viewpoint is best expressed in “Die Typen der Weltanschauung,” +in _Weltanschauung-Philosophie und Religion in Darstellungen_ (edited +by M. Frischeisen-Kohler). + +[18] _Soziologie_, chap. iii. + +[19] _Grundriss der Sozialökonomik_, III, 1. + +[20] See Robert Michels, _Political Parties_; C. E. Merriam, _American +Party System_, and _Introduction_ to H. F. Gosnell’s _Boss Platt and +His New York Machine_; Martin Conway, _Instincts of the Herd in Peace +and War_; Lowell, _Public Opinion in War and Peace_; Rohmer, _Die Vier +Parteien_; A. Christensen, _Politics and Crowd Morality_; W. B. Munro, +_Personality in Politics_. + +[21] _Die öffentliche Persönlichkeit._ Beihefte zur _Zeitschrift für +angewandte Psychologie_, Vol. XLIV. + +[22] “Innate Factors in Radicalism and Conservatism,” _Journal of +Abnormal and Social Psychology_, XX (1925-26), 234-44. + +[23] Allport really used a rank-order method of handling opinion +expressions which he unjustifiably treated as marking definite +positions along a base line. Thurstone has greatly improved the +technique of opinion measurement. See Thurstone and Chave, _The +Measurement of Attitude_ (Chicago, 1929). For Allport’s original paper +(with D. A. Hartman), see “Measurement and Motivation of Atypical +Opinion in a Certain Group,” _American Political Science Review_, XIX +(1925), 735-60. + +[24] “Three Distinctions in the Study of Leaders,” _Journal of +Abnormal and Social Psychology_, Vol. XXIII (July-September, 1928). + +[25] By Keith Sward, Social Science Research Council Fellow, and +others. I discuss the problem of evaluating test results later on. + +[26] “A Biochemical Approach to the Study of Personality,” _Journal of +Abnormal and Social Psychology_, Vol. XXIII (July-September, 1928). + +[27] Hans Apfelbach, _Der Aufbau des Charakters_. Cf. Otto Weininger, +_Geschlecht und Charakter_; Fliess, _Ablauf des Lebens_. + +[28] C. G. Jung, _Psychological Types_, chap. x. + +[29] _Beyond the Pleasure Principle._ + +[30] “The Significance of Physical Constitution in Mental Disease,” +_Medicine_, V (1926), 375-451. + +[31] The popular superstition about the dangers of masturbation seems +to have become widespread in Western Europe in the eighteenth century. +Havelock Ellis dates it from the appearance of a sensational book by +an anonymous English doctor which was called _Onania: or the Heinous +Sin of Self-Pollution and All Its Frightful Consequences in Both Sexes, +Considered, with Spiritual and Physical Advice, etc._ This is said to +have passed through eighty editions and to have been translated into +German. Tissot, a physician of Lausanne, contributed his _Traité_ on +the same subject in Latin in 1760. This appeared in French four years +later, and subsequently in nearly all European languages. His watchword +was that masturbation was a crime, “an act of suicide.” Voltaire +popularized his viewpoint in the _Dictionnaire philosophique_, and +the tradition became firmly set. See Havelock Ellis, _Studies in the +Psychology of Sex_, I, 248-49. The cultural relativity of this attitude +toward masturbation is brought out in ethnological reports. + +[32] _Psychoanalytische Studien zur Charakterbildung_ (International +Psychoanalytische Bibliothek, 1925), Nr. XVI. Freud’s first +contribution to the subject was published in 1908. His brief article, +“Charakter and Analerotik,” is reprinted in the fifth volume of the +_Gesammelte Schriften_. Others who have written in the same field are +Sadger, Ferenczi, Jones, and E. Glover. + +[33] Joel Rinaldo paraphrases Freud in his _Psychoanalysis of the +“Reformer”_ and without supporting cases argues that the reformer is +always a meddling hysteric. This is not to be taken for granted, for +he may more often prove to be an obsessive type, when he shows mental +pathology. For the best picture of the two clinical types, see Janet, +_Les névroses_. + +[34] See Ferenczi, _Versuch einer Genitaltheorie_ (Internationale +Psychoanalytische Bibliothek, 1924), Band XV, esp. Sec. V. Also Wilhelm +Reich, _Die Funktion des Orgasmus_. + +[35] See Freud’s discussion of paranoia in his “Psychoanalytische +Bemerkungen über einen autobiographisch beschriebenen Fall von +Paranoia,” _Gesammelte Schriften_, Band VIII. + +[36] This grandfather committed suicide at an unreported age, and his +youngest son is said to be “very nervous.” B’s oldest sister had a +nervous breakdown in high school. The third sister is “neurotic.” B is +described as having been a frail infant, and a shy child. Bed-wetting +continued until he was twelve or fourteen, and he occasionally had +attacks of indigestion. Physical examination failed to disclose any +significant physical factor in his difficulties. + +[37] Examples are given in Kempf’s _Psychopathology_, and in other +textbooks on the subject. + +[38] See Helene Deutsch, _Psychoanalyse der weiblichen Sexualfunction_. + +[39] See “The Dynamics of Schizophrenic Reactions Related to Pregnancy +and Childbirth,” _American Journal of Psychiatry_, VIII (1929), 733-66. + +[40] The physician in charge of this case comments that there may be a +homosexual _anlage_ on the physical level, but that this is not certain. + +[41] Harry Stack Sullivan has stressed the critical importance for +personality growth of the adolescent phase in which the individual is +impelled to enter into intimate emotional relations with one or two +other persons of his own age. Those who partially fail in this show +various warps in their subsequent development. + +[42] “Der neurotische Charakter,” _Internationale Zeitschrift für +Psychoanalyse_, XIV (1928), 26-44. + +[43] Abraham and Ferenczi have reported cases of this kind. + +[44] _Op. cit._, p. 448. + +[45] See the chapter on “Psycho-analysis in Relation to Politics” in +_Social Aspects of Psycho-Analysis_ (London, 1924). + +[46] “Dogma und Zwangsidee,” _Imago_, XIII (1927), 247-382. + +[47] Succinctly described in “Über eine typische Form der männlichen +pubertät,” _Imago_, IX (1923), 169 ff. On the homoerotic elements +see Hans Blüher, _Die deutsche Wandervogelbewegung als erotisches +Phänomen_, and his more elaborate volume cited in the Bibliography. + +[48] I was kindly permitted to see this manuscript which is not yet +published. + +[49] See Sandor Rado, “Die psychischen Wirkungen der Rauschgifte,” +_Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse_, XII (1926), 540-56; A. +Keilholz, “Analyseversuch bei Delirium Tremens,” _ibid._, pp. 478-92; +and Stekel’s volumes. + +[50] For a sketch of the unconscious processes involved in warfare see +S. Freud, “Zeitgemässes über Krieg und Tod,” _Imago_, IV (1915-16), +1-21; Ernest Jones, _Essays in Psycho-Analysis_; William A. White, +_Thoughts of a Psychiatrist on the War and After_. + +[51] _Chicago Daily News_, July 20, 1927. + +[52] The distinction between the crowd and the public is best developed +in the writings of Robert E. Park. Freud undertook to explain the crowd +on the theory that an emotional bond was forged by identification +of the individual with a leader, and by a process of partial +identification through the perception of this similar relationship +to the leader. He set out from the observation that when people are +interacting upon one another they behave differently than when they +are alone. The loss of individuality represents a relinquishment +of narcissistic gratification which can only come when libido is +directed outward toward objects. Freud’s theory applies strictly to +a special case of crowd behavior only. Crowd states may also arise +when interlocking partial identifications occur on the perception of +a common threat. Crowd behavior often arises before anybody assumes a +“leading” rôle, and rival leaders are “selected” by the crowd. + +[53] _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_, I, 231. + +[54] Kempf, _Psychopathology_, p. 704. + +[55] Franz Alexander, “Mental Hygiene and Criminology,” _First +International Congress on Mental Hygiene_. + +[56] For an appreciation of the rôle of the pathological person in +society see Wilhelm Lange-Eichbaum, _Genie-Irrsinn, und Ruhm_, and Karl +Birnbaum, _Grundzüge der Kulturpsychopathologie_. + +[57] Something like this is no doubt the thought in Trigant Burrow’s +very obscure book on _The Social Basis of Consciousness_. + +[58] This point was forcibly made by Beardsley Ruml in his speech +at the dedication of the Social Science Research Building at the +University of Chicago. See _The New Social Science_, edited by Leonard +D. White, pp. 99-111. + +[59] I have suggested that those who write human biography should be +included among those who require this comprehensive training. See “The +Scientific Study of Human Biography,” _Scientific Monthly_, January, +1930. + +[60] Modified and expanded from “The Psychoanalytic Interview as a +Method of Research on Personalities,” in _The Child’s Emotions_, pp. +136-59. + +[61] See Harold D. Lasswell, “The Problem of Adequate Personality +Records: A Proposal,” _American Journal of Psychiatry_, May 1929. Also +Appendix B of _The Proceedings of the First Colloquium on Personality +Investigation_. + +[62] We are now engaged upon studies of this kind at the Personality +Laboratory in the Social Science Research Building at the University of +Chicago. Harry Stack Sullivan is conducting a series of researches on +expression changes, with particular reference to schizophrenia, which +are of the greatest importance. + +[63] The topic of reliable criteria will be dealt with in detail in the +reports upon experiments in progress. + +[64] The best technical discussions of the nature of the analytical +situation are in the writings of Freud, Rank, Ferenczi, Nunberg, and +Alexander. + +[65] Expanded from an article with the same title which appeared in the +_Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology_, January, 1930. + +[66] Dorothy Swaine Thomas and Associates, _Some New Techniques for +Studying Social Behavior_. + +[67] “Die ersten sozialen Verhaltungsweisen des Kindes,” _Quellen und +Studien zur Jugendkunde_, Heft 5. + +[68] Referred to by John E. Anderson, “The Genesis of Social Reactions +in the Young Child,” _The Unconscious: A Symposium_. These researches +are abstracted in William I. Thomas and Dorothy S. Thomas, _The Child +in America_. + +[69] _Über soziale Verhaltungsweisen in der Vorpubertät_, “Wiener +Arbeiten zur pädogogischen Psychologie” (herausgegeben von Charlotte +Bühler and Viktor Fadrus), Heft 2. + +[70] _Das volkstümliche Kinderspiel_, Heft 6, in the same series as the +above. + +[71] “Psychologie des Jugendführers,” _Quellen und Studien zur +Jugendkunde_ (herausgegeben von Dr. Charlotte Bühler). + +[72] _Das Problem des Charakteraufbaus_, pp. 68-80. See E. Spranger, +_Psychologie des Jugendalters_, and Else Croner, “Die Psyche der +weiblichen Jugend,” _Schriften zur Frauenbildung_, Heft 6. + +[73] _Internationale Psychoanalytische Bibliotek_, Band XIX. + +[74] See especially p. 278. Harry Stack Sullivan is tracing out +the developmental history of various forms of personality in his +forthcoming volume on _Personal Psychopathology_. + +[75] Paul Federn commented in his pamphlet that a democratic state must +depend upon a democratic family life. + +[76] See his excellent methodological chapter in _The Psychology of +Murder_. + +[77] _The Origin of the State._ + +[78] Not to be confused with mind-body parallelism, which is not +accepted. + +[79] Cf. Kelsen, _Der Soziologische und der juristische +Staatsbegriff_; “Der Begriff des Staates und die Sozialpsychologie,” +_Imago_, VIII (1922), 97-141; “The Conception of the State and Social +Psychology,” _International Journal of Psycho-Analysis_, V (1924), 1-38. + +[80] Perhaps the most important part of the Merriam and Gosnell study +of _Non-Voting_ is the symposium of conversational scraps which suggest +what balloting actually means to various classes and sections of a +modern metropolitan community. + +[81] Such criticism has been directed against the pioneer venture of +the Lynds, _Middletown_. + +[82] An able discussion of the operational concept is in P. W. +Bridgman, _The Logic of Modern Physics_. + +[83] Alexander and Staub have commented on this in _Der Verbrecher +und seine Richter_. But it is principally due to the suspicion of the +public officer. + +[84] See his sketch of social psychology in _Massenpsychologie und +Ich-Analyse_. + +[85] More specifically, Kretschmer’s _Psychobiogramm_, published in +H. Hoffmann, _Das Problem des Charakteraufbaus_, as an appendix; +Heyman’s trait list (republished in _Gesammelte Kelinere Schriften_, +Dritter Teil); the psychograms of W. Stern (in _Die differentielle +Psychologie in ihren methodischen Grundlagen_), of Baade, Lipman, and +Stern (_Zeitschrift für angewandte Psychologie_, Band III), of P. +Margis (Breslau dissertation, 1911, _Das Problem und die Methoden der +Psychographie mit einer Individualanalyse von E. T. A. Hoffmann_), of +L. Lewin (_Friedrich Hebbel: Beitrag zu einem Psychogramm_ [Berlin, +1913]), of E. Stern (“Patho-psychographische Untersuchungen,” _Archiv +für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten_, Band LXI), of F. Kehrer and +S. Fischer (“Modell einer klinisch-experimentellen Pathographie,” +_Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie_, Band LXXXV); +the outlines of Dr. Paul Federn (_Schema der Libidoaufnahme_, MSS in my +possession), of F. D. Wells (MSS in my possession), of G. V. Hamilton, +of Adolf Meyer (mimeographed MSS in my possession), of Amsden and Hoch, +of Floyd Allport, and the lists of Woodworth, Laird, House, Freyd and +Thurstone. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78273 *** diff --git a/78273-h/78273-h.htm b/78273-h/78273-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..497da39 --- /dev/null +++ b/78273-h/78273-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11708 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no,date=no,address=no,email=no,url=no"> + <title> + Psychopathology and politics | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +p { + text-indent: 1.5em; + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; +} + +p.noindent, .footnote p { + text-indent: 0; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; + border: 0; + background: #bbb; + height: 1px; +} + +hr.tb, hr.chap {width: 30%; margin-left: 35%; margin-right: 35%;} +hr.front {width: 10%; margin-left: 45%; margin-right: 45%;} + +hr.chap {width: 50%; margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;} +@media print {hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +table td { padding: 0.25em; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} +.lp {padding-left: 2em;} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; + color: #999; +} + +blockquote { + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; } +li.ifrst { + margin-top: 1em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.indx { + margin-top: .5em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.isub1 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 2em; +} + +a {text-decoration: none;} +a:hover {text-decoration: underline;} + +/* Footnotes */ + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; +} + +/* Poetry */ + +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry */ +/* .poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} */ +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +blockquote.hang p { + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -1.7em; +} + +blockquote.hang > blockquote > p { + padding-left: 0; + text-indent: 0; + font-size: 90%; +} + +.bracket {font-size: x-large;} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1.0em;} +.poetry .indent8 {text-indent: 2.0em;} + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78273 ***</div> + +<h1> +PSYCHOPATHOLOGY<br> +AND POLITICS +</h1> + +<p class="center"> +By<br> +<span style="font-size:x-large">HAROLD D. LASSWELL</span><br> +<br> +Assistant Professor of Political Science, The<br> +University of Chicago; and author of <i>Propaganda</i><br> +<i>Technique in the World War, etc.</i><br> +<br> +<br> +<i>“From him who has eyes to see and ears to hear</i><br> +<i>no mortal can hide his secret; he whose lips are</i><br> +<i>silent chatters with his fingertips and betrays</i><br> +<i>himself through all his pores.”</i>—<span class="smcap">An Old Physician</span><br> +<br> + +<br> +THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS<br> +CHICAGO · ILLINOIS +</p> + +<hr class="front"> + +<p class="center" style="font-size:smaller"> +COPYRIGHT 1930 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO<br> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED OCTOBER 1930<br> +<i>Second Impression May 1931</i><br> +<br> +COMPOSED AND PRINTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS<br> +CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. +</p> + +<hr class="front"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE"> + PREFACE + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>An understanding of political life can be sought by examining +collective processes distributively or intensively. +In my <i>Propaganda Technique in the World War</i> (New +York and London, 1927), I undertook to analyze the factors +which modified collective attitudes by examining the +symbols to which many millions of people had been exposed, +without paying heed to the order in which these +symbols entered into the experience of any particular person. +In this preliminary treatise on <i>Psychopathology and +Politics</i>, I am likewise concerned with the factors which +impinge upon collective attitudes, but the method of procedure +is radically different. It is no longer a question +of inspecting the symbols to which innumerable individuals +have been exposed; the present starting-point is the +lengthy scrutiny of the histories of specific individuals. +The procedures and findings of psychopathology are relied +upon for the purpose in hand, since they are the most +elaborate and stimulating contributions to the study of the +person which have yet been made.</p> + +<p>Candor enjoins me once more to express my indebtedness +to my former teacher and present chief, Charles E. +Merriam, of the University of Chicago, who some time ago +sensed the importance of psychopathology for political +science, and who has been willing to encourage my own +forays in the field, without, of course, feeling bound to +indorse my results either in principle or in detail. Through +him it became possible to have facilities for special work +with Professor Mayo, of Harvard University, whose perception +of the bearing of psychopathology upon the understanding +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span>of social life is bearing fruit in novel and +important experiments in business. The tenure of a Social +Science Research Council Fellowship (1928–29) made it +possible to continue my studies abroad.</p> + +<p>Circumstances have thus been such as to bring me in +contact, sometimes fleeting and sometimes prolonged, with +men who represent divers standpoints in psychopathology. +Many of these have kindly placed their minds and their +facilities at my disposal, and I hereby return thanks for +the generosity and patience with which they treated an inquiring, +if somewhat innocent, investigator. No one who +knows the lay of the land in modern psychology, deeply +pitted by the trenches and shell-holes of battling schools, +will imagine that all the men whom I am to name see +eye to eye with one another, or that they will look with +equanimity upon the results of my explorations. To name +them is, I hope, not unduly to incriminate them.</p> + +<p>Among those from whom assistance has been received +are to be included: Dr. William Healy, Judge Baker Foundation, +Boston; Dr. William A. White, superintendent of +St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Ross +Chapman, superintendent of Sheppard and Enoch Pratt +Hospital, Towson, Maryland; Dr. Earl D. Bond, superintendent +of the Pennsylvania State Hospital, Philadelphia; +Dr. Mortimer Raynor, superintendent of Bloomingdale +Hospital, White Plains, New York; Dr. C. MacFie Campbell, +superintendent of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, +Boston; Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan, formerly of Sheppard +and Enoch Pratt Hospital; Dr. N. D. C. Lewis, St. Elizabeth’s +Hospital; Dr. Samuel W. Hamilton, Bloomingdale +Hospital; Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, Bloomingdale Hospital; +Dr. F. L. Wells, Boston Psychopathic Hospital; Dr. Edouard +Hitschmann, Vienna; Dr. Paul Federn, Vienna; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span>Dr. Alfred Adler, Vienna; Dr. Wilhelm Stekel, Vienna; +Dr. S. Ferenczi, Budapest; Dr. Theodor Reik, Berlin; Dr. +Franz Alexander, Berlin (now of the University of Chicago). +My colleagues, Dr. Stewart B. Sniffen and Professor +Leonard D. White, made valuable suggestions during +the process of editing the manuscript, several of which +I adopted.</p> + +<p>Permission to quote freely from my previous publications +was received from the editors of the <i>American Political +Science Review, American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal +of Abnormal and Social Psychology, International +Journal of Ethics</i>, and from the University of Chicago +Press and the Chicago Association for Child Study and +Parent Education.</p> + +<p>I wish especially to express my gratitude to those who +cannot be singled out by name, but whose co-operation +in submitting themselves to prolonged scrutiny was of the +greatest possible help.</p> + +<p>It ought to be pointed out that the cases actually cited +are only a fraction of those which I have examined, or +which I have in my possession. Only enough cases have +been abstracted to serve the purposes of exposition, to supply +a background for the theoretical material. The obscurities +which result from an unlimited multiplication of +“little Willie stories” have been sought to be avoided by +curtailing their number and their extent.</p> + +<p>The first part of the book proceeds in rather dogmatic +fashion, and this no doubt tends to obscure the highly unsatisfactory +nature of the materials and methods of contemporary +psychopathology. The later chapters are given +over to the critical and constructive discussion of these matters, +and should fully indicate the highly provisional, +though potentially significant, character of the whole.</p> + +<p class="right"> + H. D. L. +</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="TABLE_OF_CONTENTS"> + TABLE OF CONTENTS + </h2> +</div> + +<table> + <tr style="font-size:x-small"><td class="tdr"></td><td class="tdl">CHAPTER</td><td>PAGE</td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">I.</td><td class="tdl"> Life-Histories and Political Science</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">II.</td><td class="tdl">The Psychopathological Approach</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">III.</td><td class="tdl">A New Technique of Thinking</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td><td class="tdl">The Criteria of Political Types</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">V.</td><td class="tdl">Theories of Personality Development</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td><td class="tdl">Political Agitators</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td><td class="tdl">Political Agitators—<i>Continued</i></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td class="tdl">Political Administrators</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td><td class="tdl">Political Convictions</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">X.</td><td class="tdl">The Politics of Prevention</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td><td class="tdl">The Prolonged Interview and Its Objectification</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td><td class="tdl">The Personality System and Its Substitutive Reactions</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td></tr> + <tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td><td class="tdl">The State as a Manifold of Events</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr> + <tr><td></td><td class="tdl" colspan="2">APPENDIX</td></tr> + <tr><td></td><td>A. Select Bibliography</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr> + <tr><td></td><td class="tdl">B. Question List on Political Practices</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_276">276</a></td></tr> + <tr><td></td><td class="tdl">Index</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I"> + CHAPTER I + <br> + LIFE-HISTORIES AND POLITICAL SCIENCE + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Political biography as a field of political science has +long been relied upon to furnish a vivid corrective to the +overemphasis laid upon the study of institutional “mechanisms,” +“structures,” and “systems.” The legal and customary +position of the House of Commons, the House of +Lords, the monarch and the electorate, as expounded in +the commentaries of Gneist and Dicey, suddenly take on +new meaning when viewed through the lens of Morley’s +Gladstone, Strachey’s Victoria, or Lee’s Edward VII. The +German imperial system of Laband is more fleshly and +less transcendental when one has studied the lives of Bismarck +or William II. An institutional account of the constitutional +development of the United States without a life +of Marshall and a life of Lincoln would be but the dregs +of a rich and ebullient history. Political science without +biography is a form of taxidermy.</p> + +<p>When the tumultuous life of society is flayed into precedents +and tanned into principles, the resulting abstractions +suffer a strange fate. They are grouped and regrouped +until the resulting mosaic may constitute a logical and +aesthetic whole which has long ceased to bear any valid +relation to the original reality. Concepts are constantly in +danger of losing their reference to definite events. Notions +like liberty and authority require a new birth of meaning +after they have followed the tempting path of abstraction +but a little way. If conceptions are to serve and not to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span>master the mind, their terms of reference must intermittently +undergo the most rigorous scrutiny.</p> + +<p>The use of “institutional” categories in describing political +life is indispensable, but the publicists who employ +them have little to say about the “personal” influences +which modify the expected behavior of “legislatures,” +“executives,” and “judiciaries.” It is no news that “leadership” +is an important variable in predicting the course of +events, but the standard treatises on politics have next to +nothing to offer about the traits of various kinds of agitators +and organizers, and nothing to say about the kinds +of experiences out of which these differences arise.</p> + +<p>This limitation holds for the books about the theory of +the state and of politics which are written by Englishmen +like Sidgwick and Laski, Americans like Garner and W. +W. Willoughby, and Europeans like Jellinek, Schmidt, +Kjellén, and Kelsen. No doubt these men possess or have +possessed a living sense of political realities. Of Sidgwick +it is related that he was wonderfully adept in entertaining +his circle for hours with incisive comments and amusing +anecdotes about public men. But of this “humanity” of +politics there is little to be found in what he wrote. Political +biography has been relied upon chiefly to convey a +sense of the unpredictable in human affairs, and to adorn +an after-dinner tale. At its best, political biography has +contributed to an understanding of the factors which differentiate +one human personality from another. But it is no +secret that the literary biography or autobiography omits +or distorts much of the intimate history of the individual, +and that many of the facts which modern investigators have +found to be important are numbered among the missing.</p> + +<p>Where is it possible to secure a supply of life-histories +in which the usual conventionalities are ignored, and which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>are taken by specialists in the sociological, psychological, +and somatic influences which play upon the individual? +There exist in modern society sizeable collections of such +material which have hitherto been accorded slight attention +by students of social science. I refer to the case histories +of those individuals who have been ill, and especially +those who have been cared for in hospitals and sanitariums.⁠<a id="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>The richest body of psychological and sociological facts +is found in the files of the institutions for the care of the +mentally disordered, although the material available in +general hospitals is of value. The case history of a patient +in a good mental hospital is a document to which many +have contributed. There is a report of the physical condition +of the patient as it is revealed in the routine examination +on his admission to the institution. This may be +supplemented by transcripts of previous and subsequent +examinations. There is also to be found the rating attained +by the subject on several general-intelligence and special-aptitude +tests. There is a report of the preliminary interview +and the diagnosis by the psychiatrist. This is amplified +by a summary of the proceedings at staff conferences +to which the patient is presented, and which is attended +by the whole body of physicians and psychiatric social +workers attached to the hospital. The usual routine is for +the physician and social worker in charge to present a +summary of the case, to introduce the patient for observation, +and to engage in general colloquy upon the diagnosis +and therapy after the patient has been escorted out of the +room. The patient may be brought before several staff +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>conferences for the purpose of discussing whether he is in +a condition permitting of release, parole, or transfer. During +his stay in the institution the nurses, as well as the +physicians who make rounds, add their descriptive comments +upon his behavior. The social service department +gets in touch with relatives and acquaintances and prepares +a biography of the subject. Occasionally the patient +will volunteer an autobiography, which is filed with the +general record. Correspondence with individuals who have +interested themselves in the case will often disclose valuable +details. The exhibits frequently include letters written +by the patient before, during, and after his illness, +together with published works, drawings, paintings, and +plastic productions. In some instances the record of a +single patient who has been admitted, released, or transferred +becomes very voluminous.</p> + +<p>It is due to the growing emphasis upon the importance +of understanding the personality as a functioning whole +that modern medical men are willing and anxious to assemble +data about the behavior of the individual in his family, +business, and recreational relations. Such facts are often +useful to the physician in making his diagnosis and in +deciding how to handle the patient. The modern emphasis +upon the rôle of reverie in developing one’s traits and interests +has led to the inclusion of data about night dreams, +daydreams, ambitions, grievances, enthusiasms, and loyalties +of the subject. Not infrequently the productions of +the patient are recorded in his own words by a stenographer +who is present during certain interviews with physicians. +All these psychological and sociological data increase +the significance of the case record for the individual +who studies it for the purpose of understanding the total +developmental history of the person.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span></p> + +<p>Sometimes the case histories concern people who are +without mental disorder, but who have, for one reason or +another, been committed for observation. The German +government was not the only one in the late war which +sometimes resorted to the expedient of avoiding the appearance +of internal dissension by referring pacifists to a +mental hospital. The records of the kind obtained under +these circumstances are often of men and women without +pathology, and serve to control the conclusions which rest +on the study of pathological cases.</p> + +<p>Quite often the specifically pathological features in the +record of a sick person are very meager. Thus, one prominent +politician, the mayor of a large city, was brought to +a mental hospital suffering from an alcoholic psychosis,⁠<a id="FNanchor_2_2" href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +delirium tremens. He was only “insane” (to use a nonscientific +term) when he was passing through this acute +alcoholic episode, and was soon released. But the record +of what he said and did during the delirium casts a +brighter light on the deeper motivations of his political +career than many pages of conventional biography. The +hallucinations and delusions which he experienced were +not entirely stereotyped for the disease. Since he was no +longer able to maintain his repressions, his inner fantasy +life came out in the clear, and his personality structure +stood revealed. Another politician showed nothing abnormal +except a propensity for collecting women’s shoe heels, +which he found sexually stimulating. He came to the +medical psychologist to be freed from his fetishist perversion, +and in so doing he made possible the preparation of +a document which intimately revealed the origin of certain +political interests. From the point of view of the political +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>scientist the most valuable parts of his history happened +to be quite far removed from the narrowly circumscribed +pathological symptoms.</p> + +<p>The value of some records is enhanced by the fact that, +besides the pathological productions of the patient, they +contain much information which is volunteered by the person +when he is himself again. Some forms of mental +disorder show recurrent intervals of disturbance and normality, +and during the “clear” interludes the patient is +quite competent to furnish autobiographical data. Often +the “remissions” in the individual’s condition extend over +several years, although they may be momentary. Another +form of mental disease is characterized by the fact that +the sufferer’s difficulties center about a single system of +ideas which, if left untouched by the interviewer, permits +him to be dealt with as an ordinary individual. It should +be evident from the foregoing that, contrary to popular +impression, the histories to be found in institutions for the +care of the sick are by no means exclusively confined to +pathological subjects or to the merely pathological aspects +of the person.</p> + +<p>Some of the life-histories which are summarized in this +monograph come from mental hospitals. Others have been +collected from volunteers who were outside mental institutions +and who were aware of no serious mental pathology. +They have been undertaken on the understanding +that our knowledge of human nature in politics would be +advanced if “normal” individuals were studied with the +same care which is often bestowed on the abnormal.</p> + +<p>So the book includes persons who are “sick” and persons +who are “well.” In the main the material is printed +for the first time. There are no retrospective interpretations +of historical personages. The chief unity of the study +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>lies in the fact that it is restricted to politically interesting +people who have been studied while alive by specialists +under conditions of unusual intimacy.</p> + +<p>The purpose of this venture is not to prove that politicians +are “insane.” Indeed, the specifically pathological +is of secondary importance to the central problem of exhibiting +the developmental profile of different types of public +characters. Our job is not to catalogue the symptoms +at the expense of the main patterns of the personality. We +have not finished when we know that a modern Rousseau +suffered from paranoia; that a modern Napoleon has +partly atrophied genitalia; that modern Alexanders, +Caesars, and Blüchers are alcoholic; that a modern Calvin +is plagued by eczema, migraine, and kidney stones; that +a modern Bismarck is hysterical; that a modern Lincoln +shows depressive pathology; that a modern Robespierre +displays a eunuchoid habitus; or that a modern Marat +suffers from arthritis, diabetes, and eczema. “Psychopathography” +is legitimate and useful, but pathography +is not our aim.⁠<a id="FNanchor_3_3" href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Nor is it the purpose of this book to make a hit-and-miss +collection of isolated anecdotes about the relation between +early experiences and specific political traits and interests. +Not that this sort of thing is not a liberalizing experience. +Our conventional schemes of “political motivation” seem +curiously aloof from the manifold reality of human life +when we discover the private basis of public acts. John +B, to choose a random instance, is a busy, aggressive, and +successful salesman who spends a great deal of time and +money on the care of the blind. He takes time away from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>his business to serve on the board of governors of institutions +for the blind, and he handles many financial campaigns +on their behalf. Measures looking toward the improvement +of public or private care for these unfortunates +are certain of his support before legislative committees, +on the platform, and in personal conference. The study +of his early memories finally revealed the incident in which +his ardent interest in the blind was rooted. When he was +between three and four years of age, his little sister pulled +an eye out of his favorite cat, and he was terribly distressed. +His concern for the safety of his pets was the +original drive toward protective work for the blind which +matured into his adult activity. It would be possible to +fill many pages with reports of “critical experiences” of +this kind, and their importance is far greater than is usually +supposed.</p> + +<p>If diagnostic labels and isolated anecdotes do not satisfy +us, what do we want? The answer can be succinctly stated +thus: We want to discover what developmental experiences +are significant for the political traits and interests +of the mature. This means that we want to see what lies +behind agitators, administrators, theorists, and other types +who play on the public stage. Can we conceive the development +of the human personality as a functioning whole, +and discern the turning-points in the growth of various +patterns of political life? Can we uncover the typical +subjective histories of typical public characters? Can we +place this subjective history in relation to the physical +and cultural factors which were developmentally significant?</p> + +<p>Even this ambitious project does not exhaust the scope +of this study. We want to see whether the intensive investigation +of life-histories will in any way deepen our +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>understanding of the whole social and political order. +The life-story of a Hottentot or an American reveals the +concrete reality of images and moods as they are experienced +seriatim by those whose life is caught up in the +web of violently contrasting cultures. The trained student +of society discerns a wealth of culture patterns whose full +meaning in human experience can only be revealed by +securing the subjective history of those who are exposed +to them. In some cultures the child is slapped, switched, +and beaten; in some cultures the child is rarely the target +of corporal punishment. Does this mean that the children +in the first culture will harbor revenge and welcome violence +in social life? In some cultures, parental control +is negligible from the fourth to the fourteenth year, and +in other cultures supervision is strict and continuous. +What difference does this make in the developing view of +the world in successive generations? Those who are within +the same culture are exposed to many minor variations +in social practice, and we may hope to ascertain the consequences +of these differences for the minds of those who +undergo them.</p> + +<p>This book is in harmony with a trend which has been +growing in strength in the social sciences. Social science +has been moving toward the intensive study of the individual’s +account of himself. This is a movement which +is poorly conveyed by the phrase, “an interest in human +biography,” because the term “biography” is full of irrelevant +literary and historical connotations. The person’s +own story is not a chronology of everything he thought +and did, nor is it an impressionistic interpretation of what +he experienced. The life-history is a natural history, and a +natural history is concerned with facts which are <i>developmentally</i> +significant. The natural history of the earth is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>not a rehearsal of every event included within the series, +but a selective account of major changes within the series. +Dated events matter, but they matter not because they +have dates but because they mark phases. When biography +is treated as natural history, the purpose is to pick and +choose the principal epochs of development and to identify +their distinctive patterns.</p> + +<p>The study of life-histories as natural histories is a very +recent phenomenon. The social sciences have barely begun +to exploit this approach. It is of very great significance +that Comte, after spending a lifetime in the preparation +of his great system, finally saw that the capstone was +missing, and at the time of his death was frantically trying +to improvise it. His projected treatise was to deal with +personality development and differentiation (<i>La morale</i>). +It was never finished. There is something symbolic of the +history of the social sciences in this story of Comte’s long +preoccupation with institutions, his belated recognition of +the possibilities of personality study, his hurried effort +to make good the omission, and the fragmentary nature +of the results achieved. Social science is in the belated-hurried-fragmentary +phase of growth.⁠<a id="FNanchor_4_4" href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>Comte’s fragment was never expanded by French sociologists. +The comparative morphology of culture became +all-absorbing, and this was concerned with the pantomime +of what men did, and sporadically with what men thought. +Comte executed his earlier volumes only too well. When +the mental processes of primitives came to be studied by +Durkheim and the Durkheimians, these “primitive mentalities” +were examined for the sake of revealing highly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>abstract “forms” of thought, and not to reveal the individual +sequence of human experience under different social +conditions. The efforts which have been made to fill the +gap have rested upon no massing of empirical data and +have been fortified by no critical reflection on the methodological +problem of improving the reliability of the +data. The most promising sign of the times in France is +the synthetic approach to social psychology which is sponsored +by Blondel at Strassbourg.</p> + +<p>In Germany the social scientists were so occupied with +the <i>Streit um Marx</i> and the triumphs of the comparative +historical school that a comparative morphology of subjective +histories, if one may indulge the phrase, did not +arise. The prodigious influence of Kant in the direction +of multiplying epistemological subtleties stereotyped a +penchant for high abstraction in the consideration of psychological +phenomena. The great successes of the physical +sciences seemed to rest upon the ruthless division and re-division +of phenomena until they became amenable to +manipulation and control. The combination of Kantian +acuteness with scientific atomism was capable of producing +the extremes of physiological psychology and the obscurantist +revulsion against submitting the sacred mystery +of personality to the coarse indignity of exact investigation. +Curiously enough, the modern era of personality study +was introduced as a protest against the laboratory emphasis, +and meant a capitulation to the spirit of scientific +irreverance. Personalities could be compared and typologized. +The pioneer was Dilthey, the philosophic historian; +but neither he nor those who followed him collected and +published actual accounts of intimate subjective experiences. +Sociological overemphasis on the group was only +partially compensated in Simmel’s theoretical exposition +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>of individuality, but there was no happy synthesis of +category and fact in his work. The field ethnologists neglected +to assemble autobiographical accounts, and only the +fine sensibilities of Vierkandt made possible the utilization +of fragments for the sake of comparing the inner life of +primitive man with that of modern man, a task which +was performed with rather more subtlety than by the +French. The early social psychological impetus of Lazarus +and Steindhal produced vast collections of folk-lore materials, +but the task of threading folk lore and folk ways +onto the developmental history of representative persons +remained undone.</p> + +<p>The great innovator in the subjective field was Freud. +His book on dreams is one of the most unique autobiographies +in history, and his publications set the pace for +those who wanted to record the actual outpourings of the +unrestrained human mind. Here at last was a truly scientific +spirit who recorded everything of which the human +mind was capable, and looked at it critically in the hope +of finding the laws of mental life. He broke through the +irrelevant barriers of conventionality and brought dark +continents of data into the light of inquiry. He proposed +theories which were supposed to be tested by the data, and +devised a special procedure for securing data.</p> + +<p>The scientific habilitation of the anonymous, intimate +life-history document as a source for the study of culture +was especially the work of William I. Thomas. He and +Florian Znaniecki undertook and completed their remarkable +study of <i>The Polish Peasant in Europe and America</i>. +One volume was devoted to a long autobiography which +included the most intimate facts in the life of a Polish immigrant +to the United States. The work of Thomas left an +abiding stamp on American sociology through the department +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>at the University of Chicago. Franz Boas, dean of +American ethnologists, has been keenly interested in the +primitive’s story of himself, and has collected and urged +the collection of many such documents. Paul Radin published +the life-story of a Winnebago chief in 1916. The +importance of “the boy’s own story” was early recognized +by William Healy in his study of delinquents, and has +been extended in every direction.</p> + +<p>So, in stressing the value of the study of the concrete +sequence of individual experience for political science, +we are expressing a trend of interest which is already well +founded in social science. Our quest for full and intimate +histories has led to the exploitation of a relatively new +source of material, the case-history records of hospitals. +It has led to the application of psychopathological methods +to the study of normal volunteers as a control on the inferences +drawn from the institutional cases. It has led to +a detailed study of the prolonged interview technique as +a method of personality study (especially psychoanalysis), +and to the formulation of improved methods of investigation. +It has led to the statement of a functional theory of +the state, a theory which springs directly from the intensive +scrutiny of actual life-histories, and the realization of +what political forms can mean when seen against the rich +background of personal experience.</p> + +<p>These studies are admittedly incomplete. The documents +relied upon suffer from various shortcomings which +have been specified in detail at an appropriate place. The +number of documents on hand is limited. Caution would +counsel deferred publication of even these materials. But +the many objections to publication have been outweighed +by certain positive advantages. The publication of such a +collection of materials will serve to familiarize the professional +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>students of government with the kinds of fact +and interpretation which are now current among the specialists +in important fields of study. Familiarization is especially +necessary in dealing with personality histories +because some of the material is unconventional and invariably +produces initial emotional difficulties among unsophisticated +readers. But science cannot be science and +limit itself to the conventional. Some of the facts are not +pretty, and they are not the topics of polite conversation. +But the medical scientists who dabble with the excretions +of the human body for the sake of diagnosing disease and +understanding health are not bound by the limitations of +banality and gentility in their work. And if political +science is to become more of a reality and less of a pseudonym, +there must be discipline in dealing objectively +with every kind of fact which is conceivably important for +the understanding of human traits and interests.</p> + +<p>Familiarization, then, is one function of this set of +studies. Another purpose is to set up tentative hypotheses +about personality growth on the basis of available materials. +The mere statement of these hypotheses about the +growth of agitators and administrators will sharpen investigation. +Perhaps those who have direct access to better +histories will be impelled to use them in checking and +revising the working conceptions herein set out.</p> + +<p>The general scheme of presentation begins with some +chapters which sketch the psychopathological standpoint +in its historical setting and which review the current criteria +of political types. Then comes selected life-history +material. The concluding chapters discuss the bearing of +personality studies on general political theory and criticize +existing methods of study.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II"> + CHAPTER II + <br> + THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL APPROACH + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>One of the standing obstacles in the path of personality +research is the difficulty of describing the personality as a +whole at any given cross-section of its development. In despair +at the myriad difficulties of the task, academic psychology +has long evaded the issue and concentrated its +attention upon the minute exploration of detached aspects +of the individual. The manuals of physiological psychology +are full of painstaking accounts of how atomized aspects +of the individual’s environment (the “stimuli”) +modify the reactions of selected parts of the individual. +What these manuals characteristically omit is a workable +set of conceptions for the classification of the phenomena +which are the objects of investigation in personality +research. It is impossible to found a science of geology +without inventing terms to distinguish plateaus, plains, +mountains, and continental blocs, even though all these +phenomena possess the common attributes of “matter.” +What matters for the geologist is how the differences and +not the likenesses come to pass. Much of the academic +psychology, in its quest for precision and prestige, has quit +studying the problem with which it is ostensibly engaged, +and has substituted a minor field of physiology therefor. +In so doing, it has lost any criterion for testing the relevance +of the results of particular researches for the understanding +of personality because it has no master concepts +of personality.</p> + +<p>The psychopathologist has never been able to evade the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>necessity of summing up the personality as a whole because +he has been compelled to make important decisions about +the future of the personality as a whole. The psychiatrist +must continually decide whether John B and Mary C will, +if released from careful supervision, commit suicide or +murder, or whether they will be dependable members of +the community. Thus the clinician has found it imperative +to search for signs which have high predictive value +in relation to the major social adjustments of the individual.</p> + +<p>The psychopathologist has had the great advantage of +seeing many trends of the personality which are normally +subordinated to other trends when they have escaped from +control and achieved Gargantuan proportions. The clinical +caricature throws into imposing relief the constituent tendencies +which make up the functioning person, and draws +attention to their presence and their processes. “Normality” +involves a complicated integration of many tendencies, +a flexible capacity to snap from one mood, preoccupation, +and overt activity to another as the changing demands +of reality require. The pathological mind, if one may indulge +in a lame analogy, is like an automobile with its +control lever stuck in one gear: the normal mind can shift. +One has a queer feeling as one passes around the wards +of a hospital for the custody of the more seriously disordered +patients that if one could assemble the scattered +parts of the mind that one could create at least a single +supermind. There in one corner is a melancholic who is +stuck in the mood of despondency; in another corner is a +manic who is expansive and elated; elsewhere is a man +whose self-esteem has achieved cosmic dimensions; in the +back wards is a deteriorated mind in perpetual repose. +Every conceivable nuance of preoccupation and mood with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>which we are normally familiar seems to be dissatisfied +with its minor rôle in a healthy integration, and intent +upon autocratic mastery of the mind. The clinical caricature +draws attention as sharply as possible to the components +of the healthy mind. So every theory of pathological +manifestations must presently become expanded or assimilated +into a comprehensive account of human psychology.</p> + +<p>The gross clinical material reveals the intimate interrelationships +between soma and psyche. The patient who +suffers from obsessive ideas may find relief from obsession +by showing hysterical symptoms; and hysterical symptoms +may clear up, only to make way for obsessive symptoms. +“Pure pictures” are almost pure theories. The +patient who is suffering from a definite organic lesion may +complicate his troubles by “worry,” and “worry” may be +one of the factors in bringing about a physical disease +picture. There is evidence that psychological factors are +among those significantly operating in such diseases as +common colds, asthma, catarrh, hay fever, hyperthyroidism, +gall-bladder trouble, gastro-intestinal ulcers, irregular +menstruation, and sexual impotence.</p> + +<p>Fresh vitality has come into modern psychology from +the clinic. The psychopathological approach has gradually +vindicated itself as more and more of its conceptions find +a permanent place in the vocabulary of psychology and +social science. Modern psychopathology is itself a recent +development, and undoubtedly the most revolutionary figure +is Sigmund Freud.</p> + +<p>The spectacular and influential nature of Freud’s work +is sufficient justification for devoting some space to a brief +account of his standpoint and his innovation in method. +As we shall have occasion to illustrate, his method is of +more general application to practical problems of political +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>research and political practice than is usually understood.</p> + +<p>When Freud was a student in the University of Vienna, +the triumphal progress of microscopic methods of studying +cellular structure was sweeping all before it. Congeries +of mental symptoms in the living were frequently found to +be correlated with the discovery of certain definite cerebrospinal +lesions on autopsy. The future seemed to rest +wholly in the hands of those who used the dissecting knife +and the lens. Before Freud graduated from the University, +he became demonstrator to Brücke, the eminent physiologist; +and he labored in the laboratory of Meynart, the distinguished +psychiatrist of his day. Freud’s first publication +was a result of laborious laboratory work.</p> + +<p>While materialism reigned, psychological phenomena +were degraded to the status of trivial epiphenomena. But +at this very time a revival of psychogeneticism arose in +French psychiatry under the impetus of Charcot. Charcot +had achieved eminence in pathological anatomy before he +turned in middle life to the study of mental maladies. +By 1883 he had demonstrated the possibility of producing +hysterical symptoms by means of ideas (verbal stimuli). +Time and again he hypnotized individuals and produced +muscular contractures, hypersensitivity, and hyposensitivity, +together with allied symptoms of hysteria.</p> + +<p>Breaking away from the laboratories of Vienna, Freud +journeyed to the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris to work with +Charcot, where he stayed from the autumn of 1886 to the +spring of 1887. Here he was thrown in touch with the +current of ideas which was giving concrete content to the +notion of the “out of conscious” and its dynamic consequences +for human behavior. Pierre Janet was busily accumulating +the observations which were published to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>world in 1889 under the title, <i>L’automatisme psychologique</i>. +Early chapters appeared in the <i>Revue philosophique</i> +as early as 1886.</p> + +<p>Freud had just missed a spectacular rise to fame when +he failed to recognize the anaesthetic possibilities of cocaine +in surgery. He published a review of the literature +on cocoa; and a young Vienna colleague, Koller, struck +by some of the data which Freud had assembled, announced +the discovery in 1884 which immortalized his +name in medical history. Freud pondered for many years +on why the idea should have eluded him, and perhaps his +desertion of the laboratory was due to his sense of partial +failure.</p> + +<p>In Paris he acquired a point of view which was bound +to bring him into conflict with the materialistic pundits of +Vienna. Hypnotism was itself looked upon as an artifice +of charlatans. Wagner-Jauregg reflected the ruling tradition +when, only a few years ago, he said, “The trouble with +hypnotism is that you never know who is pulling the other +fellow’s leg.” Freud was met by derisive laughter when +he announced at the Medical Society of Vienna that male +hysterics were to be found in Paris. For hysteria, as one +of the pedants reminded him, was philologically derived +from “hysteron,” meaning uterus, and therefore couldn’t +possibly occur in males. This was an echo of the days +when hysteria was supposed to be due to a migratory +uterus and women were turned upside down to bring it +back in place.</p> + +<p>In 1881 and 1882 Breuer had treated a girl suffering +from hysteria, and his interest was renewed in the case in +conversation with Freud. Breuer remembered that when +he treated the patient under hypnosis, she recalled the first +episode in which a symptom had appeared, related it with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>every evidence of excitement, and discovered on waking +that the symptom had disappeared. Breuer and Freud began +to study hysteria from this point of view and published +their results. Charcot had demonstrated that ideas could +cause hysteria; Breuer had found that the discovery of +pathogenic ideas could cure hysteria.</p> + +<p>In 1889 Freud returned to France, this time to the other +center of hypnotic research, Nancy, where Liébeault and +Bernheim were doing remarkable things. Freud here saw +something the full significance of which did not at once +dawn upon him.</p> + +<p>A subject was hypnotized and given a “post-hypnotic +suggestion” to raise an umbrella at a certain signal after +coming out of hypnosis. The subject was then awakened +from hypnosis, and presently, when the stipulated signal +was given, obediently raised the umbrella, although still +inside the room. When asked why he raised the umbrella, +<i>he said that he wanted to see whether it was his or not</i>. +Thus did he rationalize (a concept later developed) the +gratification of an impulse <i>which he did not himself at +first recognize</i>. When challenged to explain himself, he +merely produced a plausible interpretation of his own +conduct.</p> + +<p>The immense significance of this train of events is great +enough. It at once raises the searching question: To what +extent are we in ignorance of our own motives and accustomed +to improvise merely plausible explanations of and +to ourselves? But an even more notable phenomenon occurred. +<i>If the subject was asked again and again to try to +remember why he raised the umbrella, he sooner or later +recalled (to his own surprise) that he had been commanded +to do it.</i></p> + +<p>The full import of this observation did not instantly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>dawn on Freud. But he continued to have difficulties with +the patients whom he sought to hypnotize. They sometimes +held out against his suggestions, even though they had +accepted them many times before, and seriously impeded +the progress of the search for the traumatic episode. He +gradually abandoned hypnosis, leaving the patient in a +waking state in a relaxed position with instructions to report +every incident connected with the early appearance of +the symptom under investigation. Vestiges of the hypnotic +technique remained as late as 1895, when he would still +lay his hand on the patient’s forehead as a stimulus to +recollection.</p> + +<p>This method also encountered crippling difficulties. A +patient would sometimes lie for hours without saying a +word, totally unable to recover a relevant reminiscence. +To meet this obstacle, Freud presently hit upon the simple +expedient upon which he thenceforth relied. He instructed +the patient to say anything and everything that popped in +his head, regardless of its propriety, logic, or triviality.</p> + +<p>Freud found that all ramblings of his patient could furnish +him with clues to the underlying and unavowed impulses +of the sufferer. He became able to guess the nature +of the buried episode in which the impulse had received +its present type of manifestation. Thus the patient might +begin by saying that she had seen a red-headed man in the +street and that she always despised red-headed men—except +of course her dear brother. Day after day apparently +random allusions would build out the picture of her great +interest in anything reminiscent of her brother’s looks and +acts, all of which would be bitterly condemned. But if +she were asked directly, she would maintain that her +brother was a fine, upstanding man, and a credit to the +family.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span></p> + +<p>The analyst, after listening to the eddies of talk, and +noting the patterns along which they seemed to whirl, +would presently locate a hidden rock beneath the innocent +surface of the stream—in this case, an unacknowledged +load of hatred against her brother. Bit by bit, stories of +real or fancied childhood tyranny would come floating +along the stream. Then suddenly, amid tears and violent +gestures, might come the story of a long-forgotten incident +which involved an intimate aggression on the part of the +brother. The patient, manifestly relieved, might speedily +recover from her hysterical disabilities and return to the +active responsibilities of life.</p> + +<p>Freud’s theory of what he saw began modestly enough, +leaned heavily upon Charcot, Bernheim, and Breuer, and +was mostly founded upon observations made upon patients +who were handled by hypnosis and not by the new procedure +which later was called psychoanalysis. He published +a contribution to the theory of the psychoneuroses +in which he laid down the proposition that a distinction +could be drawn between one group, the anxiety neuroses, +which depended on mental conflict, and the actual neuroses, +which were not due to mental conflict but to masturbation +and coitus interruptus. In the first case, mental energy +was converted into bodily symptoms, and in the latter case +bodily energy was supposed to be converted into bodily +symptoms. In Freud’s early articles there is little to forecast +the course which he was to follow as his brilliant +imagination viewed the behavior of the individual from +the new vantage ground which he had discovered.⁠<a id="FNanchor_5_5" href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>Whether his particular theories survive or fall, the +standpoint which he achieved by ruthlessly applying his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>method is of the greatest value. His method, which grew +from the necessities of an exasperated physician, led him +<i>systematically to treat every manifestation of the individual +as part of a related whole</i>. Freud’s mental set had been +furnished by the data of hypnosis, which seemed to show +that patients suffer from reminiscences. When he dropped +hypnosis and tried to force recollections, his mental set +had not altered, for he was still in search of the original, +the traumatic episode. When he asked his patients to say +anything that came into their heads, he was still hunting +the elusive memory of a definite early experience. But +quite without realizing it, his original mental set had widened, +and with momentous consequences for his own subsequent +development. If one were given to exaggerations, +one could say that the world of psychological investigation +had suddenly begun to turn on a new axis.</p> + +<p>What was the nature of this new mental set? Intently +watching his patients, not for word for word accounts of +what had happened, and looking upon everything else as +“irrelevant,” Freud learned to look for meanings and not +for reports. Every dream, every phrase, every hesitation, +every gesture, every intonation, every outburst began to +take on significance as possible allusions to the “traumatic” +episode. Allusions to hated objects, reminiscent of +a brother, failure to mention a hated sister until days had +passed, although other members of the family had been +passed in review—every deviation from comprehensiveness—was +eagerly scrutinized for the clue it might afford.</p> + +<p>The technique of therapy consisted in using clues to +facilitate the patient’s search for relief. The problem was +to discover the nature of the patient’s conflict and to volunteer +interpretations for the sake of helping the patient +to dare to bring into full consciousness the unavowed impulse +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>which had once frightened his socially adjusted self +into frantic repression. This involved the interpretation +of the symptom as a compromise product of the patient’s +ideal of conduct; and the out-of-conscious impulse, which, +though denied access to the full consciousness of the sufferer, +possessed enough strength to procure partial gratification. +The symptom was thus a symptom of conflict +between the socially adapted portion of the self and the +unadapted impulses of the personality, and the symptom +was a compromise between partial gratification of the illicit +and partial punishment by the conscience. The particular +form of the “conflict” depended upon the traumatic +experience and the antecedent history of the individual.</p> + +<p>Far more important than these therapeutic elaborations +is the shift in standpoint which made them possible. Since +Freud was on the search for the literal by way of the +symbolic, he raised hitherto neglected manifestations of +human behavior to the dignity of significant symbols, wrote +them out, and introduced them into the literature of human +behavior. There could be no sharper illustration of the +prepotency of “mental set” for the seeing of “facts” than +the difference between the clinical reports of Freud and +Janet. Freud, convinced that the eluctable energies of the +organism could betray themselves in every image and in +every gesture, painstakingly recorded the dreams and day-fantasies +of his patients. Janet, who continued to assume +that dreams were nonsensical confusions attributable to +the diminished tension of the sleeping organism, seldom +made any allusion to dreams. His pellucid description of +grimaces, gestures, sentiments, and theories of his patients +led back to relatively recent moments when the patient +failed of adjustment. This failure of the patient to mobilize +his energies in smooth adaptation to the exigencies of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>social reality was then imputed to a defective biopsychical +mechanism, to a lowered “psychological tension,” due to +a miscellany of possible causes, among which was mentioned +“the exhaustive effects of emotional excitement.” +Therapy consisted in restoring the capacity of the individual +to mobilize and deploy his energies at the highest +“levels” of adjustment. This was to be achieved by a +variety of means—by hypnotic suggestion, rest in a simplified +environment, and the usual repertory of the psychotherapist.</p> + +<p>But the golden flash of psychological insight eluded +Janet. At bottom he had little respect for the concrete +reality of the mental life of his patients. Although he +talked the language of psychogeneticism, it had a poor and +not a rich connotation in his mind. I think this is due to +his too exclusive reliance upon hypnotism, for the mental +set of the hypnotist is derogatory to most of the concrete +productions of the patient. The patient, one feels with a +shrug, will presently come to the important experience; +why take the superimposed material too seriously? Then, +too, the patient may be put in order by direct command. +Janet relates with some pride how people in the waiting-room +of his office would marvel when a woman, bent +nearly double, would be admitted into his sanctum, presently +to emerge, erect and cured—until the effect wore off.</p> + +<p>Freud learned a new respect for the concrete reality +of mental life in his concentrated effort to divine the +hidden conflict without resorting to hypnosis. His weakness +as a hypnotist was in a sense the beginning of wisdom. +A patient who is deeply hypnotized is but infrahuman. +Barring commands which do violence to the moral code of +the individual, the subject will passively execute the commands +of the hypnotist. The patient descends from a complicated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>“nearly normal” person to a waxy caricature of +a human being. The unhypnotized patient of Freud is in +relatively full possession of all the resources of the ordinary +waking self, and must be dealt with as a complex human +being.</p> + +<p>The widest gateway to psychoanalytic development became +the study of dreams. And here again we are dealing +with something which came, not from laborious reflection +upon underlying concepts, but from the urgencies of the +clinical situation. Just as we found that Freud had taken +up a new post of observation in practice before he discovered +its implications in theory, we find that in such a +detail as the investigation of dreams, his theoretical preoccupations +contributed less than his everyday necessities. +Freud’s patients continually thrust their dreams upon him; +and he, now in pursuit of clues to what lay behind, presently +took them seriously, and found in them many helpful +indications of unspoken things. He would assist the +free-fantasies of the patient by asking what came into his +mind about any detail of the dream, and he attentively followed +the long chains of superficially meaningless associations.</p> + +<p>It began to appear that Freud had stumbled upon, and +then brilliantly elaborated the possibilities inherent in, a +new way of using the mind. He trained his patients in a +technique of free-fantasy which they could subsequently +use for themselves as a supplement to the logical technique +which society ostensibly tries to foster. It at once appeared +that he had discovered a method of thinking which was applicable +far beyond the confines of the clinic and which +could be added to the repertory of the mind.</p> + +<p>The interpretation of dreams was the bridge which +brought Freud from the confines of the clinic to the analysis +of the whole psychology of individual development. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>The dreams of patients and the dreams of non-pathological +persons showed such homogeneity of symbolism that the +gap between the “normal” and the “sick” seemed to close. +Popular lore already furnished a clue to dreams as wish-fulfilments, +whether found in the “well” or “ill,” but +popular lore also treated them as reminiscences, prophecies, +and omens, or as confusions, depending on the +transitory context of the moment. Freud had a double +orientation in dealing with the individual. He regarded +him as motivated in the present by impulses which eluded +his own consciousness. He regarded these motivations as +having achieved their present form in concrete historical +events in the life of the individual. The nature of the +present could be made clear to the conscious mind if the +organizing episode could be recalled. This recall could +be greatly facilitated by paying special attention to the +“irrational” or non-adjustive aspects of the person’s present +conduct. The “irrational” would seem rational enough +if the unacknowledged motives were made manifest, and +if the historical as well as the contemporary allusions +were sought after. Sooner or later the unrecognized motives +would disclose themselves in consciousness, if the +individual waited attentively; but the process could be +greatly helped by using a different style of thinking than +the logical.</p> + +<p>No one has more dramatically and repeatedly shown +the limitations (as well as the advantages) of logical procedures +of thought than Freud. No one has made a more +important contribution to the technique of supplementing +logical thought by other methods of thought than Freud. +This is the aspect of Freud’s work which has immediate +and constant relevance to political as to every other sort +of thinking, and to which it is important to devote more +extended consideration.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III"> + CHAPTER III + <br> + A NEW TECHNIQUE OF THINKING⁠<a id="FNanchor_6_6" href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The prevailing theory is that men who make important +decisions in politics can be trained to use their minds +wisely by disciplinary training in the practices of logical +thought. Legal training is supposed to mold the mind to +ways of dealing with the world which subordinate whim +to principle. Formal instruction in the social sciences +is intended to equip the mind for the detached consideration +of social consequences, and everyone agrees that this +implies a large measure of self-awareness for the sake of +reducing the play of prejudice.</p> + +<p>The nature of logical thought has been carefully examined +by an array of able writers. Their conclusions may +be provisionally reported by saying that logic is a guided +form of mental operation. It is not something marked +off from impulse, but a progressive elaboration and differentiation +of impulse. It proceeds by the affirmation of a +starting-point, which is in fact a vague indication of the +goal to be reached, and develops by the criticism of the +material which appears in consciousness according to its +relevance to the end in view. If the judge begins by wanting +to settle a controversy consistently with precedents, +he has indicated in advance the shadowy outline of the +desired termination of his efforts. If an administrator +wants to reduce complaints against his handling of the +postal service, he starts with a different mental set from +the judge, but, like the mental set of the latter, his first +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>act is to bring into view the state of affairs which he hopes +to find when he quits thinking. He is accustomed to guide +the operations of his mind by this preliminary characterization +of the terminus sought. No thinker can haul into +the center of attention the material which indicates how +the terminal situation is to be attained. The thinker must +wait attentively for whatever appears. If he wants to +deal with such a simple practical matter as getting to the +railway station, and his mind continues to fill with images +of the one he left behind him, his accustomed means of +asserting control is to reiterate the practical end and to +hope that he can “keep his mind on” taxicabs or autobusses. +Alternating with periods of reiteration and expectancy +and illumination are episodes of “No” and +“Yes,” which evidence the existence of guided thought.</p> + +<p>It would be misleading to stop with this formal description +of the characteristics of logical thinking. Logical +thinking is not a hocus-pocus to be applied here and +there and everywhere. The previewing of events presupposes +familiarity with the sorts of events to which the +previewing relates. It usually involves analysis of the contingent +future in the light of analogies with the past, which +is simply a means of refining general familiarity through +systematic methods of inspecting reality. General knowledge +of lending and borrowing must be supplemented, for +many purposes, by detailed examination of the quantitative +dimensions of various routines. The precise nature +of the relationship between changes in the rediscount rate +and the price of call money requires analysis far beyond +impressionistic familiarity.</p> + +<p>There need be no illusion that the specification of the +terminal situation provides an immovable constant for +thought. We can imply, as we have implied, that logical +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>thinking begins by sketching a figure on the canvass and +leaves the details to be filled in during the course of the +thinking. But the starting-point is often subject to many +shifts, and the initial sketch is more or less subject to remaking. +The judge who starts in pursuit of consistency-with-precedent +characteristically must add conformity-to-principles-of-policy. +A plurality of ends is always involved, +and usually appears.</p> + +<p>Everybody knows that the pluralism of ends goes far beyond +“official” ends. A sophisticated and discerning judge +may discover an embarrassing conflict in the controlling +precedents, and cast about for other social purposes than +conformity-to-precedent to guide him. He may scrutinize +the principal economic, cultural, and political changes in +the society in which he operates, and discern the appearance +of a new set of rising dominant values, and decide to +diminish the cost of social change by seeking to facilitate +their introduction. If this hypothetical judge believes that +he should not consciously enact his private prejudices into +law, and if the social values are so confused that uncertainty +rules, the judge is well advised to flip a coin (in +chambers) and govern his decision accordingly. If the +judge finds himself favorably disposed toward any alternative +to begin with, he will take himself as an object of investigation +to determine the extent and origin of his prejudice. +His logic thus involves the use of self-scrutiny for +the exposure of private values which load the dice for +or against a particular point of view. Besides the values +which are “public,” there are complicating values which +are the residue of one’s “private” history.</p> + +<p>All these points are stressed in greater or less degree in +the current writing on the use of the mind. The avowed +purpose of our professional schools is to increase the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>amount of logical reflection in the world, and the set complaint +is that people somehow or another manage to think +very clumsily. In spite of our best efforts to disseminate +logicality, people are always “letting their prejudices run +away with them,” even when they have a baggage of good +intentions.</p> + +<p>The stock alibi for the failure of the schools to improve +the character of thinking among those who hold positions +of power is that the human mind offers a perverse opacity +to the rays of reason. Somehow or other our training +doesn’t take; but this is attributed not to the deficiencies of +logic but to the resistances to it. All this is reminiscent of +the reply of the Christian to the taunt that Christianity has +failed. He says that Christianity isn’t to blame, but the +lack of it. The logicians say that the cure of bad logic is +more and better logic. If the human mind refuses to be +educated, that’s just too bad.</p> + +<p>Our thesis is that our faith in logic is misplaced. Exclusive +emphasis upon logic (even where logic is adroitly +used) incapacitates rather than fits the mind to function as +a fit instrument of reality adjustment.</p> + +<p>The supposition that emotional aberrations are to be conquered +by heroic doses of logical thinking is a mistake. +The absence of effective logic is a symptom of a disease +which logic cannot itself cure. We have been misled by +supposing that the mind can rely upon a single technique +of operation when this isolated technique has serious limitations.</p> + +<p>A totally different technique of thinking is needed to get +on with the task of ridding the mind of the distorting +results of unseen compulsions. Since our schools have +found no place for the cultivation of this additional technique +of thinking, our judges and administrators and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>policy-makers are turned loose on the world armed with +faith in logic and incapable of making their minds safe for +logic. Logical thinking is but one of the special methods +of using the mind, and cannot itself achieve an adequate +inspection of reality because it is unable to achieve self-knowledge +without the aid of other forms of thinking.</p> + +<p>The technique of free-fantasy offers many points of contrast +with logical thinking. It is unguided rather than +guided association. From a given starting-point, no effort +is bent toward the exclusion of the trivial, the trite, the embarrassing, +the filthy, the nonsensical. The mind is permitted +to run hither and yon. It is hospitable to everything +which germinates in the mind, and is subject only to the +effort to steer clear of the molds of logical thinking. There +is no specific definition of an objective, and no intermittent +intervention in the flow of material to register its pertinence +or impertinence to this rather specific objective.</p> + +<p>Free-fantasy is not to be confused with free word associations +which begin with simple stimulus words and end +when the first few words which pop into the mind are put +down. Free-fantasy is not a momentary relaxation of selective +criticism, but prolonged emancipation from logical +fetters.</p> + +<p>Free-fantasy differs from the ordinary daydream, the +night dream, and the visions which arise in sleeping or +waking by the circumstance that it is embarked upon with +the vague, generalized purpose of rendering available new +subject matter for logical thought. The frequent interventions +which characterize logical procedures are suspended, +the better to serve the ultimate purposes of reality adjustment. +Daydreaming which is not used for this general purpose +does not represent a technique for using the mind.</p> + +<p>The ultimate paradox of logical thinking is that it is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>self-destroying when it is too sedulously cultivated. It +asserts its own prerogatives by clamping down certain restrictive +frames of reference upon the activity of the mind, +and presently ends in impoverishing the activity which it +purports to guide into creative channels. It becomes intolerant +of the immediate, unanalyzed, primitive abundance +of the mind, and by so doing destroys its own source.</p> + +<p>More seriously, too, for the mind which is engaged with +social life, logical procedures exclude from the mind the +most important data about the self. Directed thinking, +whether about the self or something else as an object, is +impatient of the seemingly trivial, and this impatience with +the seemingly trivial is the rationally acceptable guise in +which the impulse to avoid rigorous self-scrutiny gets itself +accepted. The mind which is freely fantasying produces +distasteful evidence of the facts about the self which the +socialized self wants to avoid. This is why free-fantasy is +not learned by rote, but achieved through trying experiences, +usually under prolonged supervision.</p> + +<p>There are wide individual differences in acquiring the +technique of free-fantasy. Logical controls are often so +gradually released that progress is almost imperceptible +for several weeks of daily contact with a psychoanalytic +interviewer. Frequently, of course, the logical controls fall +away quite rapidly, and the exposure of the underlying +preoccupations proceeds apace. Freud developed the technique, +and drills his subjects, largely in relation to their +dreams, but this is in no sense its exclusive application. +The purpose of the psychoanalytic interview is not served +if the patient is merely relieved of a few annoying symptoms; +its purpose is to equip him with a means of handling +his mind which will enable him to go it alone. In developing +the free-fantasy procedure, Freud added a powerful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>tool to the repertory of those who would use their mind +with some hope of disentangling themselves from the compulsive +domination of many vestigial remains of their “private” +histories.</p> + +<p>It is quite possible to train people to use the free-fantasy +method with considerable success and to outfit them with +a device which they can use in the ordinary problems of +professional and private life.⁠<a id="FNanchor_7_7" href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The instances which I shall +presently adduce are from the fantasies which were produced +by a judge in the course of a series of interviews +which he undertook after his curiosity about the method +had been aroused by the therapeutic treatment of a member +of his family. Any specific allusions are disguised.</p> + +<p>One day the judge commented at the beginning of the +interview that a certain attorney irritated him in some unexplained +way. He found himself acutely conscious of his +own prejudice against the man, and in trying to deal fairly +with him often leaned over backward and showed him +an embarrassing favoritism in sustaining his objections. +There was always a struggle to hold the balance even. +This seemed to indicate the conspicuous operation of some +unrecognized set of motives in relation to this particular +individual. The judge, who was already partly skilled in +the use of free-fantasy, began to report whatever came +into his mind at the mention of the attorney, without regard +to logic or scruple. “Cigar smoke ... black cigar ... +vile and pungent and stuffy ... corridor ... +courtroom ...,” and so on and on. The word “corridor” +reappeared several times in the course of his associations, +and the interviewer initiated a new chain by using +the word as a stimulus. After some time, there came up a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>vivid memory of an incident in the corridor of the law +school where the judge had studied. A fellow-student, who +was a man with a great reputation as a promising mind, +dropped cigar ashes by accident on the judge’s overcoat. +The judge remembered his angry impulse to “sock” the offender, +an impulse which he instantly subdued, and that he +accepted the apology, which seemed to end the incident. +Associations were continued to find why the brilliant rival +had so incensed the judge, and the trail led back to certain +incidents and reveries in early adolescence, but this material +is not relevant here. The connection of his hostility +toward his former rival with the attorney before him was +due to one of the attorney’s mannerisms, which recalled the +way the student had flecked ashes off the end of his cigar. +When this tie was exposed, the compulsive animosity and +the overcompensatory reactions disappeared from the attitude +of the judge in relation to the attorney.</p> + +<p>Another illustrative detail may be taken almost at random +from the record. On one occasion the judge began to +enumerate the three principal alternatives which lay before +him in deciding a pending case. He remembered two of +them but hesitated several seconds before the third came +into his mind. This led him to remember that he had often +casually noticed that this third possibility seemed to elude +him, although on reflection he felt that it deserved as much +attention as the other two. He began spontaneously to relax +and report everything that crossed his mind, and produced +a long string of catch phrases from law and politics like +“freedom of contract,” “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness,” +“freedom of speech and assembly.” He presently +noted that a picture was forming of one of his old law-school +classrooms. He felt that someone was just about to +speak to him, and had to resist the temptation to turn +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>around. Then there came across his mind a long series of +incidents in which one of his law professors was the principal +figure. This teacher was reputed to possess a mastermind +and a caustic tongue; and the judge, though he had +always wanted to make a great impression on him, had met +with no particular success. The professor had a habit of +using his most ironic tone of voice when he spoke of “this +freedom of contract.” Now it happened that the attorney +who was arguing for alternative No. 3 before the court pronounced +the word “freedom” with unction. This aroused +in the judge’s mind the ironic tone of the old professor’s +voice, and this in turn brought back the rather humiliating +failure he had been in his efforts to impress the professor. +He now exhibited a tendency to repress everything connected +with the episode, including the attorney’s argument.</p> + +<p>The world about us is much richer in meanings than we +consciously see. These meanings are continually cutting +across our ostensible criteria of judgment, and compulsively +distorting the operations of the mind whose quest for an +objective view of reality is consciously quite sincere. Good +intentions are not enough to widen the sphere of self-mastery. +There must be a special technique for the sake of exposing +the hidden meanings which operate to bind and cripple +the processes of logical thought. With practice one +may wield the tool of free-fantasy with such ruthless honesty +that relevant material comes very quickly to the focus +of attention which we call “waking consciousness.”</p> + +<p>It would be possible to fill many volumes with illustrations +of the hitherto unseen meanings which have been discovered +by men and women who have learned to use the +free-fantasy technique. They have often been able to find +how and why their emotions tended to be aroused favorably +or unfavorably toward individuals of their own or the opposite +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>sex who exhibited certain traits, and to understand +why they tended to choose certain secretaries, to sponsor +certain protégés, and to be impressed by certain witnesses +and attorneys. They have been able to inspect the phraseology +of law, politics, and culture, and to extricate themselves +from many of the logically irrelevant private meanings +which they read into it.</p> + +<p>Freud developed the technique of free-fantasy well over +a quarter of a century ago, but it is still beyond the pale of +the schools. Our professional and graduate schools make +no effort to readjust their methods to fit the minds of future +men of authority for self-knowledge. The sententious admonitions +to “know thyself” are no adequate substitute for +special discipline in the ways of self-understanding.</p> + +<p>We have tried to cure the failures of logical training by +homeopathic doses of sermonizing, rather than by the discipline +of supplementary techniques of using the mind. The +mind is a fit instrument of reality testing when both blades +are sharpened—those of logic and free-fantasy. Until this +fundamental proposition is adequately comprehended, the +professional training of our judges, administrators, and +theorists will continue to furnish discipline in self-deception +rather than self-analysis.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV"> + CHAPTER IV + <br> + THE CRITERIA OF POLITICAL TYPES + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The free-fantasy method of exploring the mind is of very +general application to the problems of life. In particular +we are interested in examining the results of its use for the +purpose of laying bare the natural history of personality +growth and differentiation. All sorts of politicians are met +with in society, and our special task is to relate the selection +of these adult rôles to certain critical experiences in +individual development. But before we can proceed farther, +we need to examine the nature of the criteria which +are currently used in identifying various political types.</p> + +<p>The popular speech of every state and neighborhood +swarms with names for varieties of political behavior and +types of politicians. The study of political differences may +very well begin by sifting the common vocabulary. Some +of the popular images are derived from experience with +government officials. Within the last hundred years the policeman +has appeared over Western Europe, and a history +of the popular conception of his rôle could be written +around terms like “bobby,” “cop,” and “<i>Schupo</i>.” Whatever +differences in dress, manner, social position, and common +humanity are supposed to exist between a “civil servant,” +a “<i>Beamter</i>,” and a “<i>fonctionnaire</i>,” there are common +lineaments in the composite stereotype. A thick chapter +in human experience could be entitled “The Bureaucrat,” +wherein would be recorded the innuendo of popular +comment on a necessary evil. The “legislator” is identifiable +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>through all the detailed contrasts between the “congressman,” +the “M.P.,” and the “M.d.R.”</p> + +<p>The popular tongue is rich in expressions which fill out +the official cast of characters in the political drama by peopling +the public stage with figures whose traits are essentially +irrelevant to their office. There are men of ideas—“anarchist,” +“socialist,” “liberal,” “communist,” “conservative.” +There are men of ideas and of action—“reformer,” +“revolutionary,” “martyr.” The history of American, +British, French, German, medieval, Graeco-Roman, +and every civilization could be written for the sake of showing +how the carriers of public power figured in the eyes +of the various groups within and without the culture.</p> + +<p>This profusion of types in the popular firmament of politics +is supplemented by the types which have been isolated +by serious students of culture, who have sought to impose +order upon the life of the past. Among the political forms +which have been described by the historians, the “benevolent +despot” of the eighteenth century, the “demagogue” of +Athenian democracy, the “prince” of the Italian Renaissance, +and the “despot” of the oriental empires spring at +once to mind. The masterly sketch of the evolution of the +public official with which Max Weber⁠<a id="FNanchor_8_8" href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> has enriched social +science is, it is to be hoped, the forerunner of many elaborate +studies. The traits and arts of political leaders have +been most systematically handled by Aristotle, Machiavelli, +Robert Michels, Christensen, and Charles E. Merriam.⁠<a id="FNanchor_9_9" href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>These typologies, whether popular or scientific, possess +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>several features in common. They may converge to what +is practically the same picture. When W. B. Munro described +the “reformer,” he filled out the popular image +which arose in the American mind at a certain phase of +American political evolution.⁠<a id="FNanchor_10_10" href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Practically every scientific +conception is a refinement and generalization of some term +in general circulation, though with local connotations.</p> + +<p>The scientific and the popular typologies may include +the same kinds of fact as their starting-points. The fact of +supposed political conviction gave rise to the “liberal,” but +it is a far cry from the rather shadowy lines of the popular +image to the finely wrought lineaments of Ruggiero.⁠<a id="FNanchor_11_11" href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The +means employed in encompassing political objectives christen +the “lobbyist,” “propagandist,” and “agitator.” The +idea that private motives are not merged in public motives +is carried in “renegade,” “sorehead,” and “tyrant.” The +idea that private motives have been firmly fused into public +purposes is one connotation of the “martyr.” The fact +of informal ascendancy is celebrated in the “boss.” In the +“bureaucrat” it is implied that the office has molded the +man, and that the office tends to attract those especially +likely to develop such qualities. The Western European +idea of a judge almost necessarily refers to a functionary +who carries certain paraphernalia and proceeds with ceremony. +The leanness of the “fanatical agitator” figured in +the popular mind long before Kretschmer gave it his scientific +blessing.⁠<a id="FNanchor_12_12" href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>Both popular and scientific conceptions range from the +particular to the general. The British “election agent” is +closely bound to a recent, special social setting. The “leader” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>keeps a stable nucleus of meaning for the description +of a social rôle among widely separated peoples in widely +separated periods.</p> + +<p>Popular and scientific conceptions are at one in that they +may present developmental and not merely descriptive implications. +The notion of a lean and bitter agitator is not +entirely a static, cross-sectional description of a fortuitous +juxtaposition of traits, but a hypothesis that bodily irritations +operate dynamically to foster the selection of forms +of activity which enable the individual to give rather free +vent to his animosities.</p> + +<p>Both popular and scientific types may be taken as objects +of study to determine the factors in their formation. The +popular idea of a “reformer” in America bears a certain +photographic resemblance to actual personalities who figured +as public advocates of restrictive laws. It is possible +to study the process by which the stereotype of the lean +and spinsterly kill-joy arose, and to see why it persisted. +Every body politic has its gallery of political mummers, +and political history needs to be rewritten to explain the +unique and the typical qualities of these popularly conceived +rôles. Stuart A. Rice has developed a technique for +the identification of contemporary stereotypes of this kind.⁠<a id="FNanchor_13_13" href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +Rice took photographs of a senator, a bolshevik, and a bootlegger, +and after obliterating the names asked various test +groups to tell what designation best fitted each picture. By +examining the erroneous identifications, it became possible +to detect the mental pattern popularly associated with the +class name.</p> + +<p>An interesting contribution to social science would be the +detailed examination of the factors affecting the rise and +fall of those political typologies which have been seriously +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>proposed by scholars. The exaggerated picture of the omnipotent +leader drawn by Carlyle no doubt had something +to do with Carlyle’s sexual impotence and his compensatory +idealization of the potent; but the popularity which +this exaggeration enjoyed among certain classes of English +society was due to the dislocation of older economic institutions +and the rise of threatening collective ideologies. The +new business enterpriser felt the intoxicating vanity of the +self-made man, and the decayed landlords felt the necessity +of individualistic protests against the age of cities and machines.</p> + +<p>Suppose we examine in more detail the intellectual structure +of scientific political types. This requires special attention +to the two terms involved, the “political” and the +“types.” Two ways of defining the “political” are current +in social science. I will speak of them as the “institutional” +and the “functional” methods of definition. Within any +community there are many patterns of activity whose form +and whose magnitude may be singled out for study. There +is the production and distribution of material goods and +services; the main patterns by which these operations proceed +can be called the economic institutions of the community. +There is the settlement of disputes, and the +defense and extension of interests which are believed to be +collective; these are the political or governmental institutions +of the community. In the same way religious, charitable, +and a host of other institutions may be discerned.</p> + +<p>These institutionally derived categories fall short of +clarity and comprehensiveness. Some social processes occur +within the framework of every institutional process. +Thus the settlement of disputes is a prominent characteristic +of government as we know it; but it is not, and never +has been, and cannot by the nature of things be, a monopoly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>of government when government is defined as an institutional +division of social labor. No institution ever quite +monopolizes the function which it most distinctively exercises. +But this need not lead to confusion. When the settlement +of disputes is a prominent function of one group in +society, and there is no other group which participates in +the same function in the same degree, there is no hesitation +in deciding to call the first group the “governors” and to +call the patterns according to which they are selected and +operate the “political or governmental” institutions of the +community. If there is a rival adjuster of differences, the +distinction is by no means clear, as when the “church,” +“business,” and the “state” are rivals. Perhaps the governors +can be identified by finding who it is who handles +the coercion employed in defending or extending communal +enterprises, though this criterion may from time to time +fail to differentiate. But, on the whole, these doubts are +marginal doubts. Ordinarily it is possible to find a division +of labor and a set of sentiments which can be called +the “government of the state.” The marginal instances call +attention to the fact to which allusion has been made, the +fact that no “institutional” process quite monopolizes the +function which it most distinctively exercises. It is therefore +advisable to describe communal processes by two sets +of terms, one of which refers to “institutions” and the other +to “functions” which are found within the various institutional +frameworks. Much of the literature of social science +consists in terminological quibbles about the “proper” +words to use in this institutional or functional sense, often +without appreciating the essential nature of the matter at +issue. It is, of course, of the highest importance to understand +the difference, and of minor importance to agree +upon the words with which to describe the distinction.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span></p> + +<p>From what has been said, it is clear that a word like +“political” may be given an “institutional” or a “functional” +meaning in a particular context, and that—and this is +the most important consequence—any contribution to the +understanding of the “institutional” process is a contribution +to the understanding of the wider “functional” process, +and the reverse. In this resides the unity of the social sciences. +The apparent disunity arises from the differences in +starting-point of particular inquiries. One begins with a +series of phenomena which are selected from a single institutional +process, and another begins with a series of phenomena +which are selected from several institutional processes +according to some functional conception.</p> + +<p>This unity of destination and disunity of starting-point +is abundantly manifested in the scientific study of human +behavior. The specialist on some phase of the political +process, institutionally conceived, who is asked to classify +the types of political behavior, devises his categories on the +basis of the institutional processes which he knew best. +It would be possible, were it worth the effort, to pass in +review the typologies which have been propounded from +time to time by specialists in executive organization, public +administration, judicial administration, legislation, +political parties, propaganda and conspirative organizations, +political revolution, nationalism, imperialism, interstate +methods of adjustment (war, diplomacy, conference, +adjudication, mediation, arbitration), and all the other +topics in political science.</p> + +<p>At first glance, the functional method of defining political +types would seem to lead to even greater congeries +of categories than the institutional method. From the functional +standpoint politics is found wherever, to use the +older terminology, “wills” are in conflict. This implies that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>intensely political manifestations in society are not confined +to government officials and parties, but to banking +houses, manufacturing enterprises, distributing services, +ecclesiastical organizations, fraternal associations, and professional +societies. It is probable that the most aggressive, +power-lusting individuals in modern society find their way +into business, and stay out of the legislature, the courts, +the civil service, and the diplomatic service. If this be true, +the student of political personalities will find the most interesting +objects of study in J. P. Morgan and Company, +in the United States Steel Corporation, and among the +clerical or educational or medical politicians.</p> + +<p>It follows from what has been said that the study of +politicians who are chosen from a single institutional process +makes a contribution to the general study of politicians +in every institutional process, and that the conscious abstraction +of categories until they are comprehensive opens +a wider range of exact comparison. This may eventuate +in an actual simplification of some fundamental conceptions. +Of course, institutional processes differ in the scope +which they give to certain human drives. Today the church +offers less opportunity for the use of physical violence than +it did in the sixteenth century, and very much less opportunity +than the police force, the private detective agency, +or the political gang.</p> + +<p>The advantages of comprehensiveness and possible simplification +have been sacrificed by the political scientists of +the schools because they have conceived their task in too +narrow a spirit. They have been slow in studying the manifestations +of human nature in politics because they have +been saturated with sectarian pride in legal and philosophical +distinctions; or they have checked their theories with +their coats, and plunged into technical work. A body of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>theory which interacts fruitfully with philosophy, law, and +technology is still very poorly developed. The formal sociological +systems have been sacked for “premises” but +neglected for hypotheses. (Witness the exploitation of the +concept of “solidarity” in recent juridical theory.) The +task of the hour is the development of a realistic analysis +of the political in relation to the social process, and this +depends upon the invention of abstract conceptions and +upon the prosecution of empirical research. It is precisely +this missing body of theory and practice which Graham +Wallas undertook to supply in England and which Charles +E. Merriam has been foremost in encouraging in the +United States. It is the deficiency which led Catlin to propose +to substitute what I would call the “functional” for +the “institutional” definition of the field of political science.⁠<a id="FNanchor_14_14" href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> +This necessarily implies a new respect for the possibilities +of using the ingenious suggestions to be found in +the sociological systematists, a new curiosity about diverse +ways of approaching events, and a new sympathy for parallels +to institutional phenomena.</p> + +<p>Various obscurities can be removed if we generalize our +terms from the narrowly institutional to the broadly functional +plane. Terms like “statesman” and “despot” were +minted of the metal of political experience in communities +where the high road to power was governmental. It is true +that in Athens it was difficult to draw very sharp lines between +governmental and other forms of communal activity, +on account of the intimate interlacing of all institutional +processes. Nevertheless, terms like “statesman” and “despot” +came to refer to forms of political activity in a narrowly +institutional sense, and such is their connotation +today.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span></p> + +<p>But this connotation requires generalization and revision. +The road to power in our civilization is by no means +an exclusively governmental highway, for technical implements +have scattered authority and created an industrial +feudality. The directors of large corporations have to +make decisions which are far more important for the daily +happiness of mankind than most of the decisions of governments. +Since government is so largely the agent of +corporations, the government is hardly master in its own +house.</p> + +<p>The concept of the statesman has long carried the implication +that anyone who exercises social power outside the +government is in hot pursuit of an exclusively private advantage. +Is this any longer tenable? Is there not such a +thing as the “institutionalization of business” which arises +when a given enterprise plans to operate indefinitely and +is thus forced to calculate its interests over long periods of +time? One of the major elements in this calculation is the +necessity of taking precautions against a withdrawal of +favor on the part of the community at large. This is the +core of the political way of thinking, and assimilates the +policy of aggregations of private power to that of the state +which is guided by statesmen. It is timely, therefore, to +disentangle the concept of statesmanship from its historical +association with a single institution.</p> + +<p>Some of the many senses in which the “politician” is +used may be disposed of by drawing a clean distinction between +the “business man” and the “politician.” The business +man may be defined as one who pursues a private advantage +with little regard for conceptions of public right. +The politician, in the here-selected “best” sense of the +word, uses persuasion on behalf of his conception of public +right. The politician pursues a genuine integration of interests +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>in the community; the business man is satisfied with +a compromise among competing private interests. The importance +to political theory of the distinction between integration +and compromise has quite properly been stressed +by Mary L. Follett.⁠<a id="FNanchor_15_15" href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> An integration of interests is the solution +of a conflict in such a way that neither “party” recognizes +that so much has been won and so much has been lost +in the outcome. It represents a reinterpretation of the situation +in a sense which renders the old line of battle, the +older definition of interest, irrelevant. It is illustrated +when a wage controversy is disposed of by the decision to +try to divide the advantages of economies in production +which may be brought about through new co-operative procedures. +The essence of the contrast between integration +and compromise is that between a synthesis and a trade. +The politician is a discoverer of inclusive advantages, and +the business man is a higgler for special advantages. +Whether, as Adam Smith said, an invisible hand shapes a +social synthesis from the general pursuit of private profit, +we do not have to decide upon here. The contrast is between +the conscious objectives of the individuals concerned. +It should be observed that politicians are not limited to +government and that business men are not limited to private +ventures. The “boss” is one form of the business man +in government; the director of a large private concern may +be a politician in the sense used here.⁠<a id="FNanchor_16_16" href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>Having drawn a necessary distinction between the institutional +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>and the functional meaning of the “political,” we +are in a position to discuss the “type” concept. A “type” +is a relation, and we may classify types according to the +relations chosen. Political types may be set up on a three-fold +basis: by specifying a nuclear relation, a co-relation, +and a developmental relation.</p> + +<p>What is meant by the choice of a nuclear relation may +be illustrated by the concept of the <i>Machtmensch</i> as elaborated +by Eduard Spranger in his <i>Lebensformen</i>. Spranger, +the distinguished educational psychologist of the University +of Berlin, has developed a morphology of personality +on an original basis. Dilthey, it will be recalled, +ushered in the modern era of typological inquiry in his +famous address before the Berlin Academy of Science.⁠<a id="FNanchor_17_17" href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +Dilthey selected forms of distinguished cultural activity +and posited trait-constellations to fit. By the process of +abstracting from many concrete fields of achievement, he +finally built up his description of the sensual, heroic, and +contemplative types. Most eminent political figures naturally +fall in the second category. Spranger’s approach has +much in common with that of Dilthey. He proceeds on the +hypothesis that all possible valuational dispositions are +shared by all men. By inspecting human culture, Spranger +comes to the conclusion that six distinctive cultural fields +have materialized six valuational dispositions in man. Thus +the cultural activities having to do with wealth production +correspond to the economic value tendency. Science corresponds +to the theoretical, art to the aesthetic, religion to +the religious, the state to the power tendency, and society +to the love tendency. Spranger goes on to deduce the attributes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>of each personality in which one value tendency +predominates, and traces out the implications for each +field of activity of the predominance of this tendency. Thus +the political man is the one whose principal value is the +pursuit of power. The essence of power is understood to +be the capacity, and usually the will, to impose one’s own +values as permanent or transitory motives upon others. +The political man in science tends to substitute rhetoric for +truth and to use ideas as forces (in the sense of Fouillée). +In economics the political man tends to reach his ends by +diplomacy and negotiation, by intimidation or violence, or +by other political means. In art the political motive leads +to efforts to impress by flamboyant decorative display. In +social life the political motive, with its forcible urge toward +self-aggrandizement, must usually disguise itself in +fostering the interests of some collectivity. The god of +the political man in religion is a god of might who requires +mighty men to serve him.</p> + +<p>In developing his image of the <i>homo politicus</i>, Spranger +is fully aware that his “pure” type seldom exists. The +bold, frank aggrandizement of self is rarely tolerated in +society, for “the greatest power manifests itself as collective +power,” and the man who cherishes power must achieve +some measure of socialization or he is outlawed. Although +in principle no warm-hearted lover of his fellow-men, he +must keep his contempt to himself or feign expansive sentiments +of group loyalty. Indeed, self-deception is perhaps +the rule, for the political personality with a strong artistic +component possesses a florid imagination which dramatizes +his personal history and subordinates all reality to ambitious +plans. It seems to me that Spranger does not sufficiently +stress this aspect of the political man, this large +capacity for playing the impostor upon himself and others.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span></p> + +<p>The gist of Spranger’s generalization of the political man +is schematically expressible in terms of desire-method-success. +The political man desires to control the motives of +others; his method may vary from violence to wheedling; +his success in securing recognition in some community must +be tangible. These are the nuclear relations which are essential +to the type definition.</p> + +<p>Naturally there are a number of necessary annotations +to be made on this formula. Sometimes the man with a +thirst for power is unable to indulge and quench his thirst, +for his physical and social equipment may be too meager. +And how are we to appraise results? <i>Wer regiert denn?</i> +Power over others is partially exercised by every living +being; but in any hierarchy of the powerful, some are on +the lowest tier, if current social criteria be applied. The +bedridden, complaining wreck may be of no significance +except as a burden upon the care of a single nurse. Accepting +the current values of society, such an individual +would be on the very bottom of the heap. And yet, as Alfred +Adler has so often insisted as to make the point +peculiarly his own, the hysteric may use his symptoms to +win a high degree of submission from his immediate environment, +and this may be all that he cares about. And +some of those who give up the visible struggle for social +influence may retire to distil their bile into poisoned darts +against the pursuit of external pomp, and secure reputation +and eminence by embodying the results in sparkling +rhetoric.</p> + +<p>The man who runs his village may become more acutely +aware that he does not run the county; and when he runs +the county, that he does not run the province; and so on +up the ladder. His appurtenances of power may be deferred +to by those about him, yet his own soul may smart +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>with the shackles of a larger slavery. Thus, Spranger is +right in saying that, when one succeeds in penetrating the +psychology of the search for power, it becomes comprehensible +that he whose nature is bound up in the pursuit +of authority is most keenly sensible to the limits of his own +freedom, and consequently suffers so keenly from nothing +else in life than his own subordination. Sensing this, the +Stoics long ago contended that the essence of liberty is the +self-sufficiency which makes no demands on others. Ascendancy +involves dependence, a reciprocal relationship +which has been exhaustively described by Simmel.⁠<a id="FNanchor_18_18" href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> But +there are some who combine easy success with indifference. +These are no doubt recruited from among those who have +natural suggestive power to certain groups—they possess +the <i>charisma</i> of Max Weber.⁠<a id="FNanchor_19_19" href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>Allowing for these annotations, the nucleus of Spranger’s +thinking may be repeated. The <i>homo politicus</i> is characterized +by the following relationship between desire, +method, and success: desire to control the motives of others; +methods varying from violence to wheedling; and success +in securing communal recognition.</p> + +<p>Spranger’s subtle comments in elaborating this simple, +central conception are among the most valuable in the +literature of society. Starting from bold simplifications, +he succeeds in formulating pictures which give richer +meaning to the details of political life in all the institutional +processes of culture. Of course the literature of +political science is full of types which are described as +Spranger has described the political man. Michels and +Merriam have listed the qualities which they find in political +leaders as a class. Conway has propounded his familiar +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>trichotomy: crowd-compellers, crowd-exponents, +and crowd-representatives. The possibility of defining +types according to the reactionary, conservative, liberal, or +radical nature of the opinions championed has often been +discussed.⁠<a id="FNanchor_20_20" href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>The scheme which will be employed in presenting case +materials stresses the capacity of political personalities to +play rôles which are either specialized or composite. +Hobbes was a theorist and an agitating pamphleteer; he is +scarcely thinkable as an agitating orator and organizer like +Garrison. The “pure-type” agitator is represented by the +Old Testament prophets. Bodin combined a memorable +contribution to political theory with the arduous duties of +a successful administrator. Masaryk won his spurs in +philosophy, sociology, cultural history, agitation, and organization. +Numberless are those who have shown excellent +organizing ability but who have been innocent of theoretical +interests or of agitating power. Some political assassins +and tyrants have enjoyed the use of violence as a +<i>ding an sich</i>. The central point in deciding where to place +a political figure is to discover the form of activity which +means the most to him, and to modify the classification +according to his success in combining this with other rôles. +Marx wanted to impress himself upon mankind, certainly; +and he craved the skill of a Lassalle, who could step on the +platform and dominate the turbulent emotions of the +crowd. But more: Marx wanted unreserved admiration +for the products of his mind. He toiled through years of +isolation and poverty to make his assertions impregnable. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>It was more important to attain theoretical completeness +than to modify his technique of social intercourse. Lassalle +was the composite leader who could woo an audience, +organize activities all over Germany, write excellent books, +and win a place for himself in many circles of life. Marx +was the limited specialist who had to exact submission to +the assertions of his mind, come what may.</p> + +<p>Table I brings out the distinction between specialized +and composite types.</p> + +<h3>TABLE I<br> + +<span class="smcap">Political Rôles</span> +</h3> + +<table> +<tr> +<td> +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +Administrator +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +Agitator +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +Theorist +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>Specialized types</i>: +</td><td> +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td> +</td> + +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl lp"> +Hoover +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl lp"> +Old Testament prophets +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl lp"> +Marx +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>Composite types</i>: +</td><td> +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl lp"> +Cobden +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl lp"> +Bodin +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td> +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl lp"> +Lenin +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +* +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Other combinations may be indicated. By adding a +fourth column for those who resort to violence, the schematic +possibilities are enlarged. Most theorists have been +agitators in some measure, and it is often a matter of taste +whether emphasis is to be placed on one or the other feature +of their activity. Characteristically, the theorists have +sought to appeal to the sentiments of their contemporaries +by pamphleteering or by the direction of their speculative +interests to immediate ends. Hobbes and Rousseau were +shut off from oratory and organization, but no small part +of their writing was intended to add fuel to the flames +around them. Such men as Tom Paine are able to strike +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>off excellent formulations of political theory in the heat +of the fray.</p> + +<p>So far we have been discussing types which are distinguished +according to some nuclear relation among a few +variables. The characteristic mode of elaborating such a +type is to imagine a host of situations in which the type +may be found, and to describe the resulting picture. This +is the elaboration of the preliminary sketch on the basis of +sophisticated experience with social life. For these impressionist +methods it is possible to substitute a more +formal procedure. Having chosen a central primary relation, +is it possible to find, by reference to specific instances, +the relative frequency with which other traits are associated +with the nuclear ones. The starting-point may be +either institutional or functional, of course: those who are +“judges,” “legislators,” or “bosses” may be investigated, +or those who are “statesmen,” “conciliators,” or “administrators.” +We have already had occasion to stress the +point that institutional definitions and functional definitions +do not precisely coincide, although either is a valid +point of departure for research.</p> + +<p>The result of the formal procedure outlined is to define +“co-relational” (correlational) types. A recent monograph +by Fritz Giese may be used to illustrate the possibilities.⁠<a id="FNanchor_21_21" href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +This is a statistical treatment of the data available in the +German <i>Who’s Who</i> of 1914. After Giese had eliminated +those who were included on account of their hereditary +position only, he had over ten thousand names left. He +then distinguished thirty-three varieties of activity, which +were grouped into the five major categories of art, social +science, physical science, technology, and practical life. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>He also classified his subjects into those who were honored +because of high-grade but essentially routine professional +accomplishment, those who enriched their field of activity +by some creative contribution, and those whose creativeness +was unrestricted to their occupational field. The three +types were the skilful, the productive, and the freely creative. +Since the individual is not confined to one field of +activity, the following scheme of connections was built up +to show the relation between the person and the form of +activity: (<i>a</i>) income source (the person regards a particular +field as a “bread and butter” occupation); (<i>b</i>) successive +activity field (the individual has deserted one field for +another); (<i>c</i>) field of simultaneous double-production; +(<i>d</i>) recreational activity. The relation of a person to a +field of activity may show a splitting of his personality or +a compensatory function. When a politician consciously +decides to play golf or to collect pictures to relieve his +mind from exclusive political preoccupations, he is realizing +a compensatory value in this chosen field. When he +finds himself impelled to try to live a double life of scientific +investigation and political propaganda, he is exhibiting +major, and contrasting, tendencies in his personality +(splitting). Sometimes the tie between fields of activity +which the same individual exploits is factual similarity, +as when a politician becomes a literary man to the extent +of writing the political history of a period. Sometimes the +connection is a functional relationship, in that the same +biopsychic dispositions are to be assumed to operate. Thus, +business promotion and politics are intimately allied; +sculpture and politics are not.</p> + +<p>Giese’s detailed analysis showed that those engaged in +politics reveal the most heterogeneous affiliations and backgrounds. +He raised the question whether it was proper to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>think of a distinctive functional gift which would characterize +all those in political positions. When compared with +art, especially architecture, and engineering, the heterogeneity +of the political population is very evident. Indeed, +the manifold connections of politically active persons +with other fields suggest that political life depends +upon very widely dispersed capacities of human nature, +as does teaching, history writing, and journalism. But +there is one important exception which is clearly brought +out by the figures. This was a group of politicians who +rose from humble circumstances and devoted themselves +assiduously to organization and agitation. They offer a +sharp contrast to those for whom political life was a sport, +hobby, or honorary distinction. For the organizing and +agitating group we may postulate a functional disposition +of some kind.</p> + +<p>The results show how the institutional approach to a +problem may eventuate in the isolation of one group which +very probably coincides closely with a functional group +in other institutional activities. Some of the agitating and +organizing people weren’t yet in politics at the time the +1914 census was made, and some of them were so busy +with private organizations that they never made the formal +transition to politics in the institutional sense.</p> + +<p>Another conclusion which bears on the same point is +Giese’s discovery that those who were freely creative in +politics had much more in common with those who were +freely creative in other fields than they had with those who +were merely productive in their own. Giese’s method of +classifying his freely creative group is too ambiguous to +justify one in considering his conclusion of more than suggestive +value, but it is possible that he has isolated a functionally +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>homogeneous group which cuts across all institutional +lines.</p> + +<p>Some of the studies of political personalities have carried +the quantitative method far enough to substitute scales +for rank orders at various points. Various reaction tests +have been used in the hope of discovering constant differences +among those who play different political rôles. +Henry T. Moore undertook to decide whether there is such +a thing as a temperamental predisposition toward conservatism +or radicalism. He defined radicalism as “an attitude +favorable to sweeping changes in social institutions, especially +changes along lines opposed to class interest,” and +classified the opinion expressions of students according to +the degree of radicalism or conservatism indicated. He +then applied a series of reaction tests to the students and +reached the following conclusion:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Our evidence so far as it goes points to some innate basis of +difference. This basis does not seem to be the level of general +intelligence or of emotional stability, nor in any general superiority +or inferiority in learning or attention, but in such specific +factors as greater speed of reaction, ease of breaking habits, readiness +to make snap judgments, and independence in the face of +majority influence. The last of these differences is the one most +clearly indicated.... If one man is by nature more keyed up +for speed and flexibility, and the other is more designed for regularity +of function, we can hardly expect that government of the +hyperkinetic by the phlegmatic and for the phlegmatic can fail to +develop periods of stress and strain.⁠<a id="FNanchor_22_22" href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Floyd Allport classified students into typical and atypical +members of the community, discovering whether they +took up prevalent or minority positions on various political +questions. He then applied a battery of tests to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>students and found that certain traits of the atypical +(whether the opinions were “radical” or “conservative”) +proved to be homogeneous. Thus, not only do the “extremes” +meet, but also those who hold minority positions +along a hypothetical continuum of opinion distribution.⁠<a id="FNanchor_23_23" href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>W. H. Cowley, at the instigation of Charles E. Merriam +and L. L. Thurstone, undertook to compare leaders in +chosen situations. He used twenty-eight tests of such traits +as aggressiveness, self-confidence, intelligence, emotional +stability, and speed of reaction. While his tests were differentiating +within the same group between leaders and +followers, he reports that they did not distinguish between +leaders as a class and followers as a class. He thus felt +justified in denying that leadership is a universal trait of +particular persons, and criticized efforts to itemize “traits +of leadership.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_24_24" href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Further applications of the blanket-test +technique are under way.⁠<a id="FNanchor_25_25" href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p>Gilbert J. Rich opened out a new field of investigation +when he studied certain complex physiological and biochemical +variables among leaders and followers. He +measured the hydrogen-ion concentration of the saliva, the +acidity of the urine, alkali reserve of the blood, and creatinine +excretion of the urine. The least excitable subjects +showed the most acid saliva and the most acid urine. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>rating of the subjects was open to criticism, and was obviously +much less refined than the biochemical techniques +employed.⁠<a id="FNanchor_26_26" href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>The types which we have just been considering show +more than a cross-sectional picture of the adult personality. +They have made the transition from itemizing the +instantaneous pictures to the selection of features of the +immediate picture which show how the type has come to +be. They are thus more than co-relational types; they +have made some progress toward developmental types. +When Giese found the group of political personalities of +humble origin and persistent organizing and agitating +activity, he postulated a common dynamic of development, +a homogeneous functional disposition toward this sort of +thing. Moore wanted to extricate the formative influence +of temperamental reactive sets, and the other investigators +have likewise sought to ascertain developmental factors in +the production of the adult picture of traits and interests.</p> + +<p>Almost every nuclear and co-relational type carries +developmental implications. The terms which are used to +characterize motives have dynamic, genetic, formative +coronas of meaning which, vaguely though they may be +sketched, are emphatically present. When Michels says +that a “Catonian strength of conviction” is one mark of the +political leader, it is implied that if one pushed his inquiry +into the adolescence, childhood, and even infancy of the +individual that this ruling characteristic would be visible. +Of course, Michels does not himself develop these implications; +it is doubtful if he has tried to find the early +analogues of the trait which he called “Cantonian strength +of conviction” on the adult level. But the dynamic penumbra +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>of the term can lead empirical investigators to scrutinize +the behavior of children from a new point of view. +Many of the terms which are used to describe adult traits +are no doubt unpredictable from the less differentiated +traits of infancy, childhood, and youth. But the growth +of full-blown developmental types requires the sifting and +refinement of terms until they are adequate to the description +of sequences of growth. Developmental types will +describe a set of terminal, adult reactions, and relate them +to those critical experiences in the antecedent life of the +individual which dispose him to set up such a mode of +dealing with the world. Developmental types will not +only include the subjective account of the history of the +personality but will embrace the objective factors which +were co-operating to produce the patterns described.</p> + +<p>The notion of a developmental type may be illustrated +by examining the place which is assigned to the political +man in the chief modern characterological systems. Hans +Apfelbach has used five dimensions for the description +of characters. Each one is described as a gamut between +two polar opposites, and a sixth pair of polar opposites +is introduced into the system. The scheme is indicated in +Table II.</p> + +<p>This gives a formal range of sixty-four types of character +formation without allowing for subtle variations in +quantity. The first combination which Apfelbach specifies +is, symbolically, ABCDEF. This is a very masculine, +sadistic, hyperemotional, moral, intellectually keen, and +upright character. Among men this is the type of the +organizers, politicians, the great preachers, generals, dictators, +and the like. Among women, this is the type of the +organizer of every description, especially the political or +patriotic enthusiast, like Joan of Arc. It should be observed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>that the terms “masculine” and “feminine” are +not used in a mutually exclusive sense. Carrying on the +tradition of Weininger and Fliess, these terms are employed +to designate traits which may be present in different +proportions in the same person.⁠<a id="FNanchor_27_27" href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<h3>TABLE II</h3> + +<table> +<tr> +<td class="tdc"> +Dimension +</td> +<td class="tdc"> +Polar Elements +</td> +<td> +</td> + +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Sexuality +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Masculine +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +A +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Feminine +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +a +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Psychomotility +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Psychosadistic +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +B +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Psychomasochistic +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +b +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Emotionality +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Hyperemotional +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +C +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Hypo-emotional +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +c +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Morality +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Moral +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +D +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Immoral +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +d +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Intellectuality (specialized) +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Superior +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +E +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Inferior +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +e +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Accessory elements +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Altruistic +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +F +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> + +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +Egotistic +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +f +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The political man appears in Jung’s system at various +intersections of his underlying scheme. The essential +cleavage in Jung’s classification is between those whose +psychic energy (libido) flows outward toward objects (extraversion) +and those whose libido flows inward (introversion). +The former enter into full affective relations +with the world around; the latter are mainly focused on +their private interpretations of experience. In addition +to these fundamental dynamic relationships, Jung sub-classifies +with reference to our fundamental psychological +functions: thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition. These +functions may operate against one another consciously or +unconsciously. So, when thinking predominates in consciousness, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>feeling is repressed; and the reverse. Intuition +is understood to be a kind of instinctive comprehension, +a function peculiarly dependent upon the unconscious. +According to the predominance of one or another of these +basic functions, Jung constructs four special types of extraversion +and introversion.</p> + +<p>Certain conspicuous political types belong to Jung’s +category of extraverted thinkers. These individuals try to +bring their whole life-activity into relation with intellectual +conclusions, which in the last resort are always oriented +by objective data, whether objective facts or generally +valid ideas. By his formula are good and evil measured: +all is wrong that contradicts it, and all is right that corresponds +to it; all is accidental that is neutral toward it. +Just as the extraverted thinking type subordinates himself +to his formula, he seeks to subordinate all others to it, as +a manifestation of a universal inspiration. His moral code +forbids him to tolerate exceptions, and he would bend +all to suit the scheme. “One really should” or “one must” +figure largely in his program. If the formula is wide +enough, Jung remarks that the extraverted thinker may +figure as a reformer, a ventilator of public wrongs, and a +propagandist. But the more rigid his formula, the more +likely he is to grow into a grumbler, a crafty reasoner, +and a self-righteous critic.</p> + +<p>Many politicians answer to the general description which +Jung gives of the extraverted, intuitive type. The intuitive +is unattracted by the established values; he is drawn to +the possible rather than to the actual. He seizes hold of +new objects and ways of doing things with eager intensity, +only to abandon them cold-bloodedly, when their implications +become obvious. The irresistible magnet of the rising +sun fires his imagination and guides his activity. For the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>risen sun and the setting sun there is no enthusiasm, no +special hostility, only indifference. Here is the facile promoter, +who senses the dawning future and speeds from +project to project, bored with routine and detail after +projects have been accepted and the blueprints finished.⁠<a id="FNanchor_28_28" href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>The types of Apfelbach and Jung are based upon a small +number of reactive mechanisms which are supposed to +influence in different degree the growth of the personality. +These “mechanism” types may contain many useful leads, +but the methodological problem in isolating these hypothetical +mechanisms is unsettled. A “stable” reaction +in adulthood may be far from stable when viewed at successive +growth periods. These “mechanism” types seem +to encourage endless classificatory ventures at the expense +of detailed reporting of life-histories. For reasons which +have been set forth, subjective histories are of the greatest +importance to social science; and any excessive interest in +“mechanism” which minimizes the importance of elaborate +individual records is to be deplored. Jung and Apfelbach +say very little about the principal epochs of individual +development, and distract attention from the career as a +whole, as this career is structuralized in successive phases.</p> + +<p>Before outlining our developmental conception of the +<i>homo politicus</i>, we return to the work of Freud, for his +method has enabled him to keep close to the subjective sequence +and to use classificatory terms in relation to the +successive phases of impulse organization in the developing +personality.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V"> + CHAPTER V + <br> + THEORIES OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>It will be remembered that Freud’s search for signs of +the traumatic situation led him to uncover the contemporaneous +functioning of all sorts of unconscious motivations +in both the diseased and the healthy personality. The quest +led him farther. Freud felt impelled to set up a schematic +representation of the typical genetic development of the +human personality. This grew out of the comparative +study of very thoroughly analyzed cases and was rooted +in empirical observation. Freud has always kept close +to his data; and no matter how far his imagination soared, +actual clinical experience was the starting-place and the +landing-field for the flight.</p> + +<p>The energy of a developed personality can be treated +as dispersed in three directions: in the affirmative expression +of socialized impulses, in unsocialized impulses, and +in the maintenance of resistance charges against unsocialized +impulses. The original forms of energy expression +which are available to the infant are in many ways incompatible +with the demands of human intercourse. The infant +must surrender many primitive forms of gratification, +if he is to be loved, and to avoid discomfort and pain. He +must build up a self which represents the demands of +society. The surrounding adults coerce and wheedle him +into taking their commands for his own laws. The conscience +is the introjected environment which imposes limitations +upon the antisocial impulses. As the infant and +child grows, he avoids conflicts with the environment by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>removing the locus of the conflict within himself, and plays +nurse, mother, and father to himself. He learns to control +his own excretions and to chasten his own murderous rages. +He achieves individuality of emphasis by accepting the +socialization of his major impulses.</p> + +<p>But this incorporation of the requirements of the social +order into the personality does not proceed smoothly, nor +does it abolish the primitive psychological structures which +have been developed and apparently discarded at each +step of the way toward adulthood. Much of the energy +of the personality is spent in blocking the entry of the +unadjusted impulses of the self into consciousness and +into overt expression. Careful scrutiny of individual behavior +over a twenty-four-hour period strikingly shows +the extent to which the personality is controlled by very +elementary psychological structures. Moments of fatigue, +moments of deprivation, moments of irresponsible reverie, +all betray the presence of tendencies which are unassimilated +to the world of adult reality.</p> + +<p>Freud began to build up his conception of personality +development by the gradual universalization of phenomena +which he encountered in actual clinical work, and which he +first described in relatively modest and restricted terms. +He began his original psychological contributions by +stressing the rôle of sexuality in the etiology of certain +neuroses. He found that all sorts of pathological conditions +and developmental abnormalities were apparently +due to some shortcoming in sexual integration. This emphasis +upon sexual adjustment as a necessary prerequisite +of healthy adulthood met with so much opposition that +Freud’s energies were taken up with defending and elaborating +his position. Now the sexual function is essentially +a species function and stresses the biological uniformities +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>of man at the expense of individuality. A topic +like “personality development” requires a comprehensive +theory of individuality, and this Freud did not develop +until the split with Adler, who insisted upon the rôle of a +drive toward individualization and who denied that the +much neglected “ego instincts” of Freud were enough +to support a comprehensive theory.</p> + +<p>The story of Freud’s neurosis-sexuality-personality +theories begins with his earliest independent psychological +contributions. Many clinicians before Freud had been +abundantly impressed by the frequency with which sexual +troubles seemed to beget “nervous” troubles. In his hypnotic +work, Freud was especially struck by the frequency +with which specifically sexual episodes were involved in +the pathogenic experiences. Freud now proceeded to generalize +about the sexual element in neurosis, and announced +that neurosis was a function of deviated sexual +life.</p> + +<p>Freud armed in defense of his generalization with two +new weapons. The first was his experience in letting his +patients talk it out and in treating most of their productions +as symbolic of something else. He acquired facility +in interpreting what other people took literally as being +a disguised representation of something else. So, when +Freud was confronted with cases which were not manifestly +sexual, he felt able to treat the non-sexual elements +as symbolic representations of sexuality and to justify himself +by claiming that his more intensive research procedure +supplied him with the sustaining facts. Needless to say, +those who had not themselves experienced the shift in +standpoint which Freud had achieved were alienated by his +seeming arbitrariness.</p> + +<p>Freud’s second reliance was on an inclusive theory of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>sexuality. Undaunted by the ridicule heaped upon his +sexual theory of the neurosis, he carried the war into +enemy territory by extending the whole concept of sexuality +backward from puberty through the life of the growing +child to infancy.</p> + +<p>At first glance this might appear to be a cheap, dialectical +trick to confound his critics by telling them that “sex” +meant all the things they had called by other names. +Freud’s <i>Three Contributions to Sexual Theory</i> was saved +from being a rhetorical quibble by the virtuosity of his +imagination and by the apparent definiteness of the connections +which he traced between the various features of +childhood development and the patterns of healthy and +perverse adult sexuality. Careful analysis of biologically +efficacious intercourse shows that it is a complex integration +of many acts. It involves a partner of the opposite +sex. Its essential feature is an increasing tension until the +point of explosive release, followed by perfect relaxation. +The male must be sadistic enough to run the risk of hurting +the female by injecting the penis in the vagina. The +participants must be willing to indulge in all sorts of preliminary +play for the sake of heightening the critical tension, +involving tongue, lips, nipples, and all the erogenous +zones of the body.</p> + +<p>Comparing the details of this completed pattern of the +unambiguously sexual act with the earlier activities of +the infant and child, Freud drew a host of analogies. +Children indulge in play in sexual postures, exhibit their +sexual parts to one another, and take pleasure in sexual +peeping; but Freud carried his analysis of the sexuality of +children much farther. Child specialists had often remarked +that the nursing male child frequently exhibits +the phenomenon of an erect penis and a desire to suckle +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>for some time after hunger contractions cease. The general +pattern of the sequence hunger-nursing-peaceful relaxation +follows the characteristic curve of the sexual act. +Freud suggested that inspection of the nursing pattern reveals +that the pleasure derived by the child goes far beyond +immediate biological necessities. This excess gratification +Freud treats as a primitive outcropping of the +sexual instinct, which need not be supposed to appear +suddenly with the maturation of the glandular apparatus, +but may be thought of as growing like the usual biological +process by integrating partial components into one complex +synthesis.</p> + +<p>Sexual differentiation arises gradually, for at first distinctions +of sex are not recognized by the child. The +human animal is bisexual, a concept which Freud took +over with some reservations from Wilhelm Fliess. Distinctions +are achieved within the world of family experience. +The child is attracted sexually toward the parent +of the opposite sex but is too weak to compete for the +loved object. Thus the father, who is too mighty to be +killed and put out of the way, is copied by the son, who +seeks to absorb his power into his own personality. The +repression of the father-hostility, mother-love sentiments +produces the Oedipus complex. The child achieves a socialized +self by playing the rôle of the father in relation +to his own impulses. The “latency period” arises from +four to six, according to Freud, when the early sexual +struggle against the father is given up. The fear of the +father (the “castration complex”) leads to the passing of +the Oedipus phase of growth.</p> + +<p>Now Freud specified a variety of difficulties which arise +whenever there is failure to achieve successful integration +of the partial components of the sexual instinct. He connected +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>homosexuality, psychological frigidity and impotence, +exhibitionism, sadism, masochism, voyeurism, and +a variety of other abnormalities with definite failures in +integration. Sometimes the individual becomes obsessed +by ideas which have a disguised sexual meaning, and sometimes +he indulges in physical symptoms which possess a +similar unconscious significance. The first is an obsessional +neurosis, and the second is hysteria.</p> + +<p>The stress which Freud laid upon the sexuality of the +child, and upon socialization by intimidation, broke with +revolutionary violence in a culture which swaddled its +infants in sentimentality. The child of the poets was like +this:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">Not in entire forgetfulness,</div> + <div class="verse indent4">And not in utter nakedness,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But trailing clouds of glory we do come</div> + <div class="verse indent4">From God, who is our home:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Heaven lies about us in our infancy!</div> + <div class="verse indent8">—<span class="smcap">William Wordsworth</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">The child of the Freudians was like this:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The child, at one time or another in its life, is, in a sense, auto-erotic, +narcissistic, exhibitionistic, inclined to play the rôle of +“Jack the Peeper,” incestuous, patricidal, or matricidal, homosexual, +fetichistic, masochistic and sadistic [G. V. Hamilton, <i>An +Introduction to Objective Psychopathology</i>, p. 301].</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>As early as 1898 Freud had begun to elaborate the +idea that sexuality begins at birth. But as late as 1900, +when the <i>Interpretation of Dreams</i> appeared, he wrote in +a footnote that “childhood knows nothing, as yet, of sexual +desire.” With the elaboration of his sexual theory, +Freud became less preoccupied in defending himself +against his psychiatric colleagues than in perfecting defenses +against his friends. Freud began to build up a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>circle in 1903. Of the original group, Alfred Adler and +Wilhelm Stekel were the two who were destined to achieve +the most subsequent attention. By 1906 Ferenczi of Budapest +and the Zürich contingent—the eminent Bleuler and +his assistants—became cordial and interested. In 1908 a +conference was held at Salzburg, and in 1909 G. Stanley +Hall invited Freud to lecture at Clark University. In 1910 +an international society was organized at Nuremberg, and +the institutionalization of the psychoanalytic trend was well +launched.</p> + +<p>The first cleavage came about when Freud and Adler +finally broke in 1911. In and out of season Adler stressed +the “masculine protest,” the drive of the human being to +master every situation in which he finds himself. The individual +specializes in overcoming his short stature, his +enuresis, his ugliness, and his other defects; his principal +drive is to differentiate himself rather than to perform his +species function.</p> + +<p>Adler represented several other currents of dissent from +Freud. Freud had felt compelled to stress the antisocial +drives of human nature, and Adler held a less Hobbesian +view. The “social-feeling” component of human nature +was accorded a place in the Adlerian system; and when the +“socially useful” norms of individual adjustment were +violated by the individual, “inferiority feelings” ensued. +Therapy consisted in bringing this interpretation home to +the maladapted person, leading him to relinquish his socially +useless means of mastery and to allow his “social +feelings” to express themselves more freely. Adler’s therapy +showed that he represented a pedagogical-ethical reaction +against Freud’s denial of the training function of +the scientific analyst. Freud said repeatedly that the business +of the analyst is to expose the patient to himself, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>to leave it to the patient to work out his particular modes +of adaptation to reality. Adler wants to give the patient +a general scheme of thinking and to let him have some +practice in indulging the “social feelings” of his nature.</p> + +<p>Adler likewise represented a protest against the complexities +of Freud’s style of thought. The distinction can +be drawn best, perhaps, by saying that Freud proceeded +from symptoms to meanings, and from meanings to other +meanings, and from other meanings to conditions. The +analysis consists in uncovering lifelong chains of meaning +attached to particular objects. Janet never achieved this +process, and Adler short-circuited it. Adler begins with +the symptom and proceeds as directly as possible to the +condition. His books abound in succinct characterizations +of cases, and “symbolic” material is at a minimum. Employing +his orienting principle, he directs attention to a +sympathetic reconstruction of the social relationships of +the patient and selects those problems which the individual +has tried to master by antisocial or personally crippling +devices. The “common-sense” simplicity of Adler’s observations +commends his doctrines in circles which are repelled +by the alien terminology and the elaborate interpretative +machinery of Freud.</p> + +<p>Under the perpetual hammering of Adler, Freud undertook +to expand upon his sketchy theory of the ego. At +first Freud was inclined to say that Adler had nothing to +add because he had himself spoken of the ego instincts as +well as the sexual instincts. Such a solution was hardly +satisfying, and the self did not find a suitable resting-place +in Freud’s theoretical system until the rôle of narcissism +(love of the self) was taken up and set forth at length. +This “saved” the sexual theory, and it made the analysis +of ego processes a problem of major interest to psychoanalysis. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>Stress was laid upon the fact that when the individual’s +libido flows outward toward objects, and when +obstacles or deprivations are imposed upon this outward +reaching, the libido turns back upon the self. This excessive +libidinization of the self rendered subsequent adjustment +to reality very difficult, and many personality +deformations and formations are traceable to this developmental +warp.</p> + +<p>The break between Freud and Jung in 1913 had less +immediate importance for personality theory than the previous +schism. Like Adler, Jung undertook to subordinate +the rôle of sexuality; but Jung accomplished his purpose, +less by postulating concurrent ego-instincts than by invoking +an inclusive energy concept which would embrace +sexuality, ego-drives, and many other accessory manifestations. +Jung, paralleling Adler again, came to the rescue +of human nature, postulating a moral trend in the unconscious. +And Jung, like Adler, frankly advises and trains +his patients. Jung’s two distinctive lines of innovation +were concerned with dream interpretations and ethnological +applications. Jung expanded dream interpretations for +the sake of laying bare the “racial unconscious.” Using +saga material and dream material, Jung undertook to +deflate the claims of sexuality and to demonstrate the +limited applicability of the Oedipus idea.</p> + +<p>Freud was assailed at a vital spot and rallied to defend +himself in <i>Totem and Taboo</i>. He scored a point over Jung, +who had relied on saga material, by drawing heavily on +the ethnological summaries of Frazer in the <i>Golden Bough</i> +to justify the universality of the Oedipus complex. This +was Freud’s first contribution to systematic social theory, +and will come up for consideration in that connection. +From the standpoint of personality theory, perhaps the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>most valuable passages are those which describe the infant’s +overvaluation of thought—the “omnipotence of +thought,” as it was phrased by a patient.</p> + +<p>Some years later Jung, now on his own for some time, +devised his classification of personality types and vastly +increased popular and technical interest in the subject. +This in turn has stimulated the group around Freud to +develop a formal psychoanalytic characterology. In this +task they were assisted by some early communications of +Freud, wherein he took note of some of the character types +met with in his practice. This literature will be referred to +in connection with the case histories which are to be discussed +immediately.</p> + +<p>The other schisms between Freud and his pupils (involving +Stekel and Rank) have been less significant for +personality theory thus far, although Rank’s sociological +interests may germinate now that he is away from the immediate +presence of the master.</p> + +<p>Freud, who had obstinately clung to the phraseology of +sex, rejecting every proposal for an overmastering set of +terms which would carry less restricted connotations, executed +a brilliant maneuver in 1926 and proposed to regard +human activity as manifestations of two principles, +the life and the death instincts. Life consists in accumulation +and the release of tension; and, generalizing this +phenomenon, we have the life and death drives.⁠<a id="FNanchor_29_29" href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>Suppose we put aside further exposition of the analytical +personality theories, and in the light of these conceptions +set up a general formula which describes the developmental +history of the political man. The most general +formula would employ three terms. The first component, +<i>p</i>, stands for the private motives of the individual as they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>are nurtured and organized in relation to the family constellation +and the early self. We shall have occasion to +see that primitive psychological structures continue to +function within the personality long after the epochs of +infancy and childhood have been chronologically left behind. +The prominence of hate in politics suggests that we +may find that the most important private motive is a repressed +and powerful hatred of authority, a hatred which +has come to partial expression and repression in relation +to the father, at least in patrilineal society, where the male +combines the function of biological progenitor and sociological +father.</p> + +<p>The second term, <i>d</i>, in such a formula describes the +displacement of private motives from family objects to +public objects. The repressed father-hatred may be turned +against kings or capitalists, which are social objects playing +a rôle before and within the community. Harmonious +relations with the father of the family may actually depend +upon the successful deflection of hatred from private +to public objects.</p> + +<p>The third symbol, <i>r</i>, signifies the rationalization of the +displacement in terms of public interests. The merciless +exploitation of the toolless proletariat by the capitalists +may be the rational justification of the attitude taken up +by the individual toward capitalism.</p> + +<p>The most general formula which expresses the developmental +facts about the fully developed political man reads +thus:</p> + +<blockquote> + <i>p</i> <span class="bracket">}</span> <i>d</i> <span class="bracket">}</span> <i>r</i> = <i>P</i>, +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">where <i>p</i> equals private motives; <i>d</i> equals displacement onto +a public object; <i>r</i> equals rationalization in terms of public +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>interest; <i>P</i> equals the political man; and <span class="bracket">}</span> equals transformed +into.</p> + +<p>The <i>p</i> is shared by the political man with every human +being. Differentiation rises first in the displacement of +affects on to public objects, and in the molding of the life +in such a way as to give an opportunity for the expression +of these affects. The non-political man may feel himself +aggrieved against a brother and against every fellow-worker +with whom he comes in contact. His mind may be +taken up with personal fantasies of love or hate for specific +people, and his ideological world (his attitudes toward +the state, the church, the destiny of man) may be +very poorly elaborated. He is a fly in the meshes of his +immediate environment, and his struggles are fought in +terms of the world of face-to-face reality. When such a +man displaces his affects upon a person who happens to be +a public object, this does not make him a political man. +Impulsively killing a king who happens to insult one’s +sister does not make a politician of the regicide; there +must be a secondary elaboration of the displacement in +terms of general interest. It is the rationalization which +finally transmutes the operation from the plane of private +to the plane of public acts. Indeed, the private motives +may be entirely lost from the consciousness of the political +man, and he may succeed in achieving a high degree +of objective validation for his point of view. In the +“ideal” case this has gone so far that the private motives +which led to the original commitment are of feeble current +importance.</p> + +<p>Upon what does the displacement and the rationalization +depend? No doubt the general answer is that the selection +of certain public objects depends upon the “historical” +accident of the patterns offered by the personal environment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>of the individual at critical phases of growth. It is +safe to predict that more politicians rise from families +with political traditions than without them. But this very +broad conclusion requires no technique of intensive investigation +of individual instances to support it. If the +psychopathological approach to the individual is worth +the trouble, it must disclose a variety of relatively novel +circumstances which dispose individuals to adopt, reject, +or modify the patterns of act and phrase which are offered +in the environment. Provisionally, we may assume that +the puberty phase of biological growth, which coincides +with increasing social demands, may be the period in +which the attitudes toward the invisible environment most +rapidly crystallize.</p> + +<p>The details may be more hopefully dealt with if somewhat +homogeneous groups of politicians are investigated +for the purpose of bringing out significant differences in +their developmental history. The agitators are the first +to whom special attention will be paid.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI"> + CHAPTER VI + <br> + POLITICAL AGITATORS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The essential mark of the agitator is the high value +which he places on the emotional response of the public. +Whether he attacks or defends social institutions is a secondary +matter. The agitator has come by his name honestly, +for he is enough agitated about public policy to +communicate his excitement to those about him. He idealizes +the magnitude of the desirable social changes which +are capable of being produced by a specific line of social +action. From the standpoint of the administrative mind, +we may say that an agitator is one who exaggerates the +difference between one rather desirable social policy and +another, much as the lover, according to Shaw, is one who +grossly exaggerates the difference between one woman and +another. Whether agitators behave like physicians or surgeons, +as Munro would have it, they are united in expecting +much good to come from single acts of innovation. +The agitator easily infers that he who disagrees with him +is in communion with the devil, and that opponents show +bad faith or timidity. Agitators are notoriously contentious +and undisciplined; many reforming ships are +manned by mutineers. The agitator is willing to subordinate +personal considerations to the superior claims of +principle. Children may suffer while father and mother +battle for the “cause.” But the righteous will not cleave to +their families when the field is ripe for the harvest. Ever +on the alert for pernicious intrusions of private interest +into public affairs, the agitator sees “unworthy” motives +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>where others see the just claims of friendship. Believing +in direct, emotional responses from the public, the agitator +trusts in mass appeals and general principles. Many of +his kind live to shout and write. Their consciences trouble +them unless they have periodic orgies of moral fervor. +Relying upon the magic of rhetoric, they conjure away +obstacles with the ritualistic repetition of principles. They +become frustrated and confused in the tangled mass of +technical detail upon which successful administration depends. +Agitators of the “pure” type, when landed in +responsible posts, long to desert the official swivel for the +roving freedom of the platform and the press. They glorify +men of outspoken zeal, men who harry the dragons +and stir the public conscience by exhortation, reiteration, +and vituperation.</p> + +<p>The first life-history to be excerpted here is that of +Mr. A. This is no “institutional” case. Mr. A is aware +of no mental pathology, and has never consulted a neurologist, +psychiatrist, or “nerve doctor.” He is one of those +who at first reluctantly, then whole-heartedly, allowed +himself to be studied with the same thoroughness, intimacy, +and detachment with which an obviously unstable person +would be scrutinized. Mr. A at once saw the advantage for +the progress of science of an accumulation of life-histories +taken from men who regard themselves as perfectly normal, +since so much of our case material is from the ill.</p> + +<p>A’s claim to a place among the agitators is not open to +question. He was compelled to resign his position when +the United States went into the World War on account of +the tenacity with which he argued the pacifist position. He +had previously run for Congress on the socialist ticket. Suspected +of unorthodoxy in the theological school, he steadily +became more radical in his views, and was expelled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>from one denomination. Previously he had been the secretary +and principal spokesman for a civic reform organization +which had vigorously attacked corruption in municipal +affairs. He gradually became convinced that “white +collar reforms” were futile as long as the capitalistic system +prevailed in this country, and presently threw his +energy into the propaganda of labor organization and socialism.</p> + +<p>A leading characteristic as moralist, socialist, and pacifist +has been his truculence in public on behalf of his +cause. Mr. A speaks rapidly, with great fervor and earnestness, +and his discourse is studded with abusive epithets, +sarcastic jibes, and cutting insinuations. He confesses that +he has taken an unmistakable pleasure in “rubbing the fur +the wrong way.” He enjoyed nothing better than accepting +invitations to lecture on social and economic subjects +before conservative audiences, and scandalizing them by +declaring that “organized business and organized crime +are hard to distinguish from one another,” “corruption +and capitalism are one and inseparable,” and “capitalism +depends on markets, markets ultimately depend on force, +and force means war.” Thus war was the logical result +of the capitalistic system.</p> + +<p>Mr. A prides himself on his ability to cut holes in the +logical fabric spun by conspicuous men. He has engaged +prominent preachers of the gospel in correspondence, +arguing that something in their writings leads logically +to the conclusion that any war, not excepting the last one, +is wrong, and that they should confess this openly, declaring +their sorrow for having been infected with un-Christian +war-hysteria.</p> + +<p>He believes that right reason is the hope of mankind, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>and the name of science is exalted in his mind. He was +glad to lay his own life-story on the altar of science, and +in the name of science to endure the embarrassment of +recalling private facts which most of us try to forget.</p> + +<p>Mr. A’s later convictions have been held with enough +intensity to redefine many of his earlier opinions. Thus +his pacifism brought him into sharp opposition to the government, +which resented his expression of the truth as he +understood it. Mr. A warmly champions the cause of the +individual against official interference in matters of taste +and conscience, and has modified his early enthusiasm for +prohibition.</p> + +<p>Although censorious, accusatory, didactic, and defiant +in public address, he is cordial and winning in those face-to-face +situations where he is unaware of hostility. His +eyes twinkle with good humor, and he is gentle, responsive, +and anxious to impress. His speech and gestures are +quick, and his manner is alert and often tense.</p> + +<p>A’s physique inclines toward the asthenic end of a hypothetical +pyknic-asthenic scale, such as Wertheimer and +Hesketh have constructed from Kretschmer’s observations +on physical types.⁠<a id="FNanchor_30_30" href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> He is noticeably lean, but strikes the +impressionistic observer as being toward neither the tall +nor the short end of the scale. The legs are somewhat +longer than the length of the body warrants, and the bony +structures of shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle are prominent. +The thin face is rather delicately molded, and is +given added dignity and distinction by a neat Van Dyke +beard. The chest is flat, and the upper ribs fall inward. +His erect carriage seems to be a compensation against a +predilection toward a scholarly stoop. In middle and later +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>middle life he has been bothered by gastro-intestinal disorders.</p> + +<p>The second son of an impecunious village parson, he +grew up in straitened circumstances with a brother somewhat +his senior. The mother died when A’s youngest sister +was born, and the children were cared for by the father +and a succession of elderly housekeepers who left faint +memories behind them. A and his brother went to an old-fashioned +ungraded school, entering at the same time in +spite of their disparity in years, so the younger one would +not be left alone in the house.</p> + +<p>From a very early age A had a certain sense of hostility +toward his brother, and a feeling of his own superiority. +For a reason that is not clear, the school children teased +his brother as the preacher’s son, but left him alone. A +was more agile than his brother, and climbed trees and +wriggled into tight places with ease. He prided himself +in doing things which his brother hesitated to try, and +seems to have awed him somewhat, for he remembers having +heard his brother tell another schoolboy to let A alone, +“because when he gets mad, he can lick me.”</p> + +<p>The older boy was held responsible by the father for +pranks which were really joint enterprises. On one representative +occasion, the father left the house to make a +call, ordering the boys to stay indoors. They decided to +go out, and their father, who discovered footprints in the +snow outside the door, gave the older boy a sound whipping, +but let A off scot-free. The younger son was unquestionably +the favorite, and his father would frequently +chide the older boy for being a dullard, and point with +pride to the ease with which A could get his lessons.</p> + +<p>Indeed, A got on famously at school. One of his teachers, +who chanced to be a college man, told his father that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>A was brilliant and promising. A also remembers a glow +of elation when a relative wrote to say that arrangements +must be made for him to have a college education, since +he had shown that he could be a worthy successor to his +uncle. This uncle was a famous professor, who had written +well-known philosophical books, and remained a great +hero in the eyes of the family.</p> + +<p>The father slept in the same bed with his two sons +until they were well along in the teens. For as long as he +can remember, A found the touch of his father very pleasant, +though the touch of his brother was repugnant. A’s +strong hostility against his brother, based on their rivalry +for the affections of the father, received a certain justification +in the critical episode which occurred as his older +brother, who matured early, approached puberty and began +to have emissions. The preacher was horrified, for +he took this as a sign of masturbation, and masturbation +was sinful and dangerous.⁠<a id="FNanchor_31_31" href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> When he thought that A was +sound asleep, he would gravely lecture the older boy on +the evil consequences of self-abuse. Sometimes the son +would wake up in the morning and discover that an emission +had taken place during the night. In a hushed and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>contrite whisper he would say to his father, “I’ve gone +and done it again!” at which the parent would exclaim +reproachfully, “Oh!” The boy was presently taken to a +physician who seems to have modified the excitement of +the father and in some measure to have reassured the son +that his manhood was not irreparably lost. Dark rumors +about self-abuse were whispered through the village from +time to time. The neighborhood idiot was supposed to +have brought idiocy upon himself by self-abuse, and a +bachelor in the village who went insane was supposed to +have suffered from the same vice.</p> + +<p>A listened to the rumors and to the nocturnal dialogues +between his father and elder brother, and gathered that +ominous things were connected with handling one’s self. +He felt ashamed of his brother, who brought so much +suffering on his father, and silently determined never to be +a disappointment to his father. The tag end of a biblical +passage about bringing the gray hairs of his father to +the grave in shame ran through his mind, and he resolved +never to repeat his brother’s weaknesses.</p> + +<p>A’s older brother surprised everybody about this time +by suddenly changing from a phlegmatic lad into a fervent +religious enthusiast. He became converted under +dramatic circumstances and joined the church, thus propitiating +the unknown powers which might visit horrible +punishment upon him for his private iniquities. In this +he was running true to the adolescent pattern. Adolescence +is notoriously the time when the temptations of the “flesh” +multiply and when many youths, oppressed by their “animal” +impulses, seek to escape from the burden of guilt +by adopting the ceremonial patterns provided in the religious +observances of society. Adolescence is so often a +period of high ideals, which are typically reaction formations +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>to “low desires,” that adolescence is the happy hunting +ground for proselyters of every breed.</p> + +<p>When A’s own emissions began, he was terribly upset +by worry and self-accusation. About fifteen he got an +emission after a boy had fooled with his genitalia, thinking +he was asleep. He was taut with sinful pleasure while +the seduction was taking place, which added to his guilty +feelings. This was the time when he, too, exhibited a +fervent interest in the church. He quickly “overcame” +masturbation, but until late in life there was always a +“fight” to overcome his “wayward” impulses and his erotic +imaginings. In his dreams he often saw roosters and hens +performing sexual acts in the barnyard of his old home, +and the reappearance of the old scenes is indicative of +his early sexual curiosity. Many more of his dreams used +common sexual language. Sometimes he was making his +way across a valley of snakes, or he was naked and walking +toward a goal he could never quite make out. The nude +female figure was usually repressed, though it occasionally +came through.</p> + +<p>He was taken off the farm, on which his father eked +out a supplement to his meager salary, by an aunt, who +insisted that the boy must have better school facilities. +This aunt had always taken a great interest in this promising +motherless nephew, and tried to fill his life with the +affection which would have been his had his mother lived. +As a small boy he had often come on short visits to his +aunt. He had slept in the same bed with her, and his lively +curiosity about the female figure was partly satisfied by +glimpses of his aunt at the morning bath. The aunt had a +family with all of whose members he was on good terms, +and he was supremely happy to live in town with them. +Out on the farm he had been undernourished, but here +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>he was filled out and flourished. He took an active part in +the church and in the social activities of the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>The early intellectual promise which A had displayed +was no mere flash in the pan. He was one of the brilliant +students in high school, and passed his college-entrance +examinations with such distinction that he entered college +with a mild intellectual halo. He resolved to make good +scholastically, and this he did, finishing the four years at +a first-rate institution at the top of his class.</p> + +<p>As time passed, he began to dissent from many of the +dogmas of his immediate social environment. During high-school +days he had been assigned to act the devil’s advocate +and defend the free-trade side in a tariff debate. The more +he read and thought about it, the more convinced he was +that the free-trade position was sound. His relatives without +exception were high-tariff Republicans, and his arguments +were countered with sentimental rather than rational +appeals. A’s conversion to free trade led him to come out +for the Democratic candidate for the presidency. He remembers +that the first time he announced this heresy one +of his aunts violently pushed her chair away from the +table, exclaiming in vexed, incredulous, and reproachful +tones, “And to think that my own sister’s son could say +such a thing!” His college course in biology converted +him to evolution, and he argued this out at great length +with one of his uncles, who was a traditionally minded +preacher. A began to develop a feeling that intellectual +brilliance meant dissenting from the convictions of middle-class +people like his own relatives.</p> + +<p>So far his nonconformity was strictly confined to a few +theories. He was a member of the prayer-meeting group +in college, and his fraternity consisted mainly of embryo +doctors of theology who scrupulously upheld a rigorous +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>code of personal abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, strong +language, and women. One of the young men who had the +temerity to enter the house with a lighted cigarette had it +gently but firmly removed from his lips. It was in college +that A took part in his first law-enforcement drive. The +state prohibition law was poorly observed, as A had good +reason to know, since he had a collection route which took +him to “drug stores” and other equivocal establishments +about town. “Tea” was openly ordered at the bar and +drunk on the premises. A conceived the idea of leaving +posters in these places to advertise the law-enforcement +meetings, thus creating something of a stir.</p> + +<p>Just before graduating from college A had a talk with +a favorite professor. The professor asked him what he +proposed to do, and was much interested when A said +that he wanted to become a minister. The professor said +that during his own active years in the pulpit, before he +began to teach, he had learned at least one thing. Every +man who was intellectually honest and independent would +sooner or later discover that he questioned his own dogmas, +and a period of bitter anguish would ensue. If a man were +intellectually honest, he would never flinch from the truth, +even for the sake of wife and family. But when the +period of doubt arose he advised A not to abandon his +work too abruptly. He had himself lived through six +months of torture during which he had been on the verge +of dropping everything and going into business. But +finally he had arrived at a faith which he could defend, +and stuck to it. “I would rather be drawn and quartered +than preach anything I do not believe,” he declared emphatically. +This conversation made a deep impression +upon A, leading him to anticipate doubts as a mark of +intellectual keenness and honesty.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span></p> + +<p>Thus far in his life he had never questioned the tenets +of the strict and simple theology of his immediate surroundings. +Indeed, he had never met anybody who questioned +it. Only a single episode had slightly jarred his +complacency and left a tiny scar behind. At one time +his Sunday-school teacher had been a young professor of +theology who was much more liberal than his contemporaries. +A boy in the class had dared to ask something +about the authority of the Bible, and the teacher, without +the least trace of embarrassment, had replied that authority +should not rest on blind faith but upon clear reason. +“If the Bible told you to kill your father and your mother, +you would not do it. You would not be bound to do it. +The justification of the Bible is that its teachings prove +to be sound in the experience of all reasonable men.”</p> + +<p>In the divinity school the first course which A attended +was on the authority of the Bible. It was taught by a +smug and full person of some eminence. A was accustomed +to distinguish himself by bold opinions, and he +undertook to challenge several of the propositions which +were supposed to be accepted and repeated by rote. His +main point was that authority rested on reason, not on +faith. For his pains he got the reputation of being a smart +and troublesome upstart of doubtful orthodoxy. His +former Sunday-school teacher was a member of the faculty, +and A wrote a thesis on the authority of the Bible, +in which he elaborated the line of argument which had +so much impressed him. Only the constant intercession +of this professor kept A from being disciplined, or even +expelled, at various times.</p> + +<p>The young man was disposed to take rigid theology +none too seriously on account of his increasing disrespect +for his father. A and his brother both felt duty bound +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>to return home every summer to help with the farm work. +Their father was happy enough to have them rejoin him, +but matters never ran smoothly. The father was quick +to reassert his parental authority and to criticize freely. +Most of the unpleasantness was as usual at the expense of +the older son, but some of it was deflected against A. Both +sons were uncomfortably aware of the uncouthness of +their father in comparison with city preachers. He laughed +too boisterously at his own stale witticisms. His ever present +dignity was a little ludicrous when he wore an alpaca +coat into the fields on the hottest midsummer day.</p> + +<p>The social life at the divinity school was wholly satisfying. +The students were warmly welcomed by the maidens +of the local churches, and several became engaged. +A proposed to two girls during his career there, and was +turned down as often. He very quickly recovered his good +spirits after a night or so of melancholy. The first girl +was a relative whom he had known for many years, and +the second was a close friend of the family. The double +defeat was something of a bruise to his dignity and fed his +determination to make a dent on the world.</p> + +<p>A’s first congregation was in one of the poorer quarters +of a little city. A had no doubt of his towering intellectual +superiority over his parishioners, and he found it exasperating +when an uneducated housewife presumed to gossip +about the dubious orthodoxy of his beliefs. At the end of +three years he resigned in disgust at the peppering of +criticism directed against his ideas. Looking back at the +incident, he feels that he was too hasty.</p> + +<p>It was at this first charge that A began to make good +copy for the press, and to win a reputation as a sensationalist. +He organized a Law and Order League to harry criminals +and the police. His pulpit rang with stinging philippics +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>against law-breakers and cowardly public officials. +All this gave him a zestful sense of making a stir in the +world of real affairs, so that he turned down an offer to +join the faculty of a famous university where his old +Sunday-school teacher was now located.</p> + +<p>A’s new pastorate was among working people in a large +city. He at once began to hound the officials for non-enforcement +of the law. He led raiding parties to visit the +biggest gambling hells and put it up to the police to shut +them. Renewed criticisms began to appear of his opinions, +and the governing body of his denomination asked him to +recant or resign. He refused to budge, and he was soon +expelled. He was immediately called to lecture before an +ethical society, where his comments on current religious +and social problems won a wide hearing. Although attracting +much attention, the society was exceedingly poor +and A spent a little legacy which he had received upon it, +indifferent to his own future.</p> + +<p>During these exciting troubles he became a socialist and +joined the socialist party. He had sympathized with the +hard lot of the poor since he could remember, and had +cast his vote for Bryan as a symbol of protest against the +indifference of the privileged classes to the privileges of +anyone but themselves. His favorite college professor had +lost his job during the anarchist hysteria, when he came +out against the “judicial murder” of the Haymarket suspects. +A was profoundly moved by the spectacle of a man +who backed his precepts of independence with sacrifice +for their sake. The argument which finally won him for +socialism was that political democracy is impossible until +economic democracy is realized, and that socialism is simply +democracy in industry. The principles of democratic +brotherhood, once put to practice in the world of work, +would soon govern public relationships of every kind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span></p> + +<p>His new convictions opened to A a new field of agitation +and publicity. Ignoring or overcoming the coolness +of certain “horny-handed” elements, he rushed into the +little band of socialists, and was presently the congressional +candidate. In this campaign he conducted a whirlwind +tour of the district and enjoyed himself immensely.</p> + +<p>A finally married a capable, motherly school-teacher +whom he had known for several years, but whom he had +been prevented from marrying until the death of her parents, +who heartily disapproved of him. During his bachelor +years in the ministry he had certain knowledge that +various women were far from averse to becoming the +preacher’s wife or mistress. One married woman became +the foremost worker in the church and passionately assured +him, “I am at your service day or night.” Another +woman, whom he barely recognized, came to the pastor’s +study, declaring that they must be married at once and +“end this awful agony for both of us.” He had not been +aware that any agony had begun, and was in no mood +to begin it. He recognized that a wife would be a protection, +but most of the women who threw themselves in his +way were so homely that abstinence remained a pleasure +as well as a principle.</p> + +<p>For many years there had lurked in his mind the fear +that he might not be potent, and he was humiliated to find +that he was at first unable to consummate the sexual act. +Since he first attempted sexual intercourse when nearly +fifty, and had practically never masturbated, his troubles +were not atypical, and they fortunately proved to be transitory. +He regretted having failed to consult a physician +before marriage, and was not at ease until the first of his +children came.</p> + +<p>Shortly after marrying, A came to the end of his financial +resources, and found it necessary to relinquish his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>lecturing for other work until a suitable congregation +should requisition his services. When a call finally came, +the war broke out in Europe, and A denounced it with his +customary ardor. He had read a book which popularized +Prince Kropotkin’s thesis that mutual aid and not struggle +is the key to the evolutionary process. War was irrational +because it contravened the principle of mutual aid, and +it was un-Christian because it set the hand of man against +his brethren. As the hour of America’s participation drew +nearer, A saw that his outspoken position would cause +trouble. But he was accustomed to take a radical view +and stick to it, and the idea of compromising his independence +for the sake of family obligations was intolerable. +His characteristic optimism also misled him into overestimating +the amount of pacifism which his congregation +would put up with, and soon he was forced to resign.</p> + +<p>A was left financially high and dry, and rather hoped +that his wife would be willing to starve with him, if need +be, as a gesture of sanity in a war-mad world. He was left +financially dependent upon his family, and upon such support +as was forthcoming from wealthy radical sympathizers. +Since his own professional opportunities were curtailed, +and he never applied for other types of work, he +was left dependent upon others. He was somewhat embarrassed +by this, but was never depressed by it, or by the +social ostracism which was entailed by his unpopular +stand. As he once expressed it, “melancholy is alien to +a fighting nature.”</p> + +<p>Looking back over A’s career, certain private motives +appear which were well organized in his early family life, +and continued to operate with considerable strength during +his adult years.</p> + +<p>A had a strongly repressed hatred for his brother. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>was consciously aware of his own coldness toward the +brother, but succeeded in barring from consciousness any +recognition of the emotional charge on this attitude. The +older boy was his rival for the affection of his father, and +A’s quickness and boldness were cultivated in an effort to +outstrip his brother. He showed many of the traits of the +over active younger child, as Adler has frequently described +them. A felt rather ashamed of his brother, who +went through school and college with no special distinction, +and whose modest subsequent career was prosaically respectable. +A struggled to keep hostile thoughts about his +brother out of his mind, and sought to keep his attention +away from the brother by corresponding or visiting with +him infrequently.</p> + +<p>Although A never frankly faced his own animosity +toward this brother, he was plagued by a sense of guilt for +his unfraternal attitude. This conflict was partially resolved +by a reactive formation and by displacement. The +reactive formation was the reverse of the anti-brother drive, +but it was only supportable by displacing his affection +upon remote social objects. He generalized his own prohibition +against brother-hatred to all society, and identified +himself with the workers and with humanity at large, serving +a poverty-stricken congregation, spending his own +money on the work of the church, adopting the socialist +dream of a brotherly state, and demanding the abolition of +fratricidal war.</p> + +<p>His love for the downtrodden and for humanity (this +reactive displacement of his own brother-hostility) was buttressed +by the usual rationalizations. The democratic ideal +in politics, the ideal of effective equality in political power, +had his support, and he adopted socialism when it was +presented to him as industrial democracy (brotherhood), +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>the indispensable antecedent of genuine political democracy +(brotherhood). His early prohibition appeals were cast in +the form of an appeal to the brotherhood sentiments. He +argued that every man was his brother’s keeper, and therefore +bound to refrain from an example which might lead +his weaker brother to dash his foot against a stone. War +meant the destruction of mutual (brotherly) aid among +those who were brethren in Christ. A’s brother-hatred, so +manifest in his younger days, and so potent in arousing +guilt feelings, created this disposition to choose generalized +brother-substitutes to love, and to elaborate brotherly ideologies +to defend his position. Then by keeping his distance +from the physical brother, he could maintain a comfortable +adjustment.</p> + +<p>Another significant private motive, whose organization +dates from early family days, but whose influence was +prominent in adult behavior, was A’s struggle to maintain +his sexual repressions. He erected his very elaborate personal +prohibitions into generalized prohibitions for all society, +and just as he laid down the law against brother-hatred, +he condemned deviations from the rigid puritanical +code by which he lived. Individuals who possess superego +structures of such rigor often try to protect themselves +from the strain of sexual excitement by keeping away from +“temptation,” or by removing “temptation” from their +environment. Thus Mr. A avoided exposing himself to +“lewd speech” and “immoral suggestion.” Consciences of +such severity can often be traced back in deeply analyzed +cases to unusually strong repressions at the time when infantile +masturbatory activities are being curbed. And it +often happens that the rôle of the intimidator is taken not +only by the male but by the female imago. In another +highly moralistic person, who was thoroughly psychoanalyzed, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>this came out distinctly. Thus for several days the +subject dreamed of standing before a butcher shop where +he had been sent by his mother, and where he saw his +father sharpening long knives. Or he saw his mother, +dressed as Brünnhilde, carrying a sword, while he cowered +on a marble stairway. After many dreams of this kind, +the original situations finally burst into view. They involved +what were interpreted as direct threats to cut off a +hand if the child didn’t cease handling himself.</p> + +<p>That A was never able to abolish his sexuality is sufficiently +evident in his night dreams and daydreams. In +spite of his efforts to “fight” these manifestations of his +“antisocial impulses,” they continued to appear. Among +the direct and important consequences which they produced +was a sense of sin, not only a sense of sexual sin, +but a growing conviction of hypocrisy. His “battle” +against “evil” impulses was only partially successful, and +this produced a profound feeling of insecurity.</p> + +<p>This self-punishing strain of insecurity might be alleviated, +he found, by publicly reaffirming the creed of repression, +and by distracting attention to other matters. A’s +rapid movements, dogmatic assertions, and diversified activities +were means of escape from this gnawing sense of +incapacity to cope with his own desires and to master himself. +Uncertain of his power to control himself, he was +very busy about controlling others, and engaged in endless +committee sessions, personal conferences, and public meetings +for the purpose. He always managed to submerge +himself in a buzzing life of ceaseless activity; he could +never stand privacy and solitude, since it drove him to a +sense of futility; and he couldn’t undertake prolonged and +laborious study, since his feeling of insecurity demanded +daily evidence of his importance in the world.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span></p> + +<p>A’s sexual drives continued to manifest themselves, and +to challenge his resistances. He was continually alarmed +by the lurking fear that he might be impotent. Although +he proposed marriage to two girls when he was a theology +student, it is significant that he chose girls from his immediate +entourage, and effected an almost instantaneous recovery +from his disappointments. This warrants the inference +that he was considerably relieved to postpone the +test of his potency, and this inference is strengthened by +the long years during which he cheerfully acquiesced in the +postponement of his marriage to the woman who finally became +his wife. He lived with people who valued sexual +potency, particularly in its conventional and biological +demonstration in marriage and children, and his unmarried +state was the object of good-natured comment. His +pastoral duties required him to “make calls” on the sisters +of the church, and in spite of the cheer which he was sometimes +able to bring to the bedridden, there was the faint +whisper of a doubt that this was really a man’s job. And +though preaching was a socially respectable occupation, +there was something of the ridiculous in the fact that one +who had experienced very little of life should pass for a +privileged censor of all mankind.</p> + +<p>He had long practice in the art of the impostor. From +the plight of his older brother, A learned that he would +lose the affection of his father if he was discovered to have +indulged in certain practices like masturbation. He resolved +never to do anything to cause his father to withdraw +his affection, and when he was not entirely successful in +living up to this ideal, he pretended to virtues which he did +not possess. Never once was he found out, and his life was +the life of a “model” boy and man. This reputation he +owed in part to his abstinences, but likewise to his concealments. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>He learned to cultivate the mask of rectitude, +and succeeded in carrying off the rôle so successfully that +he was never found out during adolescence or adulthood.</p> + +<p>Cut off by his impotence fears from loving others fully +and completely, A loved himself the more. He had unbounded +confidence in the brilliance of his mind, and this +intellectual arrogance was nourished by the easy ascendance +which he won over the poorly educated people among +whom he worked. He was careful to keep in environments +where his mind would not be put to the test of keen competition. +A didn’t compete with the clergymen who had the +largest posts in his denomination, he struck out for himself +in no hazardous business or professional enterprise, he +took up and finished no piece of investigation; instead he +cut a big figure among the workers, among whom he was +the best-educated and the best-known leader. His chances +of being elected to Congress when he was nominated were +never good, and he had everything to gain and nothing to +lose by making a campaign. After the days of his scholarly +ascendance in high school and college, A fell out of competition +in academic pursuits.</p> + +<p>He valued his capacity to produce words. Ferenczi remarked +in conversation with me that the revolutionary agitators +who had come to his attention had been noticeably +deficient in the intensity of their emotional attachment to +objects. They were notably indifferent to the accumulation +of property, and they were lacking in possessive jealousy +in their sexual life. This deficiency in warmth of affective +experience was sensed by the revolutionaries themselves, +who felt that they were in some way estranged from others. +Their orgiastic indulgence in language is to be interpreted +as an effort to heighten the affective intensity of their own +lives. Either because the emotional life is physiologically +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>defective or because the libido is too narcissistically fixated, +this general description holds true of some obsessive +and many psychotic persons. It was no doubt a factor +in the history of A.</p> + +<p>Before following out the full implications of this struggle +of A’s to repress his sexuality, we will take up another +topic of major and not unrelated importance. I refer to A’s +ambivalence toward his father. A was not conscious of the +full force of his hatred and his love for his father, but his +personality history is full of evidence of the formative +influence of these bipolar attitudes. In the course of his +competition with his older brother, A accepted abstinence +from genital indulgence as the price of holding paternal +preference. Now psychoanalytic findings are unanimous in +showing that genital indulgence is not given up without a +continuous struggle, and that recurring waves of sexuality +break against the barrier of the introjected prohibition, and +reanimate hostile impulses against the sanctioning authority. +It is of the utmost importance for A’s development that +he fought to bar from consciousness any hostile thought +directed against his father, and that he succeeded in repressing +his father-hatred very deeply. He was able to +identify himself with the father, and to copy many of the +paternal standards and attributes. The strength of these +identifications is indicated by the tenacity with which A +held to certain paternal patterns. Although his much-touted +uncle had been a famous writer and professor, A +remained a preacher, even when tempted by a flattering +offer to leave his first humble parish for the faculty of a +great university. He cherished the paternal prejudice +against money-making and money-makers. His boyhood +home was where some wealthy people spent their summers, +and A’s father would speak contemptuously of “the fashionables” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>who loitered ostentatiously past the house. This +was an additional determiner of A’s subsequent devotion to +the welfare of the poor, which manifested itself in financial +sacrifice and socialist agitation. A was very susceptible +to old men, and idealized not only his early teachers, +but a venerable pacifist who approved of his wartime conduct.</p> + +<p>The negative side of A’s attitude toward authority came +out in the choice of the abstract (remote) objects upon +which to vent his hatred. The hostility which was denied +conscious recognition and direct indulgence against the +actual father was displaced against substitute symbols, +such as the dogma which required the acceptance of the +Scriptures by faith, of the capitalistic system, and of the +militarists.</p> + +<p>When A was introduced to a stranger, he was genial, +talkative, and anxious to impress. When he was aware of +opposition in his environment, he overreacted at once, hurling +a vast repertory of jibes and flouts and sneers at the +offender. This gives a clue to an important element in his +makeup which will come out very distinctly in subsequent +cases, namely, a strong latent homosexual trend. When the +individual is not able to achieve full heterosexual adjustment, +the sexual libido tends to work itself out in more +primitive ways, and one of the phases of emotional development +is the homosexual epoch. Earlier, however, than +the adolescent homosexual period is the phase connected +with the suppression of auto-erotic activities. The child +characteristically uses its nutritional object (nurse-mother) +for the sake of stimulating his own erogenous zones as +much as possible. This “incestuous” drive is curbed, and +the child is denied the pleasure of promiscuously fingering +others, and of manually stimulating his own genitalia. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>Though the nurse or mother, who is the target of the desires +of the child, also administers the prohibitions, the +sanction which lurks most prominently in the background +is the strength of the father. Reduced to its ultimate expression, +this sanction is the threat of depriving the child +of his much-valued organs unless he observes the “hands +off” prohibition. The “normal” development is for the +hostile protest at authoritarian interference to subside, and +for the child to copy the idealized father. The repression +of hostilities and the identification with the father do not +take place instantly. Identification is not achieved without +a phase in which the child plays a femininely passive +rôle toward the father, and this is the passively homosexual +reaction which may for one reason or another be +unusually strong. A’s fantasies of his father’s beautiful skin +are common screen fantasies for more primitive drives.</p> + +<p>A’s tendency to overreact to the stranger who is merely +polite, and to interpret the stranger’s interest as a “personal” +one, is characteristic of the one in whom this passive +“winning” rôle is of some importance. He tries to create +an overpersonal relationship in those somewhat formal +situations where ordinary conversational requirements are +such as to force conventional compliments.</p> + +<p>The overreactive hostility toward those who merely differ +from him is partially motivated by the desire to punish +those who have rejected the affection which he all too quickly +volunteers. This wound to his narcissism demands that +wounds shall be inflicted on the offending objects. Now it +is commonly observed that repressed drives are likely to +secure partial gratification in the very activities which are +in part a protection against them. Sneers and jibes would +at first seem to free him from those who arouse and reject +him, but this is not the whole result. A exceeded the bounds +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>of convention and became recklessly provocative. His wild +assaults and defiances tended to provoke the social environment +into attacking him, and thus to gratify two powerful +unconscious drives. He wanted to be forced into a passive, +feminine, victimized rôle, and to inflict upon himself the +punishment which he deserved for excessive hatred of +others. Thus A felt quite happy, escaping moods of depression, +as long as he was indulging his hostility against +conspicuous conventional authorities in society, and as long +as he was suffering from society’s retaliatory measures. +His romantic idea of starving to death as a gesture of +sanity in a war-mad world is indicative of his pleasure in +the “martyr rôle.”</p> + +<p>He could not endure “inharmonious” people, and built +up a “soft” and overindulgent group around him. He had +a small group of admirers who turned to him for advice +and who looked up to his superior wisdom and moral +courage. Nothing pained him more than the slightest jar in +personal relations. This disparity between his demands for +gentleness in the primary group, and his genius for creating +a disturbance in a secondary group, suggests the tension +produced within his personality by the struggle with +the feminine component. He was careful to keep away +from close-working subordination to a powerful personality. +He stayed in environments where his authority was +unchallenged. In the church he was both a financial pillar +and the pastor, and among the socialists he was sustained +by the halo of moral and cultural prestige.</p> + +<p>It is noteworthy that though A was venomous when publicly +opposed, he was capable of a wooing and persuasive +strain which he could effectively use in his proselyting +work. His humor was of the mock-modesty variety, and +relieved the moral earnestness of his discourses. A showed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>much tenacity and skill in following people whom he once +loved and respected, and in attempting to convert them to +a community of views with him. He displayed a strong +impulse to enter into and to cultivate personal interchanges +by correspondence.</p> + +<p>That A found the task of asserting himself in the world +rather arduous is suggested by the desire for dependence +upon women. He entered into a whole series of “platonic” +friendships (“platonic” in the popular and not in the correct +use of the word) with women, and he accepted economic +support from his wife for several years. He was +very “sensitive,” and required a great deal of coddling in +the home.</p> + +<p>There are indications of the way in which his very early +experiences influenced his trait formation. The infant +takes pleasure in activities centering about the mouth, and +this at first involves pleasurable sucking and later on, as +the teeth begin to push through, this involves pleasurable +biting. In our culture this leads to a withdrawal of the +nipple, precipitating one of the major crises of growth. +Weaning is the first substantial loss which is inflicted upon +the individual after birth, and the way in which it is met +establishes reaction patterns which may serve as important +prototypes for subsequent behavior. About the time that +the weaning deprivation occurs, the child is exposed to +another set of conditions which demand sacrifice. He is +supposed to control the elimination of his feces by giving +up a part of his body at regular intervals. The growing +child is also supposed to sacrifice another source of irresponsible +pleasure by blocking his impulses to handle his +genitalia. When the taboo on handling the genital organs +for erotic purposes is set up with particular stringency by +the methods adopted to curb early masturbation, some of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>the energy of the personality regresses to reanimate previous +auto-erotic dispositions. This involves strengthening +of the anal and oral components of the personality.</p> + +<p>On the basis of the oral and anal origin of various traits, +Karl Abraham has worked out a psychoanalytic theory of +character formation.⁠<a id="FNanchor_32_32" href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> The material which is available on +A is too scanty to reveal the psychological mechanisms of +infancy and early childhood. If a cross-section of his later +character traits be tentatively interpreted in the light of +Abraham’s scheme, it may be said to show a predominance +of traits from the oral phase of development. A striking +characteristic of A has always been his optimism. He has +never become despondent and passed through serious “blue +spells,” whether he lost his job, reached the end of his +financial resources, lost a bride, or suffered social ostracism +from all but a small though admiring circle. Disappointments +and some illness have brought him comparatively +little worry. Abraham traces this trait to the earliest level +of character organization, saying that it indicates a child +who, thanks to the abundance of nursing care, is accustomed +to find the world responding copiously and quickly +to his demands. A always felt an inner assurance that he +would be cared for, and that all would come out for the +best in the end “to those who serve the Lord, and are +called according to his purpose.” He accepted a position +of economic dependence upon his wife, and upon the charity +of radical ladies, without conflict. His nurse was still +there to provide for him. A never showed any interest in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>accumulating money, and generously shared all that he +possessed. His small legacy was eaten up by the society +over which he presided, and he was always on the poverty +line.</p> + +<p>He not only gave bountifully of such money as he possessed, +but copiously of his ideas. Automatically he took +the lead in conversation, genially pouring forth streams +of ideas. The savagery of his attack on those who disagreed +with him, though an oral trait in part, stems, according to +Abraham, not from the sucking phase of early development, +but from the next succeeding or oral-sadistic phase.</p> + +<p>Those individuals who have difficulty in accepting their +heterosexuality are cut off from normal sex life, and seek +to emphasize the acts preparatory to, and not consummatory +of, copulation. An interest in sexual peeping was in +some measure gratified by A’s experiences in listening to +the personal difficulties of those who came to him for counsel. +The high value which he placed on appearing before +the public, while perhaps adequately accounted for on the +basis of his father-identification, probably had the additional +advantage of gratifying his exhibitionistic drive. +Since drink is in legend and life a frequent precursor of +copulation, the reformer exaggerates its importance, and +tries to stop it. Alcohol was early associated with sexual +excesses in the mind of A, and his hostility to it was something +more than a simple reflection of his milieu.⁠<a id="FNanchor_33_33" href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>A’s intensity of manner betrayed the magnitude of the +neurotic conflicts within his own personality. This intensity +is not alone due to the insecurity arising from the failure +to exterminate his own conscious awareness of sex, nor to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>his sense of sin for erotic impulses, nor to his fears of +impotence, nor to the reaction organized when he was competing +with his brother for the attention of the father. His +sexual inhibitions removed from him one of the most dependable +means of disposing of the tensions which arise +from the miscellaneous frustrations met with in the course +of daily life.⁠<a id="FNanchor_34_34" href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> + +<p>We have traced A’s demand for widespread emotional +response to his difficulties of personal adjustment, especially +in the field of early sexual development. We have +followed through the displacement of the drives, which +were originally organized with reference to the family circle, +on to remote social objects, resulting in the espousal +of ideals of social change. We have seen that A’s particular +technique for arousing emotional response was denunciatory +oratory, and that such a technique expressed +important underlying drives of his personality. Since A +happened to be a socialist, it is natural to compare him +with the socialist thinkers studied by Werner Sombart in +<i>Der proletarische Sozialismus</i>. There is no doubt that A +is numbered among the “artificial” rather than the “natural” +men, since his relation to reality is less direct than +with the “natural” type. But it cannot be said that social +criticism was as deeply motivated in his life as among the +men mentioned by Sombart. He expressed himself not +only in radical agitation but in conservative, moralistic +agitation. His career was not wrecked at any particular +point in his history, and he possessed no mania for destruction, +although showing much resentment against his +family, and indulging in an active fantasy life. He was +fundamentally an agitator, and secondarily a social radical.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII"> + CHAPTER VII + <br> + POLITICAL AGITATORS—<i>Continued</i> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>B is an agitator who uses his pen instead of his tongue. +He has achieved eminence in newspaper work, beginning +as a news editor and editorial writer. At twenty, when he +held his first newspaper job, B led a fight against the red-light +district of the city, exposing the pimps, panderers, +and prostitutes in sensational style. He has always responded +quickly to the appeal of the underdog and revealed +injustices wherever he found them, and he won great +popularity among minority racial and national groups +whose claims he championed before the American public. +It is noteworthy that B has never been converted to “isms” +and responds to the call of specific abuses. No one who +knows B has ever questioned his sincerity, for the news +value of his campaigns is often much less than the personal +risks incurred.</p> + +<p>B has a high reputation for absolute truthfulness and +reliability, often carrying his scruples to what his fellow-newspapermen +think are unwarranted extremes. On one +occasion, he threw up an excellent job on a very well-known +newspaper on a point of honor. The paper had divulged +the source of a story which he had received in confidence, +and which he communicated to the editor in confidence. +Later he was made the editor of an important newspaper. +For five months he produced brilliant results, when a misunderstanding +arose with the proprietor over another point +of honor. In a despondent moment he resigned, but the +proprietor refused to let him leave, offering a substantial +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>raise. He let himself be persuaded to go back, but refused +to accept the raise. Before long, new points of honor arose, +and he broke away for good. His passion for justice made +him a favorite with his staff; and his quiet good sense and +studiousness made him a name among older men and intellectuals.</p> + +<p>Some of his reforming campaigns were very thinly +veiled displacements of his own private motives. At the +age of fourteen he was seduced by a colored woman, and +he reacted to this experience with fright and disgust. He +left a school which he attended after a series of boyish +escapades which culminated in an argument over missing +laundry. The laundryman was a negro. It was on his first +newspaper job that he led the fight to clean up a red-light +district, featuring the fact that both colored and white +prostitutes were available.</p> + +<p>B was one of the numerous family of a Civil War +veteran on the Confederate side. His father carried himself +like a soldier and expected his children to act like +soldiers under all circumstances. He was spare, thin, and +active, and his temper was short. He was boss in the +house, ordering his wife about a great deal, and demanding +implicit obedience from the children.</p> + +<p>The mother of B was eleven years younger than her +husband. She had ten children in quick succession, and +she spoiled them, and was much beloved. She did all the +cooking, washing, and ironing for the household, and +slaved to allow the children to obtain an education. Everybody +but her husband thought she worked too hard. She +was herself eager for learning, but had no opportunity to +continue her studies after marriage. Although poor, she +was proud, and never asked alms or assistance of any +kind. Though “obstinate as a mule,” she was timid and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>shrinking in ordinary relations. Her routine was only +broken by occasional headaches.</p> + +<p>The father was a very suspicious man, and B bore the +brunt of it. B was the sixth child and from an early age +had trouble with his next older brother, who was three +years his senior. On one memorable occasion the elder +brother attacked him with a knife. B was able to take the +knife away from him without being hurt. The affair was +reported to the father by an aunt who was living in the +house, and who always sided with the older boy. She said +that B had been the aggressor, and in spite of his indignant +assertions of innocence, B was soundly whipped. Such +episodes aroused in him a deep protest against injustice, +and an abiding hostility against his father. Years afterward +the truth came out, and the father apologized, but animosities +had grown too formidable to be ceremoniously +brushed aside. B cherished a long list of grievances +against his father. Once his father asked him to print some +letters; he presently found that this was for the purpose of +comparing them with an inscription on the lavatory wall.</p> + +<p>Genital activities had their usual connotation of sinfulness. +His father went so far with his prudery that B, who +was once discovered naked in his own room, where he was +slowly dressing, was severely reprimanded. Shortly after +being seduced by the negro woman, his sense of guilt, +combined with his ever present resentment against his +father’s unjust treatment, led him to run away from home. +After staying away from home and working his way +through school for about a year and a half, he returned +home and went to work in the neighborhood, attracted +chiefly by the prospect of being back with his mother.</p> + +<p>It is noteworthy that in his career B was constantly finding +pretexts to escape from a situation in which he was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>popular and successful. Salary increases, promotions, and +social recognition came to him, but he managed to extricate +himself from every such situation, often on a “point +of honor.” An excellent journalist, he always had a new +door open. Thus he passed from one editorial desk to another, +and even to a private news-service venture which +turned out well in spite of the heavy handicaps on such +an undertaking.</p> + +<p>How can such behavior be accounted for? Let us suppose +that friendly treatment on the part of superiors tends +to activate a strong homosexual drive which has been repressed, +but which continues to threaten to find expression. +This unconscious drive urges him to intimacy with persons +in the environment, whereupon his conscience, reacting +blindly against the outlaw impulse, seeks to provoke a +flight from the environment, and thus to escape from the +exciting objects of desire. The outcome is a compromise +formation in which the illicit hope of being attacked and +violated by the environment is gratified by imagining that +the environment has compromised his “honor.” The conscience +is gratified by the retreat from temptation. No +sooner is B in a new environment than the tension begins to +accumulate all over again. By throwing himself with zeal +into a new and strange position, where the environment is +impersonal, success comes, and with success and habituation +to the milieu, there come familiarity and friendship. This +produces the familiar strain by reactivating the unconscious +homosexuality, and the defending conscience finds +another retreat imperative.</p> + +<p>What specific justification is there for the hypothesis +just proposed? B finally came into a situation from which +he could scarcely escape by the usual tactics. He scored +one of the great successes of his career by being invited to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>accompany a government commission which investigated +conditions abroad, and covered the assignment in brilliant +style. He was shown all manner of courtesy. Working +under high pressure, he plunged into another assignment, +and once more had the journalistic world at his feet. But +the strain of success was too much. This time he sought release, +not by flight to a new job, which was difficult, but by +developing a delusional system. In short, B went into a +psychotic phase, and substituted for the world of reality a +fantasy world of such sinister dimensions that he was justified +in trying to escape from it. Unable to concentrate on +his work, he moved restlessly from one town to another, and +launched forth on long automobile tours with his wife.</p> + +<p>The actual content of his delusional productions gives +a clue to his mental conflict. He had ideas of reference, +imagining that people on the street were looking at him +mysteriously. He claimed that he was a party to the Teapot +Dome scandal and that there was a dictaphone in the house. +On the way to be examined at a sanitarium he claimed that +he was being trailed by policemen. Upon admission he +claimed that the orderlies were policemen, that he was +being electrocuted, that his bed was wired to record all +his movements, and that filthy songs were sung to him +(with homosexual content). Discharged from the sanitarium, +he was taken to a family reunion. He claimed to be +treated as a negro, and declined to eat with family or sleep +in the house. B claimed that a forest fire was caused by +him and that books in the library were re-written on his account. +On a motor trip he claimed that insulting remarks +were made to him at every gas station. He turned against +his wife (he had been sexually inactive in marriage), and +finally called her a snake who ought to be killed, and proceeded +to try it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span></p> + +<p>During the course of his psychosis it emerged that he +recalls a sexual seduction by his older brother, and that +he had been bothered by this fancy all his life. There was +material to show that his father was likewise implicated in +his homosexual fantasies, and that he had “eroticized” the +injustices of his father and the physical attacks of his +brother.⁠<a id="FNanchor_35_35" href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> + +<p>The history of B belongs to a borderline group between +agitators and administrators. His administrative +ability is manifest in the managing editorships which he +held, and in the special service which he organized and for +a time conducted. His rôle as an agitator (in writing) began +when he was twenty, and continued for more than another +score of years. When this record is taken in juxtaposition +to that of A, it shows how differences in displacement +affect the growth of the personality. B was never +able to displace his hatred and affections to remote, impersonal +objects with the degree of success which characterized +A. The campaigns of B against injustice were +more concrete, more limited, and more personal than the +agitations of A. It will be remembered that B’s first crusade +was against black-and-tan houses of prostitution, and +this was in the nature of a revenge and a penance for his +early experience with the colored woman. B was raised in +a relatively inarticulate environment. His father made no +public appearances, no member of the family achieved +more than a rudimentary education, and no conversation +was possible beyond the visible environment. Since B went +to work at sixteen, he saw the world more from a concrete +point of view while A was peering at the universe through +the theoretical lenses of the schools. His history shows +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>prolonged preoccupation with his own specific grievances +against the original objects—against the father, brother, +and aunt. This was a factor which disposed him to greater +susceptibility to persons in the immediate environment +than A. Although driven to become a rather seclusive child +who read books more often than he played, no one took a +special interest in his intellectual prospects. His maternal +grandfather was said to have been a brilliant teacher, but +not much was made of this model when B was a boy.⁠<a id="FNanchor_36_36" href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>Unlike A, B lacked the trick of dramatizing himself +before a crowd. Inspection of his early history in the home +shows that he lacked the practice in imposture which may +be a prerequisite of this ability. B was never able to +carry off a pose to impress his family with his own virtue +and promise. Indeed, he had very early evidence of his +own shortcomings, and his father not only accused him of +sins he did commit, but padded the record with many that +he had not contemplated. B was never able to get away +with much.</p> + +<p>The foregoing excerpts from the history of B illustrate +how closely the behavior of the victim of a functional disorder +may connect with the fundamental drives of the personality. +Functional mental disorders are efforts at adjustment +that fail, and the materials employed are those +which the personality has available on the basis of its developmental +history.</p> + +<p>In the paranoid case just discussed, “grandiosity”—delusions +of grandeur—was not as prominent as it often is. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>Grandiose delusions seem to be linked with very strong impotence +fears. This connection may be shown in gross clinical +caricature in the case of C. This man belongs to the +well-known group of verbose cranks who often surround +themselves with admiring circles of disciples, and do nobody +much harm. C went so far as to run for president of +the United States on a minority ticket.</p> + +<p>C came into medical hands quite by accident. He belongs +to a very common type which preserves the personality +sufficiently intact from deterioration to pass for well, +though eccentric. C got into a dispute with a colored expressman +over the charge for moving his goods to a new +apartment, and the expressman called the police, who presently +turned C over to a hospital. C imagined that the +negro was plotting to ruin him by stealing his most valuable +books and manuscripts. He announced that he was going to +be the next president of the United States of America, since +the reign of the present incumbent was to be short, and +damned short at that. On the next inauguration day he +will take charge by divine power, and after that his red-headed +wife will be given full authority. He said that during +the last presidential campaign he had a conference +with the governor of New York concerning the leadership +of American parties. At that time the governor told him +that he was a wonderful man and a logical party leader. +He declared that though as a rule he does not believe in +prophets, one absolutely reliable prophet had testified that +he would be president. This man had a vision in which a +wedge was drawn between the Democrat and Republican +parties, and an unknown man arose who was to rule the +world. This man would have six letters in his name. He +is “Six and Six,” and this exactly fits C. C’s real name is +“Arabulah the Divine Guest.” Using this name, he wrote +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>a nine-thousand-word treatise on politics and world-peace +which he said was thought to be supernaturally brilliant.</p> + +<p>He was sure that he got into the hospital through a damnable +trick of his enemies. “It is prophesied that I am to +be the next president. To defeat this, they put me here. +I’m just a martyr, but I’ll come out on top in the end.” He +would be president in fulfilment of prophecy.</p> + +<p>C more than hinted at the scientific secrets at his command. +He had recently consulted Dr. A of the government +about his process for the manufacture of diamonds. More +pressure was all that was needed. He declared that he is +a wonderful amateur chemist, and that he has a process for +manufacturing coal that he learned confidentially from a +shoemaker.</p> + +<p>When a young man he was appointed a clerk in one of +the government departments, but was thrown out of a job +when the Democrats were elected in the late eighties. He +then became what he called a promoter of inventions and +an inventor.</p> + +<p>A clue to the source of his delusional system is furnished +by his sexual history and fantasies. At the age of +fifty-nine he married a widow with two children. He describes +his wife as of surpassing beauty, and as for himself, +he declared that he possessed three testicles, and that +he is a perfect specimen of a man, a most beautiful Apollo +from the neck down, and asked to pose as a model. He +refused, however, to be photographed, or to disclose anything +further about his sexual history.</p> + +<p>Impotence fear as the root of the luxurious tree of +grandiose delusions is sometimes directly demonstrated by +the obvious nature of the invention on which the individual +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>is engaged. The mysterious perpetual motion machine +turns out to be a crude version of the sexual organs.⁠<a id="FNanchor_37_37" href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>Shortly after C left the hospital, he was busy on the +stump, haranguing large audiences as a presidential candidate +on a protest ticket.</p> + +<p>C would not be taken seriously by many people of much +culture and discernment, but there are paranoid types who +are plausible enough in their accusations to win the support +of discriminating men. Many of them are “litigious +paranoids,” and, as implied by the term, they are characterized +by the legal and agitational means which they exploit +for the redress of grievances. They succeed in rationalizing +their motives so adroitly that they are very dangerous +troublemakers. Even when psychiatrists diagnose them +as psychotic, they are able to put up a front so successfully +that they are often released from custody by judge or +jury. Were the data available it would be interesting to +calculate how much this active and by no means uncommon +element in society costs in terms of litigation fees and +damaged reputations.</p> + +<p>One of the smoothest customers of this description is D. +After leaving high school because of his ambition to earn +money, he presently became a traveling salesman for an +electrical company. He was very successful and soon accumulated +enough to start himself in business, aided somewhat +by the money of the woman whom he married. From +the beginning he was involved in numerous lawsuits with +big corporations. He was finally sent to the penitentiary +for having assumed the name of another company which +was already operating. Since the address of the new company, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>as well as the name, was so similar to that of the +older concern, he received mail and checks intended for +the corporation. His own story is that he was persecuted +by a certain big corporation, which tried consistently to +ruin his business, even poisoning the mind of his wife +against him (who soon divorced D). Whenever a suit was +being tried against him, he claims always to have found a +representative of the big corporation in town. These ideas +of persecution extended through the trial, which he asserts +was unfairly conducted, and to the penitentiary, where he +claimed that officials were in league with the corporation +to keep him imprisoned. His conduct was such that he +was finally transferred from the prison to a mental hospital, +where his attitude was that of contemptuous superiority. +He collected evidence against the hospital, listening +to all who complained of any sort of cruelty and incompetence, +and constantly occupied himself with schemes to +release prisoners and expose his persecutors.</p> + +<p>D has an impressive, deliberate manner. There are no +marks of the maniac about him to fit into the popular idea +of a “crazy man.” In conversation with strangers he puts +his own case, and the case of others, with seeming moderation, +emphasizing the obvious difficulties in the way of collecting +conclusive evidence, and showing scrupulousness +about affidavits and other documentary material. He has +succeeded in establishing connections with prominent people +in many walks of life, and is devoting himself to the +cause of the underdog, with special reference to those unfortunates +who are thrown into insane asylums and kept +there by enemies who league themselves with doctors and +superintendents.</p> + +<p>He is associated with groups of people who band together +in little agitational organizations with such unexceptionable +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>names as Vigilantes of the Constitution, Foundation +for Legal and Human Rights, American Equity Association. +Their indictment of modern jurisprudence is +pithily formulated in the slogan, “One Law for the Rich—Another +Law for the Poor.” The object of one of these +associations is:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>To secure to all persons the rights, privileges, and immunities +which are theirs under the Constitution and laws of the United +States, and to which they are justly entitled as members of the +human family.... Those aided are: worthy cases unable to +hire legal counsel; victims of corrupt practices; friendless and +unfortunates restrained in Institutions, who require assistance; +ex-service men who have not been able to have legitimate claims +considered, etc., etc.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>One of the cases which is often referred to in the papers +published by this group is that of William J. O’Brien. The +headline of one article reads as follows: “Poor Private +Wm. J. O’Brien, Sane Veteran of the Apache Indian Campaign, +Railroaded to the Madhouse. Denied Justice—Denied +His Day in Court—No Trial—No Lunacy Proceedings—Illegally +Held 34 Years....” In the body of the +article this statement occurs: “Mr. O’Brien indulged in +some disorderly conduct in the office of the War Department. +He was immediately arrested, charged with assault +which he did not commit, and brought into the Supreme +Court.” I examined the record of the O’Brien case and +found that “some disorderly conduct” consisted in visiting +the War Department, shooting two clerks, and trying to +shoot some more before his gun jammed.</p> + +<p>The inference should not, of course, be hastily drawn +that all the claims made by agitators, even of the psychotic +stamp, are pure fabrications. That is to be determined in +the individual instance. Thus the slogan about “One Law +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>for the Rich—Another Law for the Poor” has very reputable +support in the findings of such surveys of criminal +justice as the one at Cleveland, in which Dean Pound of +Harvard had a responsible share. But in the case of the +litigious paranoids the underlying private motivation is so +imperious that wholesale distortions of truth are inevitable. +Sometimes reckless accusations bring cruel results, as +when another psychotic, E, claimed that a certain Captain +K was shot in the back while circling over a flying field. +This fabrication got to the family of the soldier, who had +been informed that the Captain had been killed in an aeroplane +accident, and caused much unnecessary suffering.</p> + +<p>The history of F affords some contrasts to what has gone +before. F took up agitation in middle life. It will be remembered +that A directed much of his agitational zeal +against culture objects which were sanctioned by his family +and the “substantial” elements in the nation. F was the +reverse of a nonconformist. He was no pacifist, but a +soldier-patriot. The enemies of his country were his enemies, +and he denounced them up and down the land. The +authority of revealed religion was not a debatable question; +the enemies of Christianity were his enemies and he +went on the platform to expose them.</p> + +<p>Several of his patriotic and religious lectures became +famous among the smaller communities of the land. He +told the story of a renegade who impersonated Christ for +the purpose of collecting funds to start an insurrection +against the American government in one of our dependencies. +He gave a thrilling account of how he sought out and +apprehended this monster. A Y.M.C.A. worker, in a testimonial +letter, declared, “Every man sat spellbound as the +speaker bared the facts in the most sacrilegious undertaking +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>of modern times to thwart the plans of the American +government.”</p> + +<p>F was a moving spirit in the opposition to the Covenant +of the League of Nations because the name of God was not +mentioned in it. His argument on the point is said to have +impressed President Harding. One of F’s public pronouncements +on the subject read as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>There might be no trespass in an “Association of Nations for +Conference” coming together if they did nothing but <i>confer</i>, and +did no acting or legislating whatever, <i>if</i> they beforehand and by +common consent did the following before the whole world:</p> + +<p>1st, Acknowledge Almighty God before the world, with a +promise to serve <i>Him!</i></p> + +<p>2nd, Acknowledge allegiance to God’s Peace Plan—the Kingdom +of the Prince of Peace—for world peace, which the Bible +provides for!</p> + +<p>3rd, Ignore all man-made plans for peace, such as World +Federations, Hague Tribunals, World Leagues, World Courts and +all forms of <i>Human</i> world-governments, which the Bible provides +against!</p> + +<p>4th, Refrain absolutely from everything that has the slightest +tinge of world-alliance, world-control, or world-domination influence +or world concert of civil action, the human instrumentalities +that Holy Writ severely prohibits.</p> + +<p>5th, Especially for the United States. Refrain absolutely from +everything that contravenes our U. S. Constitution and the Declaration +of Independence! (And every nation should alike protect +their Constitution!)</p> + +<p>When thru centuries of trial the world failed to keep <i>the +Covenant</i> written at Sinai by the Hand of Almighty God Himself +and <i>He</i> promised that <i>He</i> would give the world “A New Covenant” +for peace, which <i>He</i> did, then how can the world, except +anything whatsoever from <i>The League of Nation’s Covenant</i> written +at Paris by the mortal hands of just mere men like Wilson, +Lloyd George, Clemenceau & Co.?</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>After serving in the army as a young man, F joined the +secret service, and spent several years in pursuit of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>enemies of law and order. His record was excellent, and +when the World War came he was put in charge of secret +military police. He became overzealous in the performance +of his duties, spending an altogether disproportionate +amount of time investigating two Mennonite ministers who +were alleged to have letters in their possession written in +German criticizing the Liberty Loan. He claimed to have +found ground glass in the bread served to men in camp. +When the laboratory did not confirm his findings, he said +that he mixed ground glass with flour and submitted a +sample to the laboratory, which reported no ground glass, +thus confirming his suspicions that the laboratory staff +was composed of aliens—a German, an Austrian, and a +Turk. He began to make direct accusations that some of +the camp officers were in league with the enemy. One of +them he accused of using a German private in his office for +translation work, and intrusting him with a key to the iron +safe where the United States secret codes were kept. Presently +F was referred to a psychiatrist for examination, to +whom he complained that he was the victim of a persecution +by a little clique of officers. He managed to publish an +interview in the press asserting that ground glass in the +food had made fifty men ill at a certain training camp, and +this led to much unnecessary anxiety among the folks at +home.</p> + +<p>F’s anxiety to “do his bit” in the suspicion-ladened atmosphere +which surrounded America’s entry into the war +led his suspicious nature to overdo the matter. When some +of his efforts were blocked by fellow officers, he began to +develop persecutory ideas. But he was soon able to dispense +with them by reinforcing his identification with the +interests of the nation and God, and displacing his suspicions +upon more generalized foes. When his secret-service +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>work was blocked, he was able to make a transition to +agitation, where he balanced the lost gratification of cherishing +secret knowledge with the pleasure of exhibiting it +in public. The record does not contain enough early childhood +material to justify one in venturing to select the determiner +of his capacity to make such an adjustment. The history +simply furnishes a striking example of how a flight +into agitation may perform the function of keeping the personality +in some sort of passable relation to reality, when it +has met a serious setback. It gives another instance to the +sum of those which show the difficulties which may be created +in society by those whose personality is influenced by +strong paranoidal trends.</p> + +<p>The histories so far abstracted have had to do with male +agitators of various kinds. Miss G, when thirty-five years +of age, came to the physician complaining that she was +constantly bothered by blushing, stage fright, uncertainty, +palpitations of the heart, and weeping spells. She is known +to be forceful, ambitious, and aggressive. Her contentiousness +is notorious. She is active in the support of all kinds +of measures, particularly for the emancipation of women +from the domination of men. She rose to her present distinction +from a very humble position as a handworker, and +she champions the radical cause.</p> + +<p>An early reminiscence was recovered during analysis +which had been completely buried before. Sometime between +the ages of five and three she had been asked by a +nurse to touch her nurse’s genitals, and threatened with +dire things if she told. When she was in bed with her +mother, she had to fight against a powerful compulsion to +touch her mother’s genitalia. This early assumption of +the male rôle was strengthened by her father-identification. +In the analysis she reported that she and her father possessed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>many common traits, such as stubbornness. As +sometimes happens with children showing traits of the opposite +sex, their brothers or sisters reveal cross-traits. Thus +her younger brother cooked and sewed. Her father took +her side in family altercations with the mother (the father +was an artist). The mother was religious, and on the death +of her mother the patient was religious for six months from +a sense of possible guilt for having precipitated her death. +Everybody said that she ought to have been a boy since +she showed so much physical dash and hardihood. Between +six and ten she often stole money from her parents, +and was caught reading other people’s letters.</p> + +<p>As a child she suffered seriously from vague worries. +At the age of seventeen she was unable to read her own +compositions before the class. She talked rather badly in +groups and before strangers, but was very effective in face-to-face +conversations. In public she spoke best when attacked. +She had a constant fear of being subordinated to +a man, and was constantly on the alert to assert herself. +She had a horror of marriage, which she thought of as +gross subordination to the crude physical desires of men. +One budding love affair broke up when the man went insane +and died.</p> + +<p>For a long time she longed to have a child, but only +one child. She wished that there were some other means of +impregnation than by using a man, but finally decided to +bend to the inevitable. Several years before analysis she +looked around to select a man to be the father of her +child. It was a year after she became acquainted with +the man before she could bring herself to coitus, and she +felt befouled. After the birth of the child she became +utterly indifferent to the man, and broke off their relationship. +She was, of course, sexually frigid.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span></p> + +<p>What is the meaning of this demand for a child, and for +but a single child? It was essentially a subconscious demand +for the penis to finish her assumption of the male +rôle. The psychoanalytical study of the growth of the female +personality stresses the importance which this motive +assumes.⁠<a id="FNanchor_38_38" href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Gregory Zilboorg has analyzed certain post-pregnancy +psychoses from this point of view, and in so +doing has thoroughly surveyed the theoretical field.⁠<a id="FNanchor_39_39" href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>Castration dreams appeared in the guise of losing muffs +and keys. Homosexual dreams took the usual shape of a +nude homosexual figure. Horrified by dreams of sexual +intercourse with her father, she began the analytical process. +Her narcissism expressed itself in both simple and +disguised form. She dreamed of being the mayor and of +humiliating men in all manner of ways. She dreamed of +influencing the whole world (telepathic dreams). Incidentally, +she credits dreams with some prophetic significance. +Once she dreamed of a clay field over which she +was passing which changed to plowed land, signifying +work, and, sure enough, she found a job the next day. +Another time she was crossing a brook and saw an ugly +body in the stream, and developed laryngitis the next day.</p> + +<p>The narcissistic component was strong. She felt the +universal rule of the analytical situation to say everything +that crosses the mind to be a personal command from the +doctor. She bitterly resented this subordination to a man, +and finally broke off the analysis. She showed a record of +having been quite rebellious against those in authority +over her—shop foremen and party leaders.</p> + +<p>Miss G had an enormous masculine complex. She chose +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span>masculine goals, and ruled out the female rôle as far as +she could. Her narcissism brought her from obscurity to +distinction, though at the cost of several neurotic difficulties +in which her repressed drives found crippling expression. +She swings between vanity and inferiority feelings. She +blushes when praised, she blushes in public because of +the dependence of her sex on men, and she is timid in the +presence of academic people. She always feels ill at ease +with strangers, and lives in isolation from society.</p> + +<p>In theory and in practice Miss G is for free love, and +for the complete equality of the sexes. She sought out +politics as a career as a means of expressing the male rôle +of dominance, a drive which was powerfully organized in +her early childhood experiences.⁠<a id="FNanchor_40_40" href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p>What has been said about the agitator may be brought +together at this point in a provisional summary. Our general +theory of the political man stressed three terms, the +private motives, their displacement on to public objects, +and their rationalization in terms of public interests. The +agitator values mass-responses. Broadly speaking, this requires +an extension of the theory to make it possible to +divide politicians among themselves according to the means +which they value in expressing the drives of their personalities. +Now what is there about the agitator’s developmental +history which predisposes him to work out his affects +toward social objects by seeking to arouse the public +directly? Why, to state it another way, is he the slave of +the sentiments of the community at large? Why is he not +able to work quietly without regard to the shifts of mood +which distinguish the fickle masses? Why is he not able to +cultivate interests in the manipulation of objective materials, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>in the achievement of aesthetic patterns, or in the technical +development of abstractions? Why is he not principally +concerned with the emotional responses of a single +person, or a few persons in his intimate circle? Why is he +not willing to wait for belated recognition by the many or +by the specialized and competent few?</p> + +<p>Agitators as a class are strongly narcissistic types. Narcissism +is encouraged by obstacles in the early love relationships, +or by overindulgence and admiration in the +family circle. Libido which is blocked in moving outward +toward objects settles back upon the self. Sexual objects +like the self are preferred, and a strong homosexual component +is thus characteristic. Among the agitators this +yearning for emotional response of the homosexual kind +is displaced upon generalized objects, and high value is +placed on arousing emotional responses from the community +at large. The tremendous urge for expression in +written or spoken language is a roundabout method of +gratifying these underlying emotional drives. Agitators +show many traits which are characteristic of primitive +narcissism in the exaggerated value which they put on the +efficacy of formulas and gestures in producing results in +the world of objective reality. The family history shows +much repression of the direct manifestation of hatred. +There is often a record of a “model boy” during the +early years, or of a shy and sensitive child who swallowed +his resentments. Repressed sadism is partly vented upon +objects remote from the immediately given environment, +and favors the cultivation of general social interests. The +youth has usually learned to control by suppression and by +repression the full amplitude of his affects, and this is a +discipline in deceit. The narcissistic reactions prevent the +developing individual from entering into full and warm +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>emotional relationships during his puberty period, and +sexual adjustments show varying degrees of frigidity or +impotence, and other forms of maladjustment.⁠<a id="FNanchor_41_41" href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> Speaking +in terms of early growth phases, the agitators as a group +show marked predominance of oral traits.</p> + +<p>Distinctions within the agitating class itself may be +drawn along several lines. The oratorical agitator, in contradistinction +to the publicist, seems to show a long history +of successful impostorship in dealing with his environment. +Mr. A, it will be recalled, was able to pass for a model, +and became skilled in the arts of putting up a virtuous +front. Agitators differ appreciably in the specificity or the +generality of the social objects upon which they succeed +in displacing their affects. Those who have been consciously +attached to their parents, and who have been successful +impostors, are disposed to choose remote and general objects. +Those who have been conscious of suppressing serious +grievances against the early intimate circle, and who +have been unable to carry off the impostor’s rôle, are inclined +to pick more immediate and personal substitutes. +The rational structure tends toward theoretical completeness +in the former case. Displacement choices depend on +the models available when the early identifications are +made. When the homosexual attitude is particularly important, +the assaultive, provocative relation to the environment +is likely to display itself; when the impotence fear +is active, grandiose reaction patterns appear more prominently.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII"> + CHAPTER VIII + <br> + POLITICAL ADMINISTRATORS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Some administrators are full of ideas and others are +seldom attracted by novelty. Some do their best work +under a rather indulgent chief; others fall to pieces unless +there is strong pressure from above. There are administrators +who derive their influence over subordinates from +the authority of their positions rather than from the authority +of their personalities. There are some who may be +depended upon for the conscientious performance of detailed +tasks, while others neglect details and think in terms +of general policy.</p> + +<p>Viewed developmentally, it appears that one group of +administrators is remarkably akin to the agitators, differing +only in the fact that they are bound to particular individuals +more closely, and thus displace their affects upon +less generalized objects. This gives a certain independence +to the administrator from the compulsion to “get a rise +out of” large numbers of the population. It ties him more +securely, however, to the members of his own environment, +whose relations he seeks to co-ordinate. The administrator +is a co-ordinator of effort in continuing activity.</p> + +<p>The group which is allied to the agitators includes those +who show imagination and promoting drive. The history +of H belongs in this class, and has the incidental interest +of showing how H behaved in war time.</p> + +<p>While it is accurate to say that H is diplomatic and seemingly +open and frank in dealing with his superiors, it +should be added that in situations which involve the fate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>of his own projects, he is noticeably overtense, and likely +to evaluate himself much higher than others. He becomes +slightly accusatory if his demands are rejected. The elderly +executive with whom H did his best work sometimes +complained that a conference with H was as fatiguing as a +whole day’s work. The older man felt that H might be +entirely broken up if his projects were rudely rejected, and +he also believed the young man to be too valuable to damage. +H recognizes that he has often found himself shirking +when his superiors let him alone, and wonders why this +attitude, which is contrary to his own interests, should take +hold of him. H displays a tendency to behave arrogantly +toward subordinates, and when he was in the army it was +obvious that he could maintain discipline only through the +formal authority vested in him.</p> + +<p>H is an only child. His father was a big, overpowering +person, who was a strict disciplinarian. The parents were +very prudish in sexual matters, and one of his embarrassing +memories is the confusion and vexation of his mother +when he asked her about babies. Left to his own resources, +and stimulated by a variety of incidents to explore sexual +problems on his own initiative, the boy became involved in +a set of episodes and reveries which he tried to keep from +the family, and thus met every family situation with some +anxiety lest his sins should find him out. H grew into a +hyperactive and seemingly light-hearted youngster, who +obeyed his parents implicitly and met strangers with ingratiating +charm. H was constantly occupied with the task +of adopting a manner toward authority which would conceal +his secret preoccupations.</p> + +<p>About the age of four, H surprised his parents in a +sexual embrace, and vividly recalled his own mixture of +burning curiosity and embarrassment. Some of his early +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>dream fragments indicate that he repressed a powerful +hostility toward his father, who he thought was hurting +his mother, and likewise repressed hatred of his mother, +who he felt was disloyal to him.</p> + +<p>His experiences continued through a long chain of incidents. +There was mutual exposure of sexual parts between +him and a playmate of his own age. A deeply repressed +episode was a seduction in which he played the +principal part. He was meanwhile completely successful +in playing the rôle of model boy.</p> + +<p>When H was ten years of age, however, there transpired +an incident which for a time branded him in the neighborhood +as a nasty little renegade, and which had many subsequent +repercussions. He touched the exposed sexual parts +of a neighbor girl, who was somewhat his junior. The sister +and brother of the girl were interested spectators. The +children told the cooks, and the news finally got around to +the mother of the girl. She took it calmly enough, but +thought she ought to tell the boy’s mother. H’s mother +passed the story to his father, which was the worst thing +that could happen, from H’s point of view. His father +administered a sharp dressing-down, and forbade him to +play outside the yard for a fortnight. H’s father was very +angry, and lectured him about his sins every night for a +while. Presently the father went over to see the neighbor, +and seems to have taken the line that the girl was as much +to blame as his son if not more so. This tactless behavior +completely alienated the neighbor.</p> + +<p>Now this neighbor happened to edit an important newspaper, +and ever afterward this newspaper lost no opportunity +to assail the efficiency of the department in the city +government headed by H’s father. These attacks continued +over many years, and H’s father occasionally threw +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>it up to him that he had been responsible for the original +quarrel.</p> + +<p>As it was, the boy was ostracized in the neighborhood +for a year or more, and was not invited to go to parties, +although he could play with the children. But H was self-conscious, +and sought companionship farther away. The +brother of the girl thought that he ought to turn against +H, and there were some fights.</p> + +<p>At fourteen H began to go to high school. He kept away +from the swimming pool during the first year or two because +he was much embarrassed by the lack of hair around +his genitals. This supposed retardation, about which he +worried a great deal, lasted but a short time, when a new +set of worries came up. He now believed that his penis was +abnormally large, and that his testicles were too low-hanging +and perhaps deformed. In college he was nicknamed +“Cocky,” on account of his jauntiness, but he secretly suspected +that this was an allusion to his penis.</p> + +<p>A chum taught him how to masturbate, and he continued +to do so for about six months, when his emissions became +so frequent that his mother told his father. For once, H’s +father handled the situation with good sense, and after a +kindly interview in which the father explained that it was +not a good idea to indulge excessively, H quit. But even +this matter was not terminated, for the disturbing reverie +remained that perhaps his excessive masturbation had permanently +impaired his manhood.</p> + +<p>H had a lively curiosity about his mother’s body of +which he was intensely ashamed. He recalls loitering in +his mother’s room while she made ready to change her +clothes, hoping that she would forget to send him out. He +found himself speculating about the shape of her body, +and was several times on the verge of spying through the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>keyhole. But his impulse was inhibited when he remembered +the story told by his father in which a “peeper” was +spoken of with the greatest contempt. H dreamed of sexual +intercourse with his mother on several occasions, +nearly always during periods of unusual strain. These +dreams were deeply buried and came out into the clear +with great difficulty.</p> + +<p>His sexual curiosity extended to animals, and he stimulated +the sexual parts of his dog. This further associated +sex with the bestial and unclean, and convinced him of his +own guilt for so much as wondering about it.</p> + +<p>H’s first sexual intercourse cost him much worry. It +occurred during his second year in high school. He had +been sent with the family automobile to drive home a +guest, and noticed a girl of about his own age who was +gay and flirtatious. On the way home he picked up the +girl with two boys whom he knew slightly. All of them +had sexual intercourse with the girl. He was terribly worried +that he might reach home too late. His strict father +had laid down the rule that if he got home at any hour of +the night, he was to wake up the family and give an account +of himself. In his haste he neglected to inspect the +car and his father found some hairpins in the tonneau. +H denied that he knew anything about them. The incident, +however, was not closed. He saw an item in the newspaper +about several men who were arrested for rape, and wondered +whether he had committed a horrible crime himself +with his companions. Before long the girl became +pregnant and was brought before the juvenile court. She +named another gang of boys, and this gang accused H and +his two companions of being to blame. He was horrified +at the prospect of going into court and dragging his family +to disgrace. H was afraid that his partners in wrongdoing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>would confess, but he denied everything to his father, and +his father’s political influence kept him from being haled +into court. But for at least a year the black cloud of possible +exposure hung on the horizon of his mind.</p> + +<p>All during his high-school days he had occasional sex +intercourse, but every episode was marred by some disagreeable +features. While there were such experiences +with girls of low social standing, he had many friendships +with girls of good social position whom he idealized as +above sexuality. He attended a private school which was +patronized almost exclusively by children from very +wealthy families, and H, who was handsome, well dressed, +quick, and agreeable, found his friends among them. He +was often in their homes and admired the signs of wealth +and culture. He became sensitive of the cultural limitations +of his own parents, and was afraid to entertain his +school friends at home, but fortunately from his point +of view his father was willing to furnish enough money to +make it possible to hold up his end of the social bargain at +exclusive clubs and restaurants.</p> + +<p>In college H continued to draw a sharp line between +those who could be petted, but who were too rich and +refined to be approached for intercourse, and those who +could be petted, and who were poor enough to be asked +for intercourse. He continued to associate with a smart +and wealthy set, and finally concentrated his attention on +the daughter of a rich business man whom he wanted to +marry. His left-handed affairs continued at irregular intervals, +and he felt remorseful when he had the perversions +performed on him.</p> + +<p>Enough has been reported to convey an impression of +H’s inner state. His unsatisfied sexual curiosity had been +whetted by his prudish parents. His father defended his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>own ascendancy in the home by ordering the boy about a +great deal, and H responded to authority by a system of +reactions which became characteristic of him. He was +tactful, deferential, and acquiescent, qualified by inner +resentment and rare gestures of defiance. The father was +not a friend but a barrier to be circumvented, and the +father’s hegemony was protected by the sense of guilty +inferiority which he had created in his son. Family differences, +such as arose when the father objected to housekeeping +details, or when the boy wanted more freedom +to use the car, always showed the same balance of forces—mother +and son versus the father. The mother did not +defend herself by robust contradiction but by weak complaints. +There were only two instances in which the boy +flared up enough to resist his father openly.</p> + +<p>If H had been more successful in winning applause outside +the family, it is quite possible that his position would +have been made much easier inside it. His social charm +brought him into the most influential circles, and this gratified +his parents, but his father was a man of action who +felt that while wealthy friends were an asset, his son ought +to show more positive achievements. Though he never +nagged H, the father’s sternness, suspiciousness and absence +of praise made a deep impression on the boy, and +gave him a sense of insecurity and inadequacy. Although +H scored no great successes, he went along without academic +catastrophe until college. He was suspended at the +end of his Freshman year for poor work, but came back +after six months, during which he pretended to his father +that he was still in school. The suspension was partly due +to the advice given to the dean by his fraternity brothers, +who had found him very hard to manage, and wanted to +“bring him to his senses.” H was having a fling, since +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>he was away from home for the first time, and away from +the intimidating father. Presently he steadied down +enough to get along.</p> + +<p>Reminiscences of his guilty sexual experiments, deeply +charged with guilt-feeling, were continually bobbing up to +interfere with his progress. Once he was assigned to debate +in high-school public-speaking class. His opponent proved +to be the brother of the girl with whom he had the notorious +incident several years before. The brother was a +prominent school leader who had no doubt forgotten the +affair, but it continued to weigh on H. He always had +felt uncomfortable in the other boy’s presence, and on this +occasion, being poorly prepared, the situation became so +unbearable that he fainted.</p> + +<p>He began to study agriculture at college, but soon found +that he had made a mistake. His family owned a ranch +which he often visited during vacations, and very much +enjoyed. Farming was an avocation of his father, and H +had the idea that ranching was a genteel occupation without +much work, and with much ordering of other people +about. He vaguely thought of himself as a country gentleman +of cultivated leisure. The war saved H from agriculture. +He took up aviation, without losing “credits,” partly +because the snobbish mother of his favorite girl was bowled +over by the uniform, and partly because he thought it +would be better to go into the war, if he had to go, as an +officer than as a private. His father’s influence secured +a deferred classification for him in the draft, and H, +though feeling quite small about it, said to himself that it +was better for people to die who were without his own +advantages and achievements.</p> + +<p>His career as an officer in the camp brought out the +traits to which reference has previously been made. His +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>engaging deference toward his superiors won them all, +but he had trouble with the men. His own insecurity led +to an arrogant pose on his part that offended every man +in the company. He also discovered that the moment +discipline was relaxed he became very careless in performing +his own duties.</p> + +<p>The same constellation of traits reappeared in his administrative +career, modified by the fact that he learned +to assume a less provocative attitude toward his subordinates. +He made a very good record, and proposed a number +of changes that were adopted for the improvement +of the service.</p> + +<p>Looking back over H’s history, the striking thing is +his prolonged worry about his adjustment to specific persons. +H was never able to make the hurdle into abstract +interests. Even his administrative ideas were closely tied +to the immediate context of the service. H’s life was very +much dominated by his relationship to definite people, +and this meant a prolonged carry-over of early attitudes +to these individuals. Unlike B, who could rightly feel +that his father and brother and aunt were treating him +unjustly, H was all too aware that he “deserved” more +than he got. His success as an impostor was rudely interrupted +in some early episodes.</p> + +<p>Another “marginal” history shows what happens to some +men with agitating aspirations who are not able to disentangle +themselves from a place inside an organization +and to give themselves up wholly to agitational work. Mr. +I is a type occasionally met with inside administrative +staffs who makes a serious problem for himself and others. +He radiates plans that he neglects to execute, and he is +supercilious and defiant toward superiors. He lacks the +drive, however, to move over into agitational work entirely +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>by identifying himself with a sufficiently dramatic cause. +Sometimes this is due, as in I’s own case, to powerful early +identifications with particular projects, and with administrative +work as such. When such a person can be pried +loose from certain of these early fixations, he often proves +capable of fulfilling the expectations which he is able to +arouse.</p> + +<p>The father of I was a man whose extraordinary talents +won him great distinction, but who never quite managed to +come through as brilliantly as people had a right to expect +from one so richly endowed. I’s father could talk five or +six languages and read many more. He was educated in +England, France, and Italy, and after serving as a professor +of modern languages, his interest in educational problems +led him to become the head of a famous preparatory +school, and later of a public school. He spent most of +his time reading, and during the last decade of his life +drank heavily, but without impairing the quality of his +work. Someone who knew him pronounced the man “a +self-centered intellectual who died without a friend.” The +mother of I was an adopted daughter of a member of the +British aristocracy, and was brought up in distinguished +social and intellectual circles. The mother was exceptionally +active in all sorts of humanitarian enterprises but +lavished much time and love on the boy, who was “dreadfully +spoiled,” and accepted everybody’s judgment that +he was a budding genius.</p> + +<p>True to anticipations, the boy shot through school like +a meteor, ranking first in his subjects, and taking every +available honor with ease. In college he branched out into +social and political life on a large scale, and joined about +twenty organizations, managing to have himself put on +every important committee.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span></p> + +<p>Like his father, the son took up public-school work. +Becoming interested in psychology, he did some graduate +work, and quickly published a book that received very +favorable comment among those best qualified to judge +it. The idea of educational reform fired his imagination, +and he lectured far and wide, engaging in agitations to +secure legislation which would authorize a number of experimental +schools.</p> + +<p>The part of his history which is especially interesting +to the student of administration is this: He was continually +at outs with his superiors and colleagues. His first +teaching position began with a feud, and lasted but a little +while. He was invited to resign his next post. He was +asked to resign the next position. He was asked to resign +the next position. These entries appear monotonously +through his record.</p> + +<p>Everybody conceded the brilliance and fertility of his +mind, and did homage to the originality of his plans. He +began work but failed to carry it far, seeming to think that +work planned was work done. His methods were always +aggressive. Seized of an administrative idea, he went to +his superiors. When they criticized the scheme, or rejected +his suggestion, he often took the bit in his teeth and tried +to run the ship in his own way.</p> + +<p>More than once financial irregularities have been discovered +in connection with his work. He has given out +checks when no funds were available, and run unduly +large expense accounts. Whenever he has been in financial +jams, he has turned to other people for aid as a matter +of course, seeming to feel that he has a claim on the +world for support.</p> + +<p>He has always been childishly dependent on his wife +for praise. He resented his wife’s motherhood, but has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>been overindulgent with the two children, who, his wife +says, have no respect for him. He likes to be the center +of attention, and is a clever showman, and a great deal of +a bluffer. He is usually not high tempered but affectionate. +He is inclined to be accusatory toward his wife—“a vixen”—but +his wife appears to be a keen person, who was +enough impressed by his precocious brilliance to marry +and to pamper him, but who in later years has delivered +herself of pointed comments on his character.</p> + +<p>It seems that he has gone through several periods of +alternating exhilaration and despondency. The exhilarations +came when he had a position and when life became +a little monotonous or a little hard. At least one of these +swings was sufficiently pronounced to lead to a period of +retirement in a sanitarium. During this time he was asked +what kind of work he liked best, and replied, “Reforming +the world—my first choice; second, exploiting the world.”</p> + +<p>The strength of his narcissism is self-evident, and the +feminine marks in his character are numerous. He expects +to be nurtured and supported by the world as a matter +of right. He demands constant “mothering” from his wife, +and coddles the children. His father-hatred, which was +thoroughly repressed in the family, comes out in his difficulty +with father-surrogates, and in his determination to +change the educational system at points where the father +took it for granted or overtly defended it. The selection +of the pedagogical rôle is itself indicative of the strength +of his father-identification. What seems to have happened +in his development is a fixation of interests in a relatively +narrow sphere in which the affects are so powerful and at +the same time so contradictory that difficulties are assured. +He finds it impossible to shake off his managerial aspirations +sufficiently to devote all his time to the propagation +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>of ideas. Although his affects are displaced upon abstract +problems, they are not displaced upon objects sufficiently +removed from his father, and the displacement does not +succeed in making it possible for him to achieve an impersonal +attitude toward his superiors and colleagues in educational +administration. The exaggerated praise heaped +upon him as a boy had much to do with the narcissism. +His incapacity to follow through is no doubt related to +his early conflicts over genital activity. The chief point +of significant contrast with A is that the narcissistic component +interfered more seriously with H’s development, +since it led him to insist upon playing an administrative +rôle. A’s environment was less prostrate before him, and +he was able to avoid assuming administrative obligations +where he would be cramped and subordinated.</p> + +<p>The history of J, which has been reported by Alexander,⁠<a id="FNanchor_42_42" href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> +shows what lies behind a powerful administrator’s thirst +for responsibility, and reveals how changes in the working +relations inside an organization may disorganize the individual.</p> + +<p>J was a driving executive whose superiors deferred to +his judgment and accepted his plans. His abounding energy +sought an outlet through the assumption of heavier +and heavier responsibilities inside the organization. Finally, +a change in the chief executive brought J under the +immediate control of a man who handled him with cool +assurance, holding him firmly but considerately to his +own formal sphere of action. Confronted for the first +time in his life by a more powerful personality who knew +how to regulate him, J took the wife of another man for +his mistress, and in spite of the remonstrances of those +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>who knew him, he held tenaciously to both the mistress +and the wife.</p> + +<p>An analysis showed that J was characterized from early +childhood by a notable split in his personality. Side by +side with his aggressive, masculine drive there existed a +strongly repressed, though powerful, feminine tendency. +His personality is to be rendered intelligible only as a +compromise formation between those two incompatible motives. +The repression of the passive component produced +a regressive fixation upon the wife, who was compelled +to play a markedly maternal rôle, and to humor his every +whim. He resented it if his every wish was not defined +and fulfilled before he had to go to the trouble of putting +it into words. J has delicate aesthetic sensibilities, and is +a cultivated amateur in the arts.</p> + +<p>In sharpest imaginable contrast to his behavior at home +was his insatiable thirst for authority and responsibility +in his professional life. One of his dreams acutely symbolized +him as a giant automobile of untold horse-power, +whose body was a light French coach of the rococo period.</p> + +<p>As Alexander comments, J’s life-problem was to indulge +his passive demands without doing violence to his masculine +ideal. But this was not accomplished without strain. +He could earn periods of indulgence in aesthetics by exaggerated +aggressiveness in his work, but as his feminine +tendencies were gratified, his masculine ideal was endangered, +and he would be driven back to high-pressure management. +The psychological significance of his work was +symbolized in the following dream: He was penetrating +a thick sheet of cardboard with a needle, and continually +asking for new sheets to bore through. He succeeded in +going through several thicknesses. The cardboard represented +his occupational problems, and the needle his penis. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>His professional activity was largely a sublimation of his +aggressive, active sexuality.</p> + +<p>The equilibrium between his aggressiveness in work and +his passivity in marital life was upset by the new chief +executive, who skilfully hemmed in his activity. Alexander +remarks that it is impossible for a man who has +struggled all his life against very strong unconscious homosexuality +to serve under a strong man. The dominating +personality arouses the latent attitude, and the subordinate +must resort to special means of maintaining his repression. +In the case of B, which we have previously considered, +the means of restoring some sort of equilibrium was escape +(by resigning), but when that became very difficult, +he fled into a world of fantasy (a psychosis). J met the +crisis by breaking through the sublimation of his heterosexuality, +and taking a mistress as an outlet for his +thwarted drives. Further than that, he vindicated his masculinity +in a very dramatic way. He not only took a mistress, +but he took the wife of another.</p> + +<p>From now on, he was dependent on both women to preserve +the equilibrium of his personality. Previously the +equilibrium had been maintained between wife and work; +now it depended on wife, mistress, and work, for the aggressive, +masculine component required the mistress to +make up for the limitations imposed upon his working +sphere.</p> + +<p>Alexander reports that in the course of a long analysis +this remarkable split in the personality was traced back +to early childhood. “At the age of four he was already +the same person.” At the age of four he continued to +drink milk out of a bottle, stubbornly resisting every effort +to break him of the practice. But—and it was with an emphatic +“but” that J produced the reminiscence—at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>same time the boy was especially adventurous and independent, +riding all by himself out on the highway. Here +was the same antithesis that later expressed itself in his +peculiar relation to wife and work. The child won the +right to indulge his infantile, oral tendencies in one particular +by exaggerated boldness in other respects. This +solution was the prototype for his later life.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The rôle of the bottle was later taken by his wife, whom he +often treated like an inanimate object whose only function was to +minister to his needs, while his work, and later his mistress, were +the successors to the bicycle, by means of which he was able to +prove his independence and his masculinity to himself and the +world.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The castration fear, which was aroused by the means +adopted to break up his infantile masturbation, favored +the oral fixation, and came into conflict with his strong +masculine genital drive, laying the basis for this notable +character split.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The records so far discussed have had to do with inventive +or driving administrators. A type often met with +in the public service is the conscientious, overscrupulous +official, whose touchiness, fondness for detail, delight in +routine, and passion for accuracy at once preserve the +integrity of the service and alienate the affections of anybody +who has to do business with the government. K was +such a man. For some years he was in the forestry service, +where part of his duties was to mark the trees that +might be cut by private lumbermen. The lumbermen naturally +argued that the straight, sound trees should be cut +and the damaged ones left for seed. K took a variety of +other factors into account, and spent days measuring and +estimating position, growth rates, and shade area, exasperating +the lumbermen with his everlasting and often +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>superfluous scrupulousness. He keenly felt his responsibilities +as a public servant, and disliked the very appearance +of succumbing to private pressure. At one time K +resigned the service in disgust because of “uncivil” treatment +by a superior, but his “touchiness” was much more +deeply rooted in his nature than he had any idea.</p> + +<p>The record of K is not only the story of a pedantic +official but of an ardent patriot. One of the highest forms +of patriotism is supposed to be volunteering for posts of +conspicuous danger in war. K pulled all the wires within +reach to get a place on the front line, and only the point-blank +refusal of his superiors to allow him to squander +his technical ability prevented him from achieving his +desire. From a close examination of his intimate history +we learn how one variety of superpatriot comes to be.</p> + +<p>K was the youngest of four children. His next brother +was eight years his senior, his sister was five years older +than this brother, and his oldest brother was eighteen years +ahead of him.</p> + +<p>He never remembered a time when his mother and +father, who were divorced when he was eight, were on +good terms with each other. They seldom spoke, except +to quarrel. This family background was reflected in the +mental life of the growing child. K was notoriously nervous +and timid. From a very early day he began to be +preoccupied with why he was different from everybody else +in the world. His sense of isolation and strangeness led +him to believe that perhaps he was the only real person +in the world and that everybody else was an illusion. He +would sometimes come up wonderingly to touch his mother, +and then himself, to see if she, too, were real. He speculated +on how he could get away from the human shadows +around him, and became convinced that he could fly. Several +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>times he laboriously climbed up on the seat of a +kitchen chair, spread his arms like a bird, and leaped into +space. Every time he crashed to the floor, his frightened +mother rescued him, but he always felt surprised and +rather aggrieved that he should fall, and secretly believed +that he could fly after all. This type of reaction characteristically +appears where emotional conflicts in the home +create an acute problem of emotional orientation for the +child.</p> + +<p>As a small boy he was sent by his mother to follow +his father when he left the house, and to report where +he went. K developed a strong sense of guilt for this, and +after the divorce was afraid that his father would return +and take revenge on him in some unknown and horrible +way. His father did occasionally reappear, and once invited +the boy to spend the night with him, but K was too +frightened to accept.</p> + +<p>The family often lived in the country, and the self-consciousness +of K in the presence of strangers was heightened +by frequent removals into new and often isolated places. +One of the towns near which he lived when about nine +was on a frontier. Gun-play was frequent, and K remembers +having seen the corpses of men who had been shot +down in street brawls. There were ominous-looking fellows +around town, and the boy gave them a wide berth.</p> + +<p>The death of his mother when he was twelve robbed K +of his main emotional support in a dangerous world. She +died after two years of suffering from an infected limb. +She would also spit into bits of papers and burn them in +the stove. K wondered why she did this, and later developed +a reverie the importance of which will soon appear.</p> + +<p>The older members of the family were left with K on +their hands, and they decided to club together and put all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>thought of marrying out of their heads until he was able +to stand alone. The boy did not then realize the sacrifices +they made for him, but he later discovered that his older +brother put off marrying the girl of his choice until she +broke off the engagement and married someone else. It +was not until about the time that he graduated from high +school and the home was broken up that he became aware +of what he owed them, and ever after he was plagued by +the thought of his unworthiness, and his incapacity to repay +his brothers and sister for their care. Up to that time +he had experienced no particular sense of gratitude, and +although his older brother once or twice referred to his +dependent position, his private feelings were mainly of +resentment against the restrictions imposed upon him.</p> + +<p>And these restrictions were not inconsiderable. The +family ran a greenhouse, and the drudgery involved in +such an occupation was incessant. There were slips to +transplant, beds to weed, and loads to pull and carry. +There were long hours of boredom over routine occupations. +K was expected to dash home from school at the +earliest possible moment, and to lend a hand with the endless +chores about the place.</p> + +<p>Occasionally he succeeded in evading his duties. He +stopped to play on the way home from deliveries, and he +stayed at school on some pretext or other to join the drill +squad. But he was always haunted by fear and guilt. His +older brother was a strict disciplinarian, and beat him +several times. His sister occasionally let him have some +spending money, but as a rule he was tightly cramped +financially. When his gang organized into a drill squad, +and chose their uniforms, he was humiliated when the +necessary dollars were not forthcoming from home.</p> + +<p>K was worried by what appeared to be a lack of physical +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>stamina and endurance. This idea (which had no +basis in fact) in part grew out of his efforts to do what +his brothers did. They occasionally broad-jumped or +pulled weights, and of course K made a poor showing +beside them. But for the unconscious hostility against them, +such unequal results would not have disturbed him. His +morbid worries about his strength led him to submit to +a great deal of bullying by town toughs.</p> + +<p>His adolescent years were marred by perpetual anxieties +about his social adequacy. He had been the victim of an +explosion which left his face marked with powder stains, +and this repugnant tattooing, which disappeared very gradually, +embarrassed him for years.</p> + +<p>K’s older brothers and sister sometimes took him with +them to parties because there was nobody to leave him +with, and an annoying sense of being in the way added +to his growing sense of social inadequacy. During high-school +days he fell in love with the daughter of the most +influential man in the locality, but as her social standards +became more exacting, his lack of money, leisure, and +prestige made it impossible for him to travel with her set. +One of the most humiliating episodes in his life was the +one which broke up their relations. K had arranged to +meet her at a dancing class. Another girl called up to see +if he would take her, but he said he wasn’t going. His +oldest brother had listened in on the telephone extension, +and was astonished to see K appear all dressed up and on +the way out. He launched forth on a tirade, declaring +that K gallivanted around throwing money away and shirking +his job, though he was absolutely dependent on others +for his daily bread. K was cut to the quick, and went +back to his room churning with too many emotions to call +up and offer explanations to the girl.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span></p> + +<p>K had taken it for granted ever since he was a small +boy that he would go to college. He traced back his determination +to an incident when he was driving across the +plains one magnificent starry night. He sat in the bottom +of the rig, rapt in contemplation of the sparkling sky, +while his mother chatted with her neighbor. Suddenly he +asked how he could find out about the stars, and she replied +that people could study all about them in college. +He then and there resolved to go to college, and never +had a moment’s doubt about it, although the members of +his immediate family went no farther than the common +school.</p> + +<p>In spite of his inferiority feelings, K was not cut off +from some measure of recognition in high school. His dependable +and sympathetic qualities impressed themselves +upon those who came into close daily contact with him, +and he was made an officer of his high-school class. He +was respectful toward his teachers and good in his studies.</p> + +<p>College was an entirely different affair. His personal +worries multiplied during the transition period. Lacking +funds, he sought a scholarship. The only one tenable from +his district to the state university was in ceramic engineering, +and after looking up “ceramic” in the dictionary, +he applied and was selected for admission. The work +proved to have no particular interest for him, and his social +life was even less satisfying. He was met at the college +town by the members of a church group who lived together +in a dormitory (some friend had written them), and he, +though never devout, stopped with them during the first +term. This marked him as a non-fraternity man. He +waited tables in a fraternity house, and as bad luck would +have it, a former teacher wrote highly recommending him +to the consideration of this particular fraternity. When +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>a committee broke the news to him, he was utterly confused +and made such a lamentable impression that it was not +possible to extend him the bid. One of his odd jobs was +beating carpets at a sorority house, and this turned out +to be the sorority that had pledged the girl with whom he +had been (and still felt) in love.</p> + +<p>For relaxation K was forced into the domain of the +kitchen maids. A servant girl struck up a friendship with +him, and he had sexual relations with her. He had tried +intercourse once during high-school days, and had a premature +emission, a practice which often bothered him +later, providing a permanent source of humiliation.</p> + +<p>Transferring to another college, he began his work in +forestry, in which he had acquired some interest during +hikes with a friendly high-school teacher. Handicapped +by lack of money and worried by a mounting sense of +social inadequacy, his life was no more successful than +before. In high-school days he envied a talkative lad who +astonished the company by glibly recounting anecdotes +about Napoleon. One of his relatives whom he had known +as a boy left an ideal of social charm which never was +attained.</p> + +<p>K’s inner uncertainties finally reached a point which +led him to resolve that he ought to discover once for all +whether forestry would prove to be a proper vocation. He +left college and joined the government service. This was +to be the great test of his ability to master himself.</p> + +<p>So keen was his preoccupation with self-mastery that he +resented every effort to influence him, and acted with unnecessary +strictness in dealing with private lumbermen. +He was often deprived of human relationships during his +days in the field, and gradually his mind became more +and more enmeshed in morbid reflections about himself. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>His mind simply refused to concentrate on the technical +volumes which he had brought with him to improve the +solitude. Reveries which had been slowly germinating on +the periphery of his attention now began to foliate. K had +always wondered why his mother burned those little bits +of paper. It dawned on him one day that she might really +have died of tuberculosis, and that he must therefore be +predisposed toward that disease. Early in his high-school +days, he had begun deep-breathing exercises, though he +had never freely admitted to himself or anybody else what +lay behind it. He always gave the usual account of his +mother’s death to insurance examiners, smothering his +doubts in affirmation.</p> + +<p>This was his state of mind when America entered the +war. He found himself saying that since he was going to +die anyhow from a loathsome disease, he might as +well die at once and get it over with. Enlisting without +delay, he sought to reach an exposed position as rapidly +as he could. But the government had different ideas, and +assigned him to a branch of the service where his technical +skill would prove useful. In his disappointment, all the +old feelings of inadequacy returned. Interviewed by an +officer he floundered and stumbled, neglecting to report +essential facts about his training and experience. The accidental +intervention of an acquaintance straightened out +the matter, and secured the authority to which his record +entitled him. At first he was very much embarrassed in the +company of lumberjacks, but his behavior never showed +his confusion. His actual record was, as usual, excellent, +and his conscientious efficiency won the indorsement of +everybody who knew him.</p> + +<p>K married a rather dominating school-teacher whom he +had known for some time. When things went badly, as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>they often did, he was partially impotent, and also showed +the phenomenon which has been christened “Sunday neurosis.” +Every Sunday afternoon when he was at home he +would find himself assailed by deep depression, and would +weep quietly to himself.⁠<a id="FNanchor_43_43" href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> In spite of these neurotic +troubles, K was able to make an important place for himself +inside a bureaucracy, when he came back from the +army.</p> + +<p>From one point of view, K’s character may be summed +up by saying that his overscrupulous performance of duty +was an elaborate effort to demonstrate his potency, and +that his longing for danger came at a time when he was +willing to surrender the struggle. K’s morbid moods and +persistent feelings of inadequacy are self-imposed penalties +for his hostilities against the environment. He possessed +very powerful aggressive drives which were partly +expressed in the adoption of a self-ideal which was far +more ambitious than anything deemed feasible by the family. +His narcissism was such that he was prevented from +viewing himself as an object, and from modifying his demands +upon the world for recognition, and upon himself +for production, until these demands bore a closer relationship +to his own skills and opportunities. The basis for his +obsessive scrupulousness was laid during early childhood, +when he was torn between father and mother-loyalties, and +acted out within his own nature the clashes that occurred +between them. His strong mother-identification is shown +by his belief that he suffered from her diseases, and would +die from tuberculosis as she had died. He preferred death +to a reduction in his demands upon himself and the world. +Such a reaction has in it the primitive demand of the child +to treat the world as controllable at will by the omnipotent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>fantasy. His genital difficulties testify to the intensity of +the castration conflict, and show the passive-oral regression. +K deeply resented having to adjust to the world at +all. His capacity for hard work was achieved against high +resistance, and in part had the value of a penance. Thus +when workless days came around, he was always ill at +ease, and sometimes showed the spells of weeping on Sunday +afternoons. To work was to prove his potency, and +to supply a ritual substitute for and defense against his +antisocial impulses. He was unable to emancipate himself +very far from the reactions of the people in his immediate +environment.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>As a class the administrators differ from the agitators +by the displacement of their affects upon less remote and +abstract objects. In the case of one important group this +failure to achieve abstract objects is due to excessive preoccupation +with specific individuals in the family circle, +and to the correlative difficulty of defining the rôle of the +self. Putting agitator A at one end of the scale, we may +place administrator K or H near the other. Agitator B was +less able to displace than A, as shown by the more personal +character of the reforms which interested him. K +or H were so concerned about definite people, and about +their own failures in relation to many of them, that emancipation +was unattainable.</p> + +<p>As a hypothetical construction from these “marginal” +cases, we may suggest that another group of administrators +is recruited from among those who have passed smoothly +through their developmental crises. They have not overrepressed +powerful hostilities, but either sublimated these +drives, or expressed them boldly in the intimate circle. +They display an impersonal interest in the task of organization +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>itself, and assert themselves with firmness, though +not with overemphasis, in professional and in intimate +life. Their lack of interest in abstractions is due to the +fact that they have never needed them as a means of +dealing with their emotional problems. They can take +or leave general ideas without using them to arouse widespread +affective responses from the public. Tied neither +to abstractions nor to particular people, they are able to +deal with both in a context of human relations, impersonally +conceived. Their affects flow freely; they are not +affectless, but affectively adjusted. Very original and +overdriving administrators seem to show a fundamental +pattern which coincides with that of the agitators; the differences +in specific development are principally due to +the cultural patterns available for identification at critical +phases of growth.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX"> + CHAPTER IX + <br> + POLITICAL CONVICTIONS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Political prejudices, preferences, and creeds are often +formulated in highly rational form, but they are grown in +highly irrational ways. When they are seen against the +developmental history of the person, they take on meanings +which are quite different from the phrases in which +they are put.</p> + +<p>To begin, almost at random, with L. He believes that +the United States ought to join the League of Nations and +that our government ought to lead the world toward conciliation +and peace. He is a Republican in party preference, +and possesses well-rationalized judgments on a number +of public questions. It is for none of these reasons that +his history is of special value to the political scientist. +What his intimate history does disclose is an exact parallelism +between his political opinions and those of his father +and mother, and, besides that, a conscious anxiety on his +part to conform to the parental pattern of belief and occupation. +He has a strange premonition that if he goes +his own way something terrible will happen. Thus L is +not only a simple conformer, but a compulsive conformer.</p> + +<p>He is the youngest of four children. The next older +member was a brother who was killed when L was eight +and the brother was seventeen. Since L was so much +younger than the other children, he was at first petted and +spoiled. He slept around with all the members of the +family, but mostly with his mother. A cousin of his own +age with whom he visited provided the immediate point +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>of departure for much exaggerated sexual fantasy. The +cousin initiated him into various sexual practices when L +was seven. He began very early to masturbate, and the +habit stayed with him as a problem until he was through +college. A certain masochistic element appeared when he +got erections at an early age upon being spanked by a girl +playmate. He was sexually stimulated when attending to +the natural wants of small children.</p> + +<p>L developed his guilty fantasies about his sinful impulses +until he began to fear that grave retribution would +be visited upon him or his family on account of his secret +crimes. It was at this time that his brother, who was his +favorite in the family next to the mother, was killed while +out on a boyish escapade. L was profoundly stirred by +this. His forebodings of disaster seemed to have direct +confirmation, and he soon developed whole congeries of +compulsive rituals.</p> + +<p>When L went to the bathtub, he felt that something terrible +would happen to his family, and especially to his +mother, unless he plunged his head under water and held +it there just as long as he had the breath. He became +afraid of taking a bath because of this compulsive drive +to duck his head under the water. Often in the bathroom +he had the same feeling that disaster could be prevented +only if he succeeded in drinking all the water that gushed +out of a faucet. At night he would be seized by the sudden +conviction that he must bury his face in the pillow and +keep it there just as long as he possibly could without +suffocating. Once he swallowed a pin after long inner debate +over the efficacy of this measure. Several times he +hung over the edge of the roof on top of the house until +he barely had strength enough to swing back to safety on +top of the porch. He felt that he could permit no one +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>to pass him on the street. Later he thought he must outstare +people, and calculated that if he kept staring until seven +out of ten people dropped their eyes, that all would be +well.</p> + +<p>His mother was the central figure in L’s anxieties. He +evolved quite independently a theory which had been anticipated +many centuries before by some primitive people +and philosophers. He believed that his mother had a spirit +which left her body the moment any member of the family +left her alone, and that this spirit was forced to undergo +all sorts of trials and tests. The spirit would always come +back to his mother’s body before any member of the family +spoke to her. In some magical fashion his own acts relieved +the burden which was laid upon his mother’s spirit. +Even in adulthood, he found an occasional fantasy which +was reminiscent of the preoccupations of those years. Not +long ago he was floating on the water in a swimming pool +and found himself thinking that his mother could never +hold her head under water as long as he could hold his +foot under water.</p> + +<p>With all his timidity, removal to a strange environment +was a severe trial. Just before high-school days his +family moved to a new community, and he never quite +overcame his sense of strangeness. He had always been a +coward, shrinking from physical combat. One of his first +memories is of sitting on a curb with an older brother, +who suddenly proposed that he should fight the little +brother of another boy. L began to fight, but was overcome +by fear and ran away. Later he was the center of a +small clique of children in his block, all of whom were +very much his junior. One of his group bragged about +L’s physical prowess to the leader of another group, but +when the challenge was issued L backed down. He was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>worried by his own timidity, but seemed unable to do anything +about it.</p> + +<p>He made a handful of friends in the new environment, +but was on intimate terms with no one. With one boy he +was able to talk somewhat freely about sexual fantasies, +and L once proposed a sexual experiment to a neighbor +girl. When he was repulsed, his guilt was enormously +increased.</p> + +<p>About this time L began to think seriously of entering +the ministry, so that he might always think “pure” thoughts +and do “pure” things. When he went to college he at first +roomed with boys from his high school, but they talked +so openly about sex that he felt the atmosphere was deplorable +and demoralizing. Before the month expired, he +sought a new room and went into a solitary retreat. During +the first year of his college life he was acutely religious +and besought church services regularly. He sought +guidance from the sermons upon personal and political +questions.</p> + +<p>Having developed the idea that he must live up to the +family ideal at any price, L felt that he could never depart +from the opinions and customs of his parents. In +politics he was a stout Republican, and later, when in a +religious mood, he heard his preacher espouse the League. +He felt that he ought to support the League, but was +plunged into a serious conflict, because he thought his parents +were against it. Greatly to his relief he discovered +that his father and mother had also been won over to the +League by a preacher, and that his lapse from orthodox +Republicanism would not bring dishonor on the family.</p> + +<p>His father-hatred fantasies were very oppressive. They +took the form of believing that if only his father were +dead, his mother would have a much easier time of it. L’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>father was suffering from a steadily advancing paralysis. +At nine he dreamed that his father was in the bathtub and +that around him were fat, red snakes that were bound to +devour him. L who was standing by in the dream, awoke +in a fright. He often dreamed that his father was away +and that his mother was happy with him.</p> + +<p>L still shows many signs of his early neurosis in some +of his ceremonial acts, and in the timid conservatism of +his character. The private meaning of his political convictions +is clear enough, for they are self-imposed obligations +to lift his load of guilt for the murderous and incestuous +fantasies which he long struggled to repress. The +opinions of the family were sanctioned as a kind of religion. +It is interesting to see how at first he invented a +large array of ceremonial practices to substitute for his +own illicit impulses, and later worked off his guilt feelings +through the religious patterns which were provided by +society, and which were revalidated on the basis of his +private meanings. The acceptance of the political convictions +of the family was on a par with the acceptance +of theological dogma.</p> + +<p>Among the nonconformists to the family pattern we +may choose M, whose history was taken by Stekel. M was +a prominent socialist who agitated for an economic brotherhood +of man, and whose most important private motive +in this particular was a bitter hatred of his own brother. +Most of this hatred was displaced from his brother on to +capitalistic autocracy, and overreacted against by a social +ideal of fraternal equality. His hatred of his own brother +was not entirely disposed of by this displacement, and it +was necessary to keep at a distance from him, and from +many of his traits. Thus M despised music because his +brother liked it, followed a style of dress at the opposite +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>pole from his brother, and nearly walked out on the physician +when he discovered that the physician had treated +his own brother.</p> + +<p>M spent the years agitating at home and abroad, spending +a year and a half in prison. Thus he succeeded in +gratifying his masochistic desire to be punished for his +hatred by provoking society to avenge itself on him. The +motivation in this personality is notably similar to that +which has been more elaborately sketched in the history +of A.</p> + +<p>Another nonconformist appears in the history of an anarchist +who was once a patient of Stekel. N carried his +social doctrine beyond the sharing of property, insisting +that wives should be in common. He took the initiative +by urging his wife to cohabit with the male members of +his anarchistic society, while he demanded access to the +wives of others. His own wife finally fell in love with +another man, and asked N for a divorce. But before arrangements +could be made, she became pregnant by her +new partner, who was poor, and asked N to acknowledge +the new child as his own, since this child would fall heir +to some money from its supposed grandfather, the father +of N. He consented to this, as he had to the divorce, but +his self-esteem was hurt by his wife’s desertion. He had +always felt elated when his wife came back to him after +each of her erotic adventures, and now he was all broken +up. Stekel believes that N’s espousal of communal principles +in theory and practice was powerfully motivated by +an irrational desire to humiliate his father by playing a +generous rôle with his sexual partner, and substituting +the morality of generosity for his father’s possessive monopoly +of the mother. When his wife-mother deserted him, +N’s brilliant career was ruined, and he resorted to opium, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>and finally secured a revenge on his father by blocking +his ambitions for a successful son.</p> + +<p>A father-hatred (due to unrequited love) of remarkable +intensity was the basis of another career which Stekel +examined. O was the young leader of an anarchist band +whose anarchism went beyond precept to dramatic practice. +O had his companions conduct some holdups to +get money to start an anarchist paper. O was an illegitimate +child who was brought up and spoiled by an overindulgent +mother. When he realized that he had a father +who was still living, but whose identity was never divulged, +his anger boiled up against his mother upon whose affections +he no longer had monopolistic claim, and against his +unknown father, who refused him love and distinction. +For he had no doubt that his father was a rich and important +personage. O displaced much of his animosity on +to remote, abstract symbols of authority, like kings and +capitalists, and devoted himself to destroying them. Much +of his affection was likewise displaced upon abstract ideals +of a fatherless fraternal society, living together without +coercion. His sadistic impulses were by no means entirely +sublimated upon remote goals and harmonious means, +for he led his companions on common robberies. O threw +a thick mantle of rationalization over his murderous impulses +and his criminal acts, seeking to justify coercion +in the name of a coercionless ideal which could only be +laboriously achieved in the world.</p> + +<p>It is the history of such cases, in which the emotions +are peculiarly intense, which leads one to conclude that +political assassins have hated their fathers with unusual +bitterness. E. J. Kempf remarks in his psychopathology, +after reviewing the historical evidence in the cases of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>Guiteau, the assassin of President Garfield, and of Booth, +the assassin of President Lincoln, as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The writer does not hold that every case of severe affective +repression in youth, due to the father’s hatred or a father equivalent’s, +will lead finally to a parricidal or treasonable compulsion. +It is only held that such affective repressions produce a revolutionary +character which, if given an appropriate repressive setting +during maturity, will then converge upon the parricidal act. +Without the rather specific type of affective repression in his +youth, he would be invulnerable to parricidal suggestions later +on.⁠<a id="FNanchor_44_44" href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">Illegitimate children, especially when the identity of their +father is undisclosed, carry with them the perpetual query, +“Who is my father?” Indeed, the fantasy of belonging +to other parents than those physically in the family is +sufficiently widespread as a disguised hostile reverie +against the actual parents to enable everyone to appreciate +in some measure the mental state of the illegitimate child. +“My father may be rich and powerful.” “My father may +be an aristocrat of distinguished lineage, and he is denying +me all my just privileges.” Such fantasies are taken +up and spun out in the reveries of the victim. There is a +presumption that those who suffer from this kind of social +inferiority are especially numerous among those who commit +acts of political violence, as Lombroso held.</p> + +<p>P accepted violence, but of a different kind. P is a +patriot who proved his patriotism by volunteering in the +late war during the course of which he was distinguished +for bravery in action. His deepest longing is for war to +come again. He is in favor of an aggressive foreign policy +since it increases the chances of war, and war he would +welcome again as he welcomed it before.</p> + +<p>P has a younger brother and an older sister. His mother +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>died when he was six and his relations have been strained +with his stepmother, who entered the family shortly afterward. +His father was a very successful professional man.</p> + +<p>P began to fall behind in his schoolwork when he was +about seven years old. This brought him into disrepute +at home, for his previous promise led everyone to expect +much from him, and the change seemed to prove that he +was “lazy.” The family has nagged him ever after, hoping +to stimulate him to work harder. Just why he failed to +continue to cope successfully with the demands of school +becomes fairly clear when his reminiscences of the period +are recovered. He had loved his second-grade teacher and +had been her special favorite, and both his marks and his +enthusiasm were high. The third-grade teacher impressed +him as stern and cruel, and he soon began to despise the +sight of her. The boy’s work began to crumble, for his +mind was full of hostile fancies about his new teacher, +and of yearning fancies for the teacher whom he had just +lost.</p> + +<p>His emotional life was further disturbed about this +time by the loss of his nurse. P’s stepmother discharged +her as soon as she came. Now the nurse was the lad’s main +love, for his own mother had been ill for some years before +her death. The nurse’s presence gave the child that stable +reassurance which is so necessary if the mind of the child +is to be kept free from morbid fears. In P’s case, there +were strong reasons why this reassurance was necessary. +An insane man lived across the street and terrified the +passers-by by screaming at everyone who passed. Shortly +after his mother’s death P went under ether for a minor +operation and was terrified that he would die. The fear +of suffocation reappeared in dreams and nightmares, and +he was very timid about learning to swim.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span></p> + +<p>The stepmother was a disturbing element as a strange +and unknown quantity in the environment, and a competitor +for the affection of the father. When she discharged +the nurse, P thought of her as a malignant influence. His +troubles at school were exaggerated by his home changes, +and his mind became preoccupied with fantasies directed +against his stepmother, or some substitute.</p> + +<p>P’s father was ambitious for the boy. P remembers him +as quick to reprove and slow to praise. He dreamed of +his father’s death, and of seeing his father in an accident. +But his manifest attitude was one of respectful affection. +No matter what happened in the home, he excused his +father by reflecting that the stepmother was to blame. +However, on the deeper level, it appeared that he held his +father accountable for the death of his mother and the +disappearance of his nurse.</p> + +<p>At school P was popular because of his good physique +and his docile nature. But his studies came hard. Having +failed on college-entrance tests, P bolted and joined the +army. The war came along just in time to give him a +dignified retreat from an unbearable personal situation. +He hoped that his father would think about him with pride. +He was bitterly self-accusatory because of his failure to +“make good,” and felt a strong unconscious need of punishment. +Under these conditions he entered army life with +enthusiasm, and made a fine record for personal courage.</p> + +<p>Once the war was over, his troubles began again. He +succeeded in entering college, but college felt like a nursery. +He felt that his army experience sophisticated him +above schoolboy tasks and chatter. All his old worries returned, +complicated by his longing for a new war. He +had a long series of difficulties in his occupational life.</p> + +<p>Seen against this background, his militarism is perfectly +intelligible. War gave him a chance to destroy, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span>wildly and extensively, and also a chance to work off his +guilt feelings by exposing himself to death. His repressed +hatreds were partly turned against himself. An interesting +feature of his ideology is that his longing for personal +participation in war is combined with indignation against +the exploitation of backward peoples by the imperialist +powers. He identifies with the “underdog.”</p> + +<p>Q, a contrast to P, is a pacifist and a socialist. His intimate +history shows that relatively simple association of +ideas upon which this depends. From an early age Q +showed a morbid fear of blood. Later on, when he heard +that western capitalism meant war and bloodshed, he experienced +a profound emotional revulsion against “capitalism,” +“imperialism,” and their associated concepts, and +called himself a “socialist,” “pacifist,” and “internationalist.”</p> + +<p>The blood-phobia itself was a powerful factor in developing +his character. By slow degrees, he was able to push +the screened memories back until he recovered a simple +incident which was heavily ladened with affect, and whose +recollection disposed of the blood-phobia, even though it +was not completely analyzed. Q’s father was accustomed +to shave in the kitchen on Saturday afternoon, and Q as +a small child took a great interest in the proceedings. +Occasionally the father cut a pimple on his face with the +big razor he was using, and flinched as the blood spurted +out. He immediately swabbed the cut, and presumably +forgot it. But Q did not forget so quickly. He found himself +much engaged in speculating about it, drawing the +inference that all the reddish projections on the body are +full of blood, that, indeed, the body is a reservoir of +blood; and that the reddish formations are in danger of +being punctured, so the blood will spurt out and run off.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span></p> + +<p>Q had previously seen his father naked in the bathtub, +and he thought that his father had rubbed soap over his +nipples with the palm of his hand and not with the fingers, +from which he concluded that the nipples must be especially +tender, and whenever he washed himself, Q carefully +avoided his own nipples and massaged them most delicately +with the palm of his hand.</p> + +<p>His brother had the habit of biting his finger nails until +the blood came, and the family reproached him for it, +prophesying that all sorts of infections might set in. Q +began to expect that something disastrous would happen, +and he was not altogether averse to having it happen because +of his jealousy of the brother. But it came with a +great shock when his brother did actually develop an infection, +thus confirming his own suspicions about the necessity +for stopping outflows of blood.</p> + +<p>About this time Q was playing with his older sister, and +in the course of a scuffle his hand slid down his sister’s +body and over her breast. Q distinctly felt a nipple catch +for a moment beneath his fingers, and he was instantly +terrified for fear that his sister would bleed to death. The +breasts, he thought, must be partly filled reservoirs of +blood, since they were soft and yielding.</p> + +<p>During his fourth year Q’s grandmother died, and he +was horrified to think of what would happen to one he +loved. He had seen a photograph of a reclining nude with +a beatific smile and the caption “Death” beneath. From +this he surmised that people were undressed when they +died, and lowered naked into the ground. But he had seen +worms in the ground, and the worms would attack the +body. Since the nipples were prominent and therefore +easy to reach, the nipples would be eaten through first. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>He shuddered to think of the worms gnawing away at his +grandmother’s nipples, and sometimes woke up in a fright, +having dreamed that the worms were biting off his own +nipples.</p> + +<p>Once Q came running into his aunt’s house and discovered +a small infant cousin nursing at the breast. His aunt +hastily readjusted her dress. Because of the care with +which the breasts were guarded from exposure by his +mother, sister, and aunt, he leaped to the conclusion that +they had something to do with the secret relations of men +and women.</p> + +<p>He had all sorts of trouble trying to figure out how +these relations were conducted, but when he was about +eight he originated a theory that temporarily solved the +problem. Q figured that a man and woman must lie on +the bed with their faces close together. The male would +then squeeze the breasts, alternately pressing and releasing +them, as if they were balloons. Then they turned over and +rubbed their anuses together. Not long after, he completed +his theory of procreation by imagining that children must +be born through a hole in the stomach from which the +blood gushed copiously. The cutting must be very painful +and bloody.</p> + +<p>Haunted by the fearful prospect of a world which might +at any time knock a hole in his body and deprive him of +blood, Q was a bundle of excessive timidities. He was +afraid of his grandmother’s cat, he ran to his mother if +he saw a dog, and he was afraid that a horse would bite +off his hand if he fed it. He hated to watch a ball game +for fear a foul tip would hit him, and he avoided bugs, +worms, and lizards like the plague. Q never put up a fight +outside the house, and cried when the other boys of the +neighborhood bullied him. Sometimes he was taunted as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>a Jew but he never fought back, much to the disgust of +his father. His forebodings spread to thunder, lightning, +fire, redness, and numerous articles of food.</p> + +<p>In marked contrast to his cringing demeanor abroad was +his attitude toward the older brother, ten years his senior. +Time after time he would pick a quarrel and pummel the +older youth, until the brother tired of the situation and +gave him a sharp blow. Thereupon he went to someone +for comfort. Q’s father felt that the older boy might be +a little rough, but that the little fellow had something +coming to him. The mother was uniformly comforting, +although she reproved both boys for not behaving as brothers +should.</p> + +<p>The boys were profoundly hostile to each other, although +usually cordial. The older brother made himself conspicuous +for his tenderness during a serious illness of Q, running +errands with alacrity, and watching constantly by the +bedside. When it became clear that Q would live, the +older boy’s devotion stopped abruptly, indicating the unconscious +basis of the exaggerated reaction. He was overreacting +against a death wish against his brother as an +intruder between him and the mother.</p> + +<p>Q envied the achievements of his older brother, and +often compared himself unfavorably with him. The older +boy not only stood at the head of his classes, but earned +his way by playing the violin. Although Q stayed at the +head of his classes, he was by no means as self-supporting +as his brother. The brother-hatred appeared in such +dreams as:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>Dream 1.</i>—My brother is getting married. He is in a dress +suit. A long line of young men in dress suits are coming up to +congratulate him. As the first one reaches out his hand, he falls +backward and all the others fall over one another like tenpins.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span></p> + +<p><i>Dream 2.</i>—My brother and I are walking down the street near +home. I hear a scream. An Italian is chasing a woman with a +baby who seeks refuge in a store. The Italian knocks her down. +Then my brother goes into the store and tries to deal with the +Italian, but is knocked down. I enter and knock down the Italian.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The brother-jealousy is of secondary significance in Q’s +history. The crux of the blood-phobia was a critical experience +whose traumatic effects were due to the strength +of the affects which were mobilized and repressed. Q slept +with his father, and the blood-letting incident aroused his +slumbering desire for the death of his father and his own +active fear of suffering mutilation (castration). Blood derived +its significance because it involved a reinstatement of +the most acute phase of the conflict. To escape from it, Q +fainted unless he succeeded in getting out of the sight of +blood at once. It is noteworthy that Q did not at once +faint when the razor cut the pimple; it was not until the +elaboration of the fantasy had continued, and the affects +had become greatly concentrated, that the blood came to +signalize an instant and overwhelming emergency from +which a kind of suicide (fainting) was the only escape.</p> + +<p>The following terse dream expresses something of the +underlying situation:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>Dream 3.</i>—I am looking down a city street which is covered +with snow and lighted by street lights. The President of the +United States is walking along the street and suddenly slips and +falls. My attention is then called to a place farther down the +street where two tumblers are leaping over a rope stretched across +the street. They are leaping backward and forward with a curious +mechanical motion.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The rhythmic leaping is a pictorial symbol for the +pulsations of genital excitement. The President is an authority +substitute for the father. When the father is out of +the way, genital activity will become safe. Since the father +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>prescribes sexual abstinence (abstinence from handling the +genitals), this expresses a desire to give greater freedom +to the repressed impulses of the subject’s character. The +repressed positive identification with the brother shows itself +in opposing two tumblers instead of one to the father.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>Dream 4.</i>—A goose or ducklike creature is being chased back +and forth across the road by two dogs. The creature has a red +bill and head, a blue back and wing feathers, and a white breast. +The white, fuzzy dogs chase the animal back and forth but do not +reach it because of their overanxiety. After two round-trips the +animal, which moved with a curiously mechanical motion, runs +toward a man who has come to the door and jumps between his +legs. The man is middle-aged and his hair is white. He is in white +pajamas. He says, “My leg is the leg of weakness; my health is +hell....” I am in a winter coat standing outside the house of +a friend of my sister’s in whom I remember having had a mild +interest, but which led to nothing since she was older than I, and +not very attractive. I had just delivered a valentine. The scene +is illuminated by a street light, and is especially clear because +snow is on the ground. The man in the picture is unknown.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The odd creature with the red bill and head symbolizes +the penis. The two dogs (brothers) try to capture it, but +the father protects it. However, the hope of achieving +masculinity is not wholly dashed because the old man is +growing weaker.</p> + +<p>For some time the productions of Q showed that sexuality +was powerfully linked with death, and that the death +was to be his own rather than that of his father, or simultaneously +with the death of his father. As the castration +anxiety lifted, the blood fear abated, and dreams, word-associations, +posture, and other significant reactions altered +toward greater ease and assertiveness.</p> + +<p>We have seen that well-rationalized theories and preferences +are not alien fungi on the personality, but an important +expression of the essential trends of the personality. +Thus theories are at least as indicative of the individual +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>who espouses them as of the ostensible subjects +of speculation. Pessimism, for example, is common in old +age, when the sexual powers decline and the individual +projects upon the world the sinfulness which he feels for +wanting to indulge beyond his powers, and defy his inadequacy. +The mechanism of this sort of thing stands out +most clearly in extreme cases, such as R. R believed that +the world was going from bad to worse and that wars and +rumors of wars were devastating the earth. He spent so +many hours over a plan to secure the peace of the world +forevermore that he developed a confusion state. He would +go out in a park, find a secluded spot and weep over the +troubles of the world as Jesus wept over Jerusalem. One +day in passing a market he saw some chickens in a coop +without any water. The cruelty of this was more than he +could bear, so he went home and went to bed. His ideas +were that he had been chosen to work out the salvation of +the world, and that he had been endowed with unusual, +indeed supernatural, understanding of men’s motives, and +special power to heal insanity.</p> + +<p>R elaborated a private form of religion. He said that +he was worshiping the sun as God, as a symbol of Christ +and truth (actually, of masculine virility). When it became +necessary for him to commune with his spirit, he was +in the habit of facing the sun and repeating a litany of +his invention, which ran:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>To the sun, the heart of the world! It warmeth the earth with +its loveliness. Glory to God! It riseth in the east, lighting the +dark corners of ignorance and wickedness. Glory to God! It +chaseth the darkness before it like the host of Syria before the +children of Israel. Glory to God! It chaseth the darkness before +it like the host of Syria before the children of Israel. Glory to +God! etc., etc.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>He began to chant, and then assumed an exalted, heroic +pose, with his arms and head thrown back. Presently he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>felt that a big storm was coming that would ruin the world. +The world is like a giant serpent, a serpent asleep.</p> + +<p>R’s story is not sufficiently detailed to show much about +the development of those reaction patterns which disposed +him to meet old age in such a way. He was the only child +of a poverty-stricken family who played by himself and +got on well with his books. Some local lawyers took an +interest in him and helped him through school. He read +law and was admitted to the bar. After making a precarious +living for a number of years, he was elected to various +local offices, and then to Congress. He was reputed to be an +impractical dreamer, and enjoyed making rather fanciful +speeches. His legislative career as recorded in the <i>Congressional +Record</i> was undistinguished, containing the usual +quota of pension bills and “extensions of remarks” during +tariff debates. He was opposed to the annexation of +the Philippines, and hostile to imperialism; in this he went +along with his party, and likewise indulged a personal conviction. +He practiced law desultorily, after having been defeated +for the legislature, and devoted himself to study +and writing. His one published volume is a vague disquisition +on human affairs, which accurately reflects the indeterminate, +rhetorical, and meliorative quality of his +thinking. He married a woman of his own age when he +was a young man. There were no children.</p> + +<p>When the paranoid rather than the manic-depressive +strain runs through the character, nebulous and all-embracing +pessimism about the world is sharpened to specific +accusations. Everyone who is prominent in public life is a +potential object of such attacks. One might hazard the conjecture +that the importance of an individual in the community’s +estimation may be measured by the number of +“crank” letters to him and about him. One such crank, S, +wrote a trunkful of letters accusing public men of graft, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>of being dominated by “Big Biz,” and offering suggestions +to government officials. He complained of being persecuted +and victimized by prominent people, especially by +Harry F. Sinclair, the oil man. This was attributed by him +to the fact that he had written a letter to the Chief Justice +of the Supreme Court calling His Honor’s attention to the +Teapot Dome scandal which was being ventilated in the +press, and naming Mr. Sinclair as the responsible party. +Since then Mr. Sinclair had prevented him from getting +a job, and paid his own sister to throw him out on the +street. During his divorce proceedings he wrote to the +American Bar Association to protest against the “shyster +lawyers” who were representing his wife, and claims that +Mr. Taft and Mr. Root answered him in the papers the +following day. When Mr. John W. Davis was a presidential +candidate he wrote to him, describing the various attacks +to which he, S, had been subjected. Mr. Davis neglected +to reply and did nothing about it, so S prevented his +election, and feels that Mr. Coolidge owes him something +for being elected. “I wrote to Hearst and I believe that +turned the trick.” In this letter he divulged the fact that +Mr. Davis was connected with Wall Street, and this hint +was enough to arouse Mr. Hearst. In reply to the routine +question, “What is going on in the world?” he answered, +“More deviltry than there ever was before.”</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the history is too meager to explain S’s +development, except by analogy with others who have displayed +the same behavior. Certainly his life-story would, +if accessible, reveal the effects of a disorganizing family +environment. We do know that his father was drunk much +of the time, and that the children had an unhappy lot. At +five S went to live with his grandparents who wanted to take +him away from his drunken father. At about fifteen he +came back for a while. Shortly afterward he saved his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>sister from being strangled to death by their father, who +in a drunken tantrum had her by the neck against the wall. +S became a good mechanic, but disintegrated in later life.</p> + +<p>Another “crank” devised an ingenious theory to explain +President Wilson’s conduct. T says that he discovered +that Mr. Wilson was not a citizen of the United States. He +first made this revelation on his draft questionnaire, and +when this became generally known, Mr. Wilson went to +France to escape the anger of the enraged citizenry of the +United States; later Mr. Wilson fell ill of a guilty conscience +at new revelations that he made. Mr. Wilson was +part of the Masonic conspiracy which had been hatched +against him when he was very young. T’s stepfather, who +was a Shriner, probably furnishes the material for this +delusion. As for T himself, he believed that he descended +directly from Mary, Queen of Scots, and that he had foreknowledge +of the approaching end of the world. The members +of the millennium are “a creed and not a denomination,” +and only twenty million people will be saved, over +whom T will rule.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>From the excerpts included, it appears that the significance +of political opinions is not to be grasped apart from +the private motives which they symbolize. The degree of +insight into objective relationships is one thing; the extent +to which “private meanings” are accreted to the “public” +or “manifest” meanings is another. When we see the private +meaning of public acts, the problem of interpreting +the full significance of political behavior presses itself +upon our attention. Are there any implications for the general +theory of the political process which follow from the +intensive scrutiny of individual subjective (and objective) +histories? This is the question to which we next turn.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X"> + CHAPTER X + <br> + THE POLITICS OF PREVENTION + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Political movements derive their vitality from the displacement +of private affects upon public objects. The +intensive scrutiny of the individual by psychopathological +methods discloses the prime importance of hitherto-neglected +motives in the determination of political traits +and beliefs. The adult who is studied at any given cross-section +of his career is the product of a long and gradual +development in the course of which many of his motivations +fail to modify according to the demands of unfolding +reality. The adult is left with an impulse life which +is but partially integrated to adulthood. Primitive psychological +structures continue in more or less disguised form +to control his thought and effort.</p> + +<p>The state is a symbol of authority, and as such is the +legatee of attitudes which have been organized in the +life of the individual within the intimate interpersonal +sphere of the home and friendship group. At one phase +of childhood development the wisdom and might of the +physical symbol of authority, typically the father, is enormously +exaggerated by the child. Eder traces the significance +of this for the state in the following words:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>What occurs as we come more in touch with the external +world, when the principle of reality develops, is the finding of +surrogates for this ideal father. We discover that the parent is +not all-wise, all-powerful, all-good, but we still need to find persons +or abstractions upon which we can distribute these and similar +attributes. By a process of fission these feelings are displaced +on to and may be distributed among a number of surrogates. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>surrogates may be persons, animals, things or abstract ideas; the +headmaster, the dog, the rabbit, the Empire, the Aryan race, or +any particular “ism.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">He comments that it is upon this self-ideal that is formed +the possibility of leadership, of leaders, and of the supreme +leader, who is the one capable of doing all that +the child once thought the physical father could do. The +unconscious motivation is reflected in the sober formula +of Blackstone, “The sovereign is not only incapable of +doing wrong, but even of thinking wrong: he can never +mean to do an improper thing; in him is no folly or weakness.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_45_45" href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> + +<p>There is very deep meaning in the phrase of Paley’s +that “a family contains the rudiments of an empire.” +The family experience organizes very powerful drives in +successive levels of integration, and these primitive attitudes +are often called into play as the unobserved partners +of rational reactions. To choose another extract from +Eder:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The behaviour of the elected or representative politician betrays +many characteristics derived from the family. For example, +during the time I filled a political job in Palestine I noticed in +myself (and in my colleagues) the satisfaction it gave me to +have secret information, knowledge which must on no account +be imparted to others. Of course good reasons were always to +be found: the people would misuse the information or it would +depress them unduly and so on—pretty exactly the parent’s attitude +about imparting information, especially of a sexual nature, +to the children....</p> + +<p>At the back of secret diplomacy, and indeed the whole relationship +of the official to the non-official, there rests this father-child +affect. This also serves to explain the passion aroused in +former days by any proposed extension of the franchise.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span></p> + +<p>In the sphere of political dogma, unconscious conflicts +play the same rôle which Theodor Reik discussed +when he drew a parallel between religious dogma and +obsessive ideas.⁠<a id="FNanchor_46_46" href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> Dogma is a defensive reaction against +doubt in the mind of the theorist, but of doubt of which +he is unaware. The unconscious hatred of authority discloses +itself in the endless capacity of the theorist to +imagine new reasons for disbelief, and in his capacity +to labor over trivialities, and to reduce his whole intellectual +scheme to a logical absurdity. Sometimes this appears +in a cryptic formula to which some sort of mysterious +potency is ascribed, but which is hopelessly contradictory +in so far as it possesses any manifest meaning. +The celebrated doctrine of the unity of the trinity is an +instance of such culminating nonsense. Words lose their +rational reference points and become packed with unconscious +symbolism of the ambivalent variety. The description +of sovereignty found in Blackstone refers to nothing +palpable, and functions principally as an incantation. +Much solemn juridical speculation, since so much of it +is elaborated by obsessive thinkers, ends thus. Deep doubts +about the self are displaced on to doubts about the world +outside, and these doubts are sought to be allayed by +ostentatious preoccupation with truth.</p> + +<p>Defiance of authority is defiance of the introjected conscience, +and involves a measure of self-punishment. We +have seen how a powerful need for self-punishment is the +stuff out of which martyrs and sensational failures are +made; but of more general importance is the rôle of the +sense of guilt in supporting the <i>status quo</i>. Deviation from +accepted patterns becomes equivalent to sin, and the conscience +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>visits discomforts upon those who dare to innovate. +Radical ideas become “sacrilegious” and “disloyal” in +the view of the primitive conscience, for they tend to +represent more than a limited defiance of authority. They +put the whole structure of the personality under strain. +The childish conscience is easily intimidated into preserving +order on slight provocation; it knows little of the +capacity to consider the piecemeal reconstruction of values. +“Radicalism” is felt as a challenge to the whole system +of resistances which are binding down the illicit impulses +of the personality, rather than as an opportunity for +detached consideration of the relation of the self to the +rest of reality. There is little boldness in political thinking +which is not accompanied by an overdose of defiance, +for even those who succeed in breaking through the intimidations +of their infantile consciences must often succumb +in some measure and “pay out.” Much of the +struggle, the fearful <i>Sturm und Drang</i> of the emancipated +thinker, is his unconscious tribute to the exactions of the +tribunal which he erected within himself at an early age, +and which continues to treat innovation as <i>ipso facto</i> +dangerous. The non-obsessive thinker is one who can +coolly contemplate revisions in the relations of man to +reality unperturbed by his antiquated conscience. Often +readjustments of human affairs which are proposed are +driven to absurdity because the original mind is compelled +to transform his mere departure from the conventional +into a defiance of conventionality. When one perceives +the operation of this powerful self-punishment +drive, and the secondary efforts to free one’s self from +feelings of guilt for defying the authorized order, it is +possible to remain understandingly tolerant of the eccentricities +of creative minds. To put the point a bit sharply, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>it is safe to say that the adult mind is only partly adult; +the conscience may be four years old. The conscience, +the introjected nursemaid, reacts undiscriminatingly to +change, and construes it as rebellion.</p> + +<p>The organization of motives which occurs in adolescence +possesses direct significance for the interpretation +of political interests.</p> + +<p>The physical and mental storm of puberty and adolescence +often culminates in the displacement of loves upon +all humanity or a selected part of it, and in acts of +devotion to the whole. It is here that the fundamental +processes of loyalty are most clearly evident as they relate +to public life. S. Bernfeld has written extensively on +the psychology of the German youth movement. He comments +on the very different lengths of puberty, and distinguishes +between the physical and the psychological +processes. When the psychological processes outlive the +physical ones, certain characteristic reaction types arise. +Dr. Bernfeld believes that the discrepant type prevails +most characteristically in the youth movement, and he +enumerates its characteristics. The interests of this group +are turned toward “ideal” objects like politics, humanity, +and art. The relation to these objects is productive, since +the youth tries to produce a new form of politics or art. +There is always a great deal of self-confidence present, or +many symptoms of a repression that has failed. This is +expressed in the high opinion of one’s self and the low +opinion one holds of his companions. An outstanding +individual, the friend or master, is loved and revered. +Often this love for a friend is extended to the whole group. +The sexual components of the personality do not concentrate +on finding objects, but in creating a new narcissistic +situation. Bernfeld distinguishes this secondary narcissism +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>from infantile narcissism on the ground that it is accompanied +by deep depression reminiscent of melancholia. +The reason lies in the formation of an ideal self that attracts +a great part of the libido and enters into contrast with +the real ego, a process which is particularly characteristic +of the complex or discrepant type which he found in the +youth movement.⁠<a id="FNanchor_47_47" href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + +<p>Political life seems to sublimate many homosexual +trends. Politicians characteristically work together in +little cliques and clubs, and many of them show marked +difficulties in reaching a stable heterosexual adjustment. +In military life, when men are thrown together under intimate +conditions, the sublimations often break down and +the homosexual drives find direct expression. A German +general has gone so far as to declare that one reason +why Germany lost the war was that the command was +shot through with jealousies growing out of homosexual +rivalry. Dr. K. G. Heimsoth has prepared a manuscript +describing the rôle of homosexuality in the volunteer +forces which continued to operate against the Poles and +the communists after the war. In the case of certain +leaders, at least, the reputation for overt homosexuality +was no handicap; indeed, the reverse seemed to be true. +Franz Alexander has suggested that one reason why homosexuality +is viewed with contempt in modern life is the +vague sense that complex cultural achievement depends +on an inhibited sexuality, and that direct gratification +tends to dissolve society into self-satisfied pairs and +cliques. The observations of Heimsoth throw some doubt +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>on the wisdom of this “vague sense.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_48_48" href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> The prominence +of alcoholism and promiscuity among like-sex groups has +often been observed, and both indulgences appear to be +closely connected with homosexual impulses.⁠<a id="FNanchor_49_49" href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>Political crises are complicated by the concurrent reactivation +of specific primitive impulses. War is the classical +situation in which the elementary psychological +structures are no longer held in subordination to complex +reactions. The acts of cruelty and lust which are inseparably +connected with war have disclosed vividly to all +who care to see the narrow margin which separates the +social from the asocial nature of man. The excesses of +heroism and abnegation are alike primitive in their manifestations, +and show that all the primitive psychological +structures are not antisocial, but asocial, and may often +function on behalf of human solidarity.⁠<a id="FNanchor_50_50" href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> + +<p>Why does society become demoralized in the process +of revolution? Why should a change in the political procedures +of the community unleash such excesses in behavior? +Reflection might lead one to suppose that since +important decisions are in process of being made, calm +deliberation would characterize society. Evidently a reactivating +process is at work here; there is a regressive +tendency to reawaken primitive sadism and lust. The conspicuous +disproportionality between the problem and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>behavior necessitates an explanation in such terms. Federn +published a sketch of the psychology of revolution in +his pamphlet <i>Die vaterlose Gesellschaft</i> in 1919. When +the ruler falls, the unconscious triumphantly interprets +this as a release from all constraint, and the individuals +in the community who possess the least solidified personality +structures are compulsively driven to acts of +theft and violence. An interview which Federn gave to +Edgar Ansel Mowrer in 1927 on the occasion of the Vienna +riots reviews in somewhat popular form some of his +conceptions.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Vienna, Austria</span>, July 20.—“Distrust of father was the chief +cause of the Vienna riot,” said Paul Federn, onetime president +of the Psychoanalytical Society. From a psychoanalytical standpoint +all authority is the father, and this formerly for Austria was +incorporated in the imposing figure of Emperor Franz Josef. But +during the war the father deceived and maltreated his children, +and only the material preoccupations of life and the joyous outburst +when at the close of the war the old authority broke asunder +prevented Austria from having a revolution then.</p> + +<p>The state again built up the old ruling caste and began to +hope for restoration, and therefore an abyss opened between +Vienna, which under socialist leadership is trying to replace the +traditional father principle by a new brotherhood, and the Austrian +federal state, which had returned to a modified father idea. +Trust in father is the child’s deepest instinct. Vienna first respected +the Austrian republic, but gradually this belief was undermined +by the continual misery, by newspapers preaching +fanaticism and by legal decisions which virtually destroyed the +people’s belief in the new father’s justice.</p> + +<p>Accordingly there occurred a spontaneous manifestation which +unconsciously drove the disillusioned and furious children to destroy +precisely those things on which the paternal authority seems +to rest—namely, records and legal documents.</p> + +<p>Why the peaceful Viennese should suddenly be transformed +temporarily into mad beasts is also clear to the psychoanalysts. +Had the police offered no resistance the crowd would soon have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>dispersed and no harm would have been done. But once the police +fired blood flowed and the mob reacted savagely, responding +to the ancient fear of castration by the father which is present +in all of us unconsciously in the face of the punishing authority. +Therefore, fear grew along with the violence, each increase +leading to new violence and greater fear, as appeasement +can only follow a complete outbreak and as the inhabitants were +widely scattered in their houses it took three days before the last +hatred could fully get out.</p> + +<p>One further point can only be explained by psychoanalysis. +The social democratic leaders are at heart revolutionary, but +they did not wish this demonstration. They realized that revolution +in little Austria today would be suicidal, and, therefore, at +a given moment called out the republican guard with orders to +interfere and prevent violence. The guard arrived much too late.</p> + +<p>Why did not the leaders send out the guard at 6 a.m. when +they knew the demonstration was beginning? They say they “forgot.” +This is <i>a flagrant</i> example of unconscious forgetfulness. +The socialists forgot to take the only step which could have prevented +something which they consciously disapproved, but unconsciously +desired.</p> + +<p>The Vienna riots were in the deepest sense a family row.⁠<a id="FNanchor_51_51" href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Eder speculates about the unconscious factors in the +well-known tendency of certain political alternatives to +succeed one another in crude pendulum fashion.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>I think it was Mr. Zangwill who once said that it is a principle +of the British Constitution that the King can do no wrong +and his ministers no right. That is to say, the ambivalency originally +experienced toward the father is now split; the sentiment +of disloyalty, etc., is displaced on to the King’s ministers, or on +to some of them, or on to the opposition.... Modern society +has discovered the principle of election, and the vote to give expression +to the hostile feelings toward their rulers. Psychoanalytically +an election may be regarded as the sublimation of regicide +(primary parricide) with the object of placing oneself on the +throne; the vote is like a repeating decimal; the father is killed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>but never dies. The ministers are our substitutes for ourselves. +Hence the political maxim of the swing of the pendulum.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Alexander and Staub have undertaken to explain the +unconscious basis of the crisis which is produced in the +community when criminals are permitted to go with no +punishment or with light punishment. The study of personality +genesis shows that the sublimation of primitive +impulses is possible on the basis of a kind of primitive +“social contract.” The individual foregoes direct indulgences +(which have the disadvantage of bringing him into +conflict with authority), and substitutes more complex +patterns of behavior on the tacit understanding that love +and safety will thereby be insured. When another individual +breaks over and gratifies his illicit impulses +directly on a primitive level, the equilibrium of every +personality is threatened. The conscious self perceives +that it is possible to “get by,” and this threatens the whole +structure of sublimation. The superego tries to maintain +order by directing energy against the ego, perhaps subjecting +it to “pricks of conscience,” for so much as entertaining +the possibility of illicit gratification, and seeks to +turn the ego toward activities which reduce temptation. +This may involve the reconstruction of the environment +by seeking to eliminate the “non-ideal” elements in it, +and may be exemplified in the panicky demand for the +annihilation of the outsider (who is a criminal) for the +sake of keeping the chains on the insider (who is a criminal). +Every criminal is a threat to the whole social order +since he reinstates with more or less success an acute +conflict within the lives of all members of society. The +success of the superego depends upon imposing certain +ways of interpreting reality upon the self. When reality +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>grossly refuses to conform to the “ideal,” the energies of +the self are divided, and an acute crisis supervenes. The +superego undertakes to reinforce its side of the contradictory +ego trends by punishing the ego, and by forcing +the projection of this situation upon the outer world. +Certain aspects of the outer world become “bad” because +they are connected in private experience with the +pangs inflicted by the taskmaster within, the conscience. +A strong conscience may enforce this “distortion” of +reality upon the self to such a degree that the self acts +on quite fantastic assumptions about reality. These are +most acutely manifested in such phenomena as confusion +states, hallucinations, and delusions, all of which are +forms of deformed reality. When reality becomes “ominous,” +violent efforts to change may appear futile, and +safety is sought in physical flight, or in physical passivity +and autistic preoccupation. Since our conceptions of +reality are based upon little “first-hand” experience of +the world about us, the superego usually has a rather +easy time of it.</p> + +<p>Political movements, then, derive their vitality from +the displacement of private affects upon public objects, +and political crises are complicated by the concurrent +reactivation of specific primitive motives. Just how does +it happen that the private and primitive drives find their +way to political symbols? What are the circumstances +which favor the selection of political targets of displacement?</p> + +<p>Political life is carried on with symbols of the whole. +Politics has to do with collective processes and public +acts, and so intricate are these processes that with the +best of intentions, it is extremely difficult to establish an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>unambiguous relationship between the symbols of the +whole and the processes which they are presumed to +designate. To the common run of mankind the reference +points of political symbols are remote from daily experience, +though they are rendered familiar through constant +reiteration. This ambiguity of reference, combined with +universality of use, renders the words which signify parties, +classes, nations, institutions, policies, and modes of +political participation readily available for the displacement +of private affects. The manifest, rational differences +of opinion become complicated by the play of private +motives until the symbol is nothing but a focus for the +cumulation of irrelevancies. Since the dialectic of politics +is conducted in terms of the whole, the private motives +are readily rationalized in terms of collective advantage.</p> + +<p>Politics, moreover, is the sphere of conflict, and brings +out all the vanity and venom, the narcissism and aggression, +of the contending parties. It is becoming something +of a commonplace that politics is the arena of the irrational. +But a more accurate description would be that +politics is the process by which the irrational bases of +society are brought out into the open. So long as the +moral order functions with spontaneous smoothness, there +is no questioning the justification of prevailing values. +But when the moral order has been devalued and called +into question, a sincere and general effort may be made +to find a reflectively defensible solution of the resulting +conflict. Politics seems to be irrational because it is the +only phase of collective life in which society tries to be +rational. Its very existence shows that the moral order, +with all its irrational and non-rational sanctions, is no +longer accepted without a challenge. A political difference +is the outcome of a moral crisis, and it terminates +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>in a new moral consensus. Politics is the transition between +one unchallenged consensus and the next. It begins +in conflict and eventuates in a solution. But the solution +is not the “rationally best” solution, but the emotionally +satisfactory one. The rational and dialectical phases of +politics are subsidiary to the process of redefining an emotional +consensus.</p> + +<p>Although the dynamic of politics is to be sought in +the tension level of the individuals in society, it is to be +taken for granted that all individual tensions are not removed +by political symbolization and exertion. When Y +hits a foreman in the jaw whom he imagines has insulted +him, Y is relieving his tensions. But if the act is construed +by him as a personal affair with the foreman, the +act is not political. Political acts are joint acts; they depend +upon emotional bonds.</p> + +<p>Now people who act together get emotionally bound +together. This process of becoming emotionally bound is +dependent on no conscious process. Freud said that he +was made clearly aware of the emotional factor in human +relations by observing that those who work together extend +their contact to dining and relaxing together. Those +with whom we work are endowed with rich meanings on +the basis of our past experience with human beings. Since +all of our motives are going concerns within the personality, +our libido is more or less concentrated upon those +with whom we come in touch. This reinforces the perception +of similarities, and supplies the dynamic for the +identification process. Even the negative identification is +a tribute to the extent to which the affective resources +of the personality become mobilized in human contact.</p> + +<p>People who are emotionally bound together are not +yet involved in a political movement. Politics begins when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>they achieve a symbolic definition of themselves in relation +to demands upon the world. The pre-political phase +of the labor movement as sketched by Nexo in his <i>Pelle +the Conqueror</i> is an able characterization of what the facts +may be. The workers had plenty of grievances against +their employers, but individuals took it out in sporadic +acts of violence, and in frequent debauchery. It was not +until a new “set” of mind was achieved with the appearance +of socialist symbols, and their adoption, that the +tension found an outlet in political form. When J hits +a foreman on the jaw because the foreman swore at him, +J is not acting for the working classes; but after J becomes +a socialist, his acts are symbolically significant of the expanded +personality which he possesses. Acts cease to be +merely private acts; they have become related to remote +social objects. The conception of the self has new points +of reference, and points of reference which interlock +with those of others.</p> + +<p>It is of the utmost importance to political science to +examine in detail, not only the factors which contribute +to the raising and lowering of the tension level, but the +processes of symbolization. In regard to the former aspect +of the problem, data will have to be taken from +specialists of many kinds, but in regard to the latter +problem, the student can come into ready contact with the +raw material. The stock in trade of realistic politics is +the analysis of the history of “pressure groups,” ranging +from such associations as the Fabian Society through +political parties to conspirative organizations. What are +the conditions under which the idea is itself invented, and +what are the conditions of its propagation? That is to +say: What are the laws of symbolization in political activity?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span></p> + +<p>I wish to call attention to certain possibilities. Several +social movements will be found which represent a desire +on the part of an intimate circle to perpetuate their relationship +at the expense of society. It is worth remembering +that Loyola and the other young men who founded +the Jesuits were in long friendly relationship before they +hit upon their famous project. Not only that: they were +anxious to remain in some sort of personal relation +through life, and they invented many expedients before +they hit on the final one. What we had here was a friendly +group which desired to preserve their personal connections +before they knew how they could actually do it. +It is less true to say that institutions are the lengthened +shadow of a great man than that they are the residue of +a friendly few.</p> + +<p>Other social movements will be found to have adopted +their project from a lone thinker with whom they have +no direct connection. The process here is that one member +of the group, with whom the others are identified, is impressed +by the scheme, and interprets and defends it to +the others. He gets a hearing because of his emotional +claim on the others, and he may whip the doubters and +waverers into line by wheedling or by threatening to +withdraw affection.</p> + +<p>The formation of a radiating nucleus for an idea is +especially common among adolescents, and among those +who function best in single-sex groups. Thrasher has +described gangs which had a mission in his book on <i>The +Gang</i>, and the literature of youth study is full of instances +of two’s, three’s and quartettes which have sworn undying +fealty to one another, and to a project of social reform. +When the idea is embraced later in life it not infrequently +appears among those who have shown pronounced evidence +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>of emotional maladjustment. Much social and political +life is a symptom of the delayed adolescence of +its propagators, which is, of course, no necessary criticism +of its content.</p> + +<p>The psychology of personal, oratorical, and printed +persuasion by means of which support is won for particular +symbols has yet to be written. William I. Thomas long +ago commented on the quasi-sexual approach of the revivalist +to the audience. Some orators are of an intimate, +sympathetic, pleading type, and resemble the attempts +made by some males to overcome the shyness of the female. +Other orators fit into the feared yet revered father-pattern; +others are clowns who amuse by releasing much +repressed material; others address the socially adjusted +and disciplined level of the personality. Thus the relationship +between the speaker and the audience has its +powerful emotional aspects, which are not yet adequately +explored. There are some who excel in face-to-face relations, +but who make a poor showing out on the platform.</p> + +<p>The processes of symbolization can be studied with particular +ease when widespread and disturbing changes occur +in the life-situation of many members of society. +Famine, pestilence, unemployment, high living costs, and +a catalogue of other disturbances may simultaneously +produce adjustment problems for many people. One of +the first results is to release affects from their previous +objects, and to create a state of susceptibility to proposals. +All sorts of symbols are ready, or readily invented, to +refix the mobile affects. “Take it to the Lord in prayer,” +“Vote socialist,” “Down with the Jews,” “Restore pep +with pepsin,” “Try your luck on the horses”—all sorts +of alternatives become available. The prescriptions are +tied up with diagnoses, and the diagnoses in turn imply +prescriptions. “A sinful world,” “Wall Street,” “a collapse +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>in the foreign market”—all sorts of diagnoses float +about, steadily defining and redefining the situation for the +individuals affected. Political symbols must compete with +symbols from every sphere of life, and an interesting +inquiry could be made into the relative polarizing power +of political and other forms of social symbolism. Certainly +the modern world expects to fire the health commissioner +rather than burn a witch when the plague breaks +out.</p> + +<p>The competition among symbols to serve as foci of concentration +for the aroused emotions of the community +leads to the survival of a small number of master-symbols. +The mobilization of the community for action demands +economy in the terms in which objectives are put. The +agitation for the control of the liquor traffic passed through +many phases in America until finally legal prohibition +became the chief dividing-line. To prohibit or not to prohibit +grew into the overmastering dichotomy of public +thought.</p> + +<p>Symbolization thus necessitates dichotomization. The +program of social action must be couched in “yes” and +“no” form if decision is to be possible. The problem of +he who would manipulate the concentration of affect about +a particular symbol is to reinforce its competitive power +by leading as many elements as possible in society to +read their private meanings into it. This reinforcement +and facilitation of the symbol involves the use of men of +prestige in its advocacy, the assimilation of special economic +and other group aims, and the invention of appeals +to unconscious drives. Propaganda on behalf of a symbol +can become a powerful factor in social development because +of the flexibility in the displacement of emotion +from one set of symbols to another. There is always a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>rather considerable reservoir of unrest and discontent in +society, and there is nothing absolutely fixed and predestined +about the particular symbol which will have attracting +power.</p> + +<p>The analysis of motives which are unconscious for most +people, though widespread, gives the propagandist a +clue to certain nearly universal forms of appeal. The +moving pictures which have been produced by the communist +government in Russia are often remarkable examples +of the use of symbols which not only have their +conscious affective dimension, but which mobilize deep +unconscious impulses. In one film, for instance, it is the +mother who suffers under tsarism and fans the flames of +revolt. Analysis has disclosed the general, and presumably +universal, meaning of the attachment to the land. +The boy-child’s wish for union with the mother, for all-embracing +care and protection, undergoes some measure +of sublimation in social life. Eder remarks that it finds +expression in attachment to the earth, the land, the mother-country, +home. The <i>Heimweh</i> of the Swiss, the pious +Jew’s desire for burial in Palestine, and a host of similar +manifestations are instances of this emotional tie whose +significance for state loyalty is large.</p> + +<p>At first sight it might appear questionable that political +science can ever profit from the disclosure of motives +which are supposed to operate in the unconscious of every +human being. If these motives are equally operative, how +can they throw any light on differences in political behavior? +And are we not able to point to conditions of a +more localized and definite nature which suitably explain +why the Republican party loses out when the farmer loses +his crops? Or why there is revolution in 1918 and not in +1925?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span></p> + +<p>The mere fact that motives are more or less universal +does not mean that they are always activated with the same +intensity. They may block one another, until some exciting +condition disturbs the adjustment and releases stores +of energy. Indeed, the exploration of unconscious motivation +lays the basis for the understanding of the well-known +disproportionality between responses and immediate stimuli, +a disproportionality which has been the subject of +much puzzled and satiric comment. Farmers do vote +against the Republicans when the crops fail through adverse +weather conditions, although reflection would tend to +minimize the possibility that the party in power exercises +much authority over the weather. Oversights in personal +relations which seem very slight do actually give rise to +huge affective reactions. The clue to the magnitude of +this notorious disproportionality is to be found in the +nature of the deeper (earlier) psychological structures +of the individual. By the intensive analysis of representative +people, it is possible to obtain clues to the nature of +these “unseen forces,” and to devise ways and means of +dealing with them for the accomplishment of social purposes.</p> + +<p>Modern democratic society is accustomed to the settlement +of differences in discussion and in voting. This is +a special form of politics, for differences may also +be settled with a minimum of discussion and a maximum +of coercion. In its modern manifestation, democracy and +representative government have enthroned “government +by discussion,” that is, “government by public opinion.” +President Lowell some time ago pointed out that public +opinion could only be said to exist where constitutional +principles were agreed upon. Differences must be treated +as defined within an area of agreement. Democratic and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>representative institutions presuppose the existence of the +public which is made up of all those who follow affairs +and expect to determine policy in discussion and by measures +short of coercion. The public has a common focus of +attention, a consensus on constitutional principles, and a +zone of tolerance for conflicting demands respecting social +policy.</p> + +<p>When debate is admissible, some standards of right are +tacitly admitted to be uncertain. The zone of the debatable +is not fixed and immutable, but flexible and shifting. Questions +rise and debate proceeds; and presently the resulting +solution is no longer discussible. It has become sanctified +by all the sentiments which buttress the moral order, +and any challenge is met by the unanimous and spontaneous +action of the community in its defense. In the +presence of a challenge, the public may be dissolved into +a crowd, by which is meant a group whose members are +emotionally aroused and intolerant of dissent.</p> + +<p>What light does the study of the genesis of personality +throw on the factors which determine which symbols are +debatable? What is the mechanism of the process by +which the moral patterns are broken up, discussed, and +eventually reincorporated in more or less modified form +into the moral consensus of the community?</p> + +<p>The growth of emotional bonds among individuals of +diverse cultural and personal traits is the most powerful +solvent of the moral order. A valuable treatise could be +constructed on the theme, “Friendship versus Morality.” +It is well-known that governments are continually handicapped +in the impersonal application of a rule by the play +of personal loyalties. Robert E. Park has stressed the +importance of curiosity in the field of interracial relations. +In no small measure this is very primitive curiosity about +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>the sexual structure and behavior of odd-looking folks. +When personal ties are built up, exceptions are made in +favor of the friend; what, indeed, is the constitution among +friends?</p> + +<p>The mechanism is clear by which issues once settled are +presently non-debatable. Growing individuals incorporate +the end result into their own personalities through the +process of identification and introjection. Once a part of +the superego of the rising generation, the moral consensus +is complete. Where no dissent is tolerated and dialectic +is impossible, we are dealing with a superego phenomenon. +Certain symbols are sacrosanct, and aspersions upon them +produce the crowd mind and not the public.⁠<a id="FNanchor_52_52" href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>Even this brief sketch of political symbolization has +shown ample grounds for concluding that political demands +probably bear but a limited relevance to social +needs. The political symbol becomes ladened with the +residue of successive positive and negative identifications, +and with the emotional charge of displaced private motives. +This accumulation of irrelevancy usually signifies +that tension exists in the lives of many people, and it may +possess a diagnostic value to the objective investigator. +The individual who is sorely divided against himself may +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>seek peace by unifying himself against an outsider. This +is the well-known “peacefulness of being at war.” But +the permanent removal of the tensions of the personality +may depend upon the reconstruction of the individual’s +view of the world, and not upon belligerent crusades to +change the world.</p> + +<p>The democratic state depends upon the technique of +discussion to relieve the strains of adjustment to a changing +world. If the analysis of the individual discloses the +probable irrelevance of what the person demands to what +he needs (i.e., to that which will produce a permanent +relief of strain), serious doubt is cast upon the efficacy +of the technique of discussion as a means of handling +social problems.</p> + +<p>The premise of democracy is that each man is the best +judge of his own interest, and that all whose interests are +affected should be consulted in the determination of policy. +Thus the procedure of a democratic society is to clear +the way to the presentation of various demands by interested +parties, leaving the coast clear for bargain and +compromise, or for creative invention and integration.</p> + +<p>The findings of personality research show that the individual +is a poor judge of his own interest. The individual +who chooses a political policy as a symbol of his +wants is usually trying to relieve his own disorders by +irrelevant palliatives. An examination of the total state +of the person will frequently show that his theory of his +own interests is far removed from the course of procedure +which will give him a happy and well-adjusted life. Human +behavior toward remote social objects, familiarity +with which is beyond the personal experience of but a few, +is especially likely to be a symptomatic rather than a +healthy and reflective adjustment.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span></p> + +<p>In a sense politics proceeds by the creation of fictitious +values. The person who is solicited to testify to his own +interest is stimulated by the problem put to him to commit +himself. The terms in which he couches his own interest +vary according to a multitude of factors, but whatever the +conditioning influences may be, the resulting theory of his +interest becomes invested with his own narcissism. The +political symbol is presumably an instrumental makeshift +toward the advancement of the other values of the personality; +but it very quickly ceases to be an instrumental +value, and becomes a terminal value, no longer the servant +but the coequal, or indeed the master. Thus the human +animal distinguishes himself by his infinite capacity for +making ends of his means.</p> + +<p>It should not be hastily assumed that because a particular +set of controversies passes out of the public mind +that the implied problems were solved in any fundamental +sense. Quite often the solution is a magical solution +which changes nothing in the conditions affecting the tension +level of the community, and which merely permits +the community to distract its attention to another set of +equally irrelevant symbols. The number of statutes which +pass the legislature, or the number of decrees which are +handed down by the executive, but which change nothing +in the permanent practices of society, is a rough index +of the rôle of magic in politics.</p> + +<p>In some measure, of course, discontent is relieved in +the very process of agitating, discussing, and legislating +about social changes which in the end are not substantially +affected. Political symbolization has its catharsis function, +and consumes the energies which are released by +the maladaptations of individuals to one another.</p> + +<p>But discussion often leads to modifications in social +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>practice which complicate social problems. About all that +can be said for various punitive measures resorted to +by the community is that they have presently broken +down and ceased to continue the damage which they began +to inflict on society.</p> + +<p>Generalizing broadly, political methods have historically +been of three kinds: the method of violence, of exhortation, +and of discussion. All these methods have the +common characteristic that they are to be applied in the +settlement of conflicting demands, and not in the obviation +of conflict. In so far as they rest upon a philosophy, +they identify the problem of politics with the problem of +coping with differences which are sharply drawn.</p> + +<p>The identification of the field of politics with the field +of battle, whether the theater be the frontier or the forum, +has produced an unfortunate warp in the minds of those +who manage affairs, or those who simply think about the +management of affairs. The contribution of politics has +been thought to be in the elaboration of the methods by +which conflicts are resolved. This has produced a vast +diversion of energy toward the study of the formal +etiquette of government. In some vague way, the problem +of politics is the advancement of the good life, but this +is at once assumed to depend upon the modification of the +mechanisms of government. Democratic theorists in particular +have hastily assumed that social harmony depends +upon discussion, and that discussion depends upon the +formal consultation of all those affected by social policies.</p> + +<p>The time has come to abandon the assumption that the +problem of politics is the problem of promoting discussion +among all the interests concerned in a given problem. +Discussion frequently complicates social difficulties, for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>the discussion by far-flung interests arouses a psychology +of conflict which produces obstructive, fictitious, and irrelevant +values. The problem of politics is less to solve +conflicts than to prevent them; less to serve as a safety +valve for social protest than to apply social energy to the +abolition of recurrent sources of strain in society.</p> + +<p>This redefinition of the problem of politics may be +called the idea of preventive politics. The politics of +prevention draws attention squarely to the central problem +of reducing the level of strain and maladaptation in society. +In some measure it will proceed by encouraging +discussion among all those who are affected by social +policy, but this will be no iron-clad rule. In some measure +it will proceed by improving the machinery of settling +disputes, but this will be subordinated to a comprehensive +program, and no longer treated as an especially +desirable mode of handling the situation.</p> + +<p>The recognition that people are poor judges of their +own interest is often supposed to lead to the conclusion +that a dictator is essential. But no student of individual +psychology can fail to share the conviction of Kempf +that “Society is <i>not</i> safe.... when it is forced to +follow the dictations of one individual, of one autonomic +apparatus, no matter how splendidly and altruistically it +may be conditioned.” Our thinking has too long been misled +by the threadbare terminology of democracy versus +dictatorship, of democracy versus aristocracy. Our problem +is to be ruled by the truth about the conditions of harmonious +human relations, and the discovery of the truth is +an object of specialized research; it is no monopoly of people +as people, or of the ruler as ruler. As our devices +of accurate ascertainment are invented and spread, they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>are explained and applied by many individuals inside the +social order. Knowledge of this kind is a slow and laborious +accumulation.</p> + +<p>The politics of prevention does not depend upon a +series of changes in the organization of government. It +depends upon a reorientation in the minds of those who +think about society around the central problems: What +are the principal factors which modify the tension level of +the community? What is the specific relevance of a proposed +line of action to the temporary and permanent +modification of the tension level?</p> + +<p>The politics of prevention will insist upon a rigorous +audit of the human consequences of prevailing political +practices. How does politics affect politicians? One way +to consider the human value of social action is to see +what that form of social action does to the actors. When +a judge has been on the bench thirty years, what manner +of man has he become? When an agitator has been +agitating for thirty years, what has happened to him? +How do different kinds of political administrators compare +with doctors, musicians, and scientists? Such a set +of inquiries would presuppose that we were able to +ascertain the traits with which the various individuals +began to practice their rôle in society. Were we able to +show what certain lines of human endeavor did to the same +reactive type, we would lay the foundation for a profound +change in society’s esteem for various occupations.</p> + +<p>Any audit of the human significance of politics would +have to press far beyond the narrow circle of professional +politicians. Crises like wars, revolutions, and elections +enter the lives of people in far-reaching ways. The effect +of crises on mental attitude is an important and uncertain +field. Thus it is reported that during the rebellion of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>1745–46 in Scotland there was little hysteria (in the technical +pathological sense). The same was true of the French +Revolution and of the Irish Rebellion. Rush reported +in his book <i>On the Influence of the American Revolution +on the Human Body</i> that many hysterical women were +“restored to perfect health by the events of the time.” +Havelock Ellis, who cites these instances, comments that +“in such cases the emotional tension is given an opportunity +for explosion in new and impersonal channels, and +the chain of morbid personal emotions is broken.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_53_53" href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>The physical consequences of political symbolism may +be made the topic of investigation from this point of view:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>When the affect can not acquire what it needs, uncomfortable +tensions or anxiety (fear) are felt, and the use of the symbol or +fetish, relieving this anxiety, has a marked physiological value in +that it prevents the adrenal, thyroid, circulatory, hepatic and +pulmonic compensatory strivings from becoming excessive.⁠<a id="FNanchor_54_54" href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Political programs will continually demand reconsideration +in the light of the factors which current research discloses +as bearing upon the tension level. Franz Alexander +recently drew attention to the strains produced in modern +civilization by the growing sphere of purposive action. +He summed up the facts in the process of civilized development +in the following way: “Human expressions of instinct +are subject to a continual tendency to rationalization, that +is, they develop more and more from playful, uncoordinated, +purely pleasure efforts into purposive actions.” +The “discomfort of civilization” of which Freud recently +wrote in the <i>Unbehagen der Kultur</i> is characteristic of the +rationalized cultures with which we are acquainted. Life +is poor in libidinal gratifications of the primitive kind +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>which the peasant, who is in close touch with elementary +things, is in a position to enjoy.⁠<a id="FNanchor_55_55" href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> Modern life furnishes +irrational outlets in the moving picture and in sensational +crime news. But it may be that other means of relieving +the strain of modern living can be invented which will have +fewer drawbacks.</p> + +<p>Preventive politics will search for the definite assessment, +then, of cultural patterns in terms of their human +consequences. Some of these human results will be deplored +as “pathological,” while others will be welcomed +as “healthy.” One complicating factor is that valuable +contributions to culture are often made by men who are +in other respects pathological. Many pathological persons +are constrained by their personal difficulties to displace +more or less successfully upon remote problems, and to +achieve valuable contributions to knowledge and social +policy.⁠<a id="FNanchor_56_56" href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> Of course the notion of the pathological is itself +full of ambiguities. The individual who is subject to +epileptic seizures may be considered in one culture not +a subnormal and diseased person, but a supernormal person. +Indeed, it may be said that society depends upon +a certain amount of pathology, in the sense that society +does not encourage the free criticism of social life, but +establishes taboos upon reflective thinking about its own +presuppositions. If the individual is pathological to the +extent that he is unable to contemplate any fact with +equanimity, and to elaborate impulse through the processes +of thought, it is obvious that society does much to +nurture disease. This leads to the apparent paradox that +successful social adjustment consists in contracting the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>current diseases. If “health” merely means a statistical +report upon the “average,” the scrutiny of the individual +ceases to carry much meaning for the modification of social +patterns. But if “health” means something more than +“average,” the intensive study of individuals gives us a +vantage ground for the revaluation of the human consequences +of cultural patterns, and the criticism of these +patterns.⁠<a id="FNanchor_57_57" href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> + +<p>If the politics of prevention spreads in society, a different +type of education will become necessary for those +who administer society or think about it. This education +will start from the proposition that it takes longer to train +a good social scientist than it takes to train a good physical +scientist.⁠<a id="FNanchor_58_58" href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> The social administrator and social scientist +must be brought into direct contact with his material +in its most varied manifestations. He must mix with rich +and poor, with savage and civilized, with sick and well, +with old and young. His contacts must be primary and not +exclusively secondary. He must have an opportunity for +prolonged self-scrutiny by the best-developed methods of +personality study, and he must laboriously achieve a capacity +to deal objectively with himself and with all others +in human society.</p> + +<p>This complicated experience is necessary since our scale +of values is less the outcome of our dialectical than of our +other experiences in life. Values change more by the unconscious +redefinition of meaning than by rational analysis. +Every contact and every procedure which discloses +new facts has its repercussions upon the matrix of partially +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>verbalized experience, which is the seeding ground of conscious +ideas.</p> + +<p>One peculiarity of the problem of the social scientist +is that he must establish personal contact with his material. +The physical scientist who works in a laboratory spends +more time adjusting his machinery than in making his observations, +and the social scientist who works in the field +must spend more time establishing contacts than in noting +and reporting observations. What the instrumentation +technique is to the physicist, the cultivation of favorable +human points of vantage is for most social scientists. This +means that the student of society, as well as the manager +of social relations, must acquire the technique of social +intercourse in unusual degree, unless he is to suffer from +serious handicaps, and his training must be directed with +this in mind.</p> + +<p>The experience of the administrator-investigator must +include some definite familiarity with all the elements +which bear importantly upon the traits and interests of +the individual. This means that he must have the most +relevant material brought to his attention from the fields +of psychology, psychopathology, physiology, medicine, +and social science. Since our institutions of higher learning +are poorly organized at the present time to handle this +program, thorough curricular reconstructions will be indispensable.⁠<a id="FNanchor_59_59" href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>What has been said in this chapter may be passed in +brief review. Political movements derive their vitality +from the displacement of private affects upon public objects. +Political crises are complicated by the concurrent +reactivation of specific primitive motives which were organized +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>in the early experience of the individuals concerned. +Political symbols are particularly adapted to serve +as targets for displaced affect because of their ambiguity +of reference, in relation to individual experience, and because +of their general circulation. Although the dynamic +of politics is the tension level of individuals, all tension +does not produce political acts. Nor do all emotional bonds +lead to political action. Political acts depend upon the +symbolization of the discontent of the individual in terms +of a more inclusive self which champions a set of demands +for social action.</p> + +<p>Political demands are of limited relevance to the +changes which will produce permanent reductions in the +tension level of society. The political methods of coercion, +exhortation, and discussion assume that the rôle of politics +is to solve conflicts when they have happened. The +ideal of a politics of prevention is to obviate conflict by +the definite reduction of the tension level of society by +effective methods, of which discussion will be but one. +The preventive point of view insists upon a continuing +audit of the human consequences of social acts, and especially +of political acts. The achievement of the ideal of +preventive politics depends less upon changes in social +organization than upon improving the methods and the +education of social administrators and social scientists.</p> + +<p>The preventive politics of the future will be intimately +allied to general medicine, psychopathology, physiological +psychology, and related disciplines. Its practitioners will +gradually win respect in society among puzzled people +who feel their responsibilities and who respect objective +findings. A comprehensive functional conception of political +life will state problems of investigation, and keep receptive +the minds of those who reflect at length upon the +state.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI60"> + CHAPTER XI⁠<a id="FNanchor_60_60" href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> + <br> + THE PROLONGED INTERVIEW AND ITS OBJECTIFICATION + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The empirical material assembled in this book has appeared +in the course of prolonged interviews with individuals +under unusually intimate conditions. This method +of the prolonged interview has now had a history of some +thirty years in the form devised by Freud, but so far there +are very few efforts to objectify the events which transpire +there. Otto Rank has written a series of studies of the +“interview situation” which is the most important effort +so far made to characterize the distinctive features of the +method. But the empirical material which is so far reported +does not rest upon the verbatim recording of what +happens, except in a few specimen instances of highly +pathological cases, and attempts are only now being made +to record some of the principal physiological changes in +the subject.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that Freud learned to predict the +future course of reminiscence by watching word slips, +random movements, and many other acts which were formerly +dismissed as chance occurrences. He also found +that he could abbreviate the laborious efforts of the patient +to recall the traumatic (the original) episode by +proposing various interpretations. It is at this point that +the cautious physician and psychologist have picked serious +quarrels with psychoanalytical findings. They allege +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>that the patient produces the kind of material which the +analyst suggests is to be brought forth, and that the whole +process is one of putting a rabbit in the hat which you +triumphantly extricate later on. They have seized upon +the schisms in the analytical fold, and declare that you +eventually dream about anima figures if you are analyzed +by Jung, that you relive birth traumas if you are analyzed +by Rank, and that you welter in a galaxy of anal, oral, +and urethral symbols if you are deeply analyzed by Freud. +You talk about inferiority feeling if you work with Adler, +and about castrative anxiety if you work with Freud.</p> + +<p>One might suppose that after thirty years of labor there +would be in existence a body of documents which could be +consulted by a group of competent specialists who were +trying to reconcile their differences and doubts about +what actually goes on in the analytical interview.⁠<a id="FNanchor_61_61" href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> At the +present time the interview situation is poorly reflected in +the notes taken by the analyst at the expiration of each +period (if and when he takes them). Nobody knows what +processes distort the reporting practices of different listeners, +and nobody knows the value of the published +scraps. Since one of the avowed purposes of therapeutic +analyses is to bring the person to stand on his own feet +and to stop leaning on others, or upon symptom indulgences, +personal relations are usually broken off at the +end of the interview. This obviously impedes the possibility +of following up the subsequent history of the personality, +and of ascertaining the stability of the supposed +therapeutic results. The case-history documents available +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>in good institutions have the advantage of representing +the combined product of several people who are in touch +with the subject, and who may be supposed to operate +as a check upon one another. But these documents are +usually short, and betray the psychopathological slant of +the ones chiefly responsible. And these documents are +typically incomplete in reporting the whole personality +of the subject on account of the clinician’s interest in the +more circumscribed disease phenomena displayed.</p> + +<p>When John Brown reports an episode in which he was +told that his nose would be cut off if he didn’t quit handling +himself, how do we know what importance to assign +to the alleged reminiscence? Are we to accept this as a +historical statement? Are we to construe it as a fabrication +which, however, shows what he wanted to have happen, +or supposed would happen, if he disobeyed orders? +Are we to interpret it as a sign of his fear of the interviewer, +couched in the language of the past, because this +mode of exercising the imagination has been trained into +him? Are we to interpret this as a sign of his hatred of +the interviewer, on the theory that a self-punishing fantasy +is a defense of the conscience against a murderous impulse +of the unadjusted portion of the self? Are we to accept it +as an effort to win the approval of the interviewer by reporting +the kinds of things which he has learned to suppose +the interviewer wants to hear, a supposition which is +based upon a private study of psychoanalytical literature? +Are we to accept it as an “original trauma” and to expect +an immediate or eventual decrease in the neurotic anxiety +which the individual shows? Are we to look upon it as a +screen reminiscence for a genuinely traumatic episode in +which the threat was made, not against his nose, but +against his penis? Or is it a screen for a prohibited impulse +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>which was once activated, and which seized upon a +past episode and gave it the significance of a threat?</p> + +<p>These are a few of the specific questions which can be +raised about the proffered material, and the scientific problem +is to devise more convincing demonstrations of the +available theories, or more conclusive refutations, than we +now have. What are some of the criteria of a “traumatic +episode”? If the reminiscence is accompanied by much +affect (excitement), there is a presumption of its authenticity. +And how is affect measured? We depend at the +present time upon the observer’s judgment of the variations +in the voice, and shifts in posture, or the twitches and jerks +of the body. This can be augmented under experimental +conditions by taking a continuous record of variations in +blood pressure, respiration, galvanic reflex, etc.—all of +which offer some indication of excitement.⁠<a id="FNanchor_62_62" href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> We are thus +able to improve our assessment of the possible significance +of the reports, speculations, and general fantasies of the +subject. It may be that in due course we shall be able to +differentiate on a physical basis between “suppressions” +and “repressions,” and that we shall be able to follow +through the transformations from beginning to end of the +interviewing process.</p> + +<p>Our judgment of the “traumatic episode” is also influenced +by the subject’s certainty. If the subject reports that +he believes what he remembers, this has some value in +raising a presumption. This is especially true if the subject +has fought against the idea, but it has spontaneously +continued to appear and plague his associations. But a reported +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>sense of certainty is flimsy stuff, unless this certainty +survives for some time. We know that individuals +try to escape from anxiety feelings by a flight into explanations, +and that they are ready to volunteer or to accept all +kinds of interpretations of their behavior rather than to +continue to endure anxiety. This is the basis for the credulity +of the neurotic, and explains why everything from +mysterious “glandular unbalances” to “astral perturbations” +are accepted from time to time as completely adequate +explanations of personal troubles. So the subject’s +reported certainty must survive even disparaging suggestions +and prolonged self-scrutiny, and become emancipated +from affect, if it is to be taken very literally.</p> + +<p>Another criterion is the consistency of the reported episode +with all the other relevant facts. There must be something +wrong about the report that K was brutally punished +by his father at a time which was some years after +the parent’s death.⁠<a id="FNanchor_63_63" href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> + +<p>The obstacles which lie in the path of a research program +which calls for objective records of as much as possible +of what transpires in the interview situation are not +to be minimized. The bulk of a verbatim report of an +hour’s conversation per day over several months is almost +overwhelming. But historians are accustomed to plow +through whole libraries of pages about Napoleon or +Bismarck, and from the standpoint of a comprehensive +theory of personality development any personality is almost +as good as any other, although high elaboration and +distinguished achievement are advantages.</p> + +<p>There are some points in favor of applying this technique +of personality study to people who are normal, at +least in the sense that they are suspected of normality by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>themselves and others. There is a moral to be learned from +some of Freud’s early mistakes when he assigned critical +significance to certain childhood experiences which later +investigation showed were very common. The clinical +caricature is invaluable for the high relief in which certain +tendencies of the normal are revealed. Indeed, “normality” +is more difficult to understand than disease, from one +point of view, since it involves a complicated integration +of many tendencies, a flexible capacity to snap from one +mood, preoccupation, and overt activity to another, as the +changing demands of reality require. Normality is complexity +and integration, and it ought to be approached as +directly as possible as a control on the pathological.</p> + +<p>The main advantage which the normal subject hopes to +glean from the analytical interview is a judgment of the +importance of this, in comparison with other, psychological +methods. Records being as they are today, only one who +has been through the mill can talk with much assurance +about what happens, and if he has a critical mind, he isn’t +too sure then. The analytical interview is a discipline in +self-scrutiny. The subject learns to exploit a new method +of using the mind, which he tries to cultivate and to correlate +with the logical methods to which he is partly accustomed +in ordinary adult life. The new technique of using +the mind is the free-fantasy technique, whose chief function +is to produce new material for logical consideration.</p> + +<p>The interview necessitates the reactivation of the individual’s +struggle with his antisocial impulses. This happens +be the subject sick or well, for every individual possesses +more or less active and powerful antisocial drives. Every +personality displays some pathology in the form of remainders +of the Oedipus phase of growth. The socially +adjusted portion of the personality takes up the battle again +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>against the unsublimated drives, and a considerable amount +of neurotic anxiety is generated in the process. The problem +is to encourage the subject to face these unadjusted +remnants frankly, to bring them to the full focus of waking +consciousness, and to discharge their bound energy. +This comes to pass in the roundabout way of recapturing +the original episodes in which the neurotic solution was +invented. The work of reminiscence is the preliminary to +liberation and understanding.</p> + +<p>The interview substitutes the talking-out for the acting-out +of personality drives. One learns to recover the critical +points in one’s past history by watching the present for +clues to the full meaning of the present situation, and this +includes the inspection of reminiscences. A reminiscence +is always relevant to a present situation, and serves the +double rôle of annotating the present and reporting the +past. The interview experience is long and arduous, and +the subject learns very slowly to deal with himself as an +object in a world of objects, and to free his judgment more +and more from the distorting effects of primitive psychological +structures.</p> + +<p>The analytical situation is so arranged as to facilitate +this process of self-inspection. The provocations to act out +rather than think out are reduced by simplifying the sensory +present. The subject lies in a relaxed position, and is +better able to observe those stiffenings of the body, +those variations in respiration, those oscillations of visceral +tension, those impulses to scratch and finger which escape +ordinary attention, but which are indicative of the meanings +put in the current situation. The sensory environment +remains substantially constant, and the interviewer handles +the situation on a rather fixed routine. The subject is temporarily +encysted from the demands of professional and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>conventional tasks, but the interviewer is present to prevent +the individual from dissipating his energy in musings +which are quickly forgotten. The interviewer is a prod to +associate freely, and a spur to the critical consideration +of the material supplied by the freely moving fancy. The +necessity for verbalization brings the acts of fantasy into +clearer focus than usual, which is a necessary preliminary +to moments of sustained logical reflection. Since the interviewer +permits the subject to disregard the usual amenities +of society, and to let his fantasies fly for the sake of +finding where they land, regressive responses are permitted +to appear. That is, the individual is not required to adjust +to a conventional world of adult reality, but is permitted to +reactivate earlier forms of dealing with the world. In the +world of adult reality, the multiple tendencies of the individual +are canalized into conventionally acceptable forms, +and the most maladapted drives may display themselves +in unobtrusive variations on the pattern. When conventional +reality is no longer present, and the individual is +encouraged to watch his partly forming responses, rather +than to co-ordinate, condense, ignore, or suppress them, +these tendencies spread forth diffusely in imagination and +reminiscence. When this process continues far enough, the +individual achieves a high degree of insight into the genetic +development of his current preoccupations and traits.</p> + +<p>Since the analytical process is a period of strain for the +subject, it may be wondered why it is bearable. Fortunately +for the investigator, there are many advantages to +the participant which sustain and fortify his conscious purpose +to persevere until understanding has been substantially +deepened. The analyst treats every manifestation of +the personality, no matter how trivial, with respectful interest. +This is exaggerated unconsciously by the subject, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>who greatly overestimates the personal affection which the +interviewer has for him. Some of the energy of the personality +is always free to begin new object attachments, and +this energy is concentrated upon the interviewer. The subject +is permitted to talk at length about himself, and when +the interviewer listens attentively and patiently, the subject +identifies himself with the listener on the basis of a +common attitude of interest in a beloved object. The interviewer’s +ascendancy in technical knowledge (his authority) +resembles the authority of the adults who were once supposed +to possess unlimited knowledge. The day-by-day +solicitude tends to reinstate the emotions of the early family +situation in which the child could play irresponsibly, +under the watchful, responsible care of the adult. The subject +relaxes the effort to keep bawdy, disloyal, mean, and +revengeful thoughts from welling into this mind. The frank +expression of these thoughts in ordinary social life would +bring down punishment upon his head, or mark him out +as a victim of mental disorder. The subject is enabled to +welter in unsocial or antisocial ravings and imaginings, +and the process of developing these symptoms in the presence +of another person becomes an absorbing part of his +daily, weekly, and monthly existence. The subject intensifies +his warm emotional interest in the one who exempts +him from society’s code of reticence. This is a mark of the +analyst’s tremendous power, and also of the analyst’s +special interest in the subject. The free-fantasy procedure +even exempts the individual from abiding by the ordinary +forms of logic and grammar. He is also able to enjoy +the pleasure of impressing someone else with the brilliance +of his language. From time to time, new insight comes into +old habits and worries, and the zest of intellectual comprehension +is added to the other pleasures.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span></p> + +<p>At first sight the teaching or research interview might +seem to sacrifice the most powerful motive upon which the +interviewing procedure has relied, namely, that of securing +relief from disturbing symptoms. The individual who is +suffering from some crude pathological disturbance, like a +functional gastro-intestinal disorder, psychological impotence, +obsessive ideas and compulsions, comes to the interviewer +as a weak person seeking aid of a stronger. If he +has been shuttled from one internist to another perhaps +receiving derisive looks and contemptuous preachments, +the objective interest with which the psychotherapist treats +his symptoms produces a keen conscious and unconscious +gratification. Even the symptoms are beloved parts of the +self, and like the ugly ducklings, they are sometimes treated +with special affection (Ferenczi). The hope of being relieved +of the annoying symptoms, which is consciously +present in many pathological cases, is supported on the +unconscious level by an old infantile attitude which expects +the interviewer to work miracles. Even some of the antisocial +impulses of the personality may welcome the therapeutic +situation. These antisocial tendencies are themselves +not entirely gratified in the symptoms, for the nature of a +symptom is a compromise between these antisocial tendencies +and the socialized impulses of the self. Nunberg has +pointed out that the unsocialized portions of the personality +may support the misguided hope that the outcome of +therapy will be the boundless and unlimited gratification +of their demands. There is also evidence of the existence +of a compulsion to confess (Reik) to antisocial tendencies, +which are rejected by the socialized self, and thus to gratify +an unconscious need of punishment.</p> + +<p>Now the sense of being sick and the desire to get well +are not entirely absent from any normal person. No one is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>entirely free from remnants of his adjustive problems, and +no one is entirely satisfied with himself. At the beginning +of the interview, this motive may appear in consciousness +as nothing more substantial than the innocuous belief that +any increase in self-knowledge will enable one to deal +even more satisfactorily with personal problems as they +arise.</p> + +<p>Among the other motives which play into the analytical +situation, and enable the subject to go through with it, may +be mentioned a few very primitive ones. Life has meant +the blocking of many impulses by authorities whose power +cannot be successfully defied on the spot. Hatreds can only +express themselves under these conditions with some prospects +of success when they seek to overcome the superior by +trying to take his power into one’s own personality by copying +him. That is to say, the individual seeks to identify +himself with the one who possesses superior knowledge in +the analytical situation, and by becoming like him, to +secure independence, and thus to annihilate him as an intimidating +and obstructive external object. There may be +a desire to secure a weapon by means of which other people +may be eviscerated, and deprived of their power to outstrip +the individual. On the conscious level, these motives +are partly visible in excessive aspirations for self-mastery +and control. This taking-in and biting-off of the analyst’s +power is also rooted in some of the earliest reaction patterns +which the infant displays toward objects. The sheer +pleasure of talking, and giving and withholding information +is also present.</p> + +<p>As the subject withdraws attention from the original +symptoms or motives, concentrates on the game of dilating +upon the past, and indulges in prohibited delights, the +analytical situation becomes an orgy of illicit pleasure. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>Emotions are released from old channels and find new objects +of crystallization, especially in the person of the +analyst. The interviewer who permits this “transference” +is now in a position to aid the subject in coming to grips +with the underlying unsocialized impulses of the personality. +The behavior of the subject has by this time given a +host of clues to the history of his emotional growth. The +analyst continues to stimulate the individual to scrutinize +his associations, to state honestly the wayward wishes flit +across his mind, or which lurk half-seen in the marginal +recesses of attention. Back and forth, bit by bit, there is +reconstructed the subjective history of a life. To put it +metaphorically, old sores run anew, smoldering embers of +jealousy and lust flame once more, and ancient wounds +yawn again. Reminiscence reguilds the faded tapestries of +the past, and restores to the full glare of consciousness the +cobwebs of the mind which house the spiders of malevolence +and lechery. Primitive meanings, once appropriate +to a situation, and later projected unintentionally into the +adult world, are recovered and criticized in the light of +their appropriateness to society. Regressive reliving, which +is powerfully supported by narcissism and the repetitive +compulsion, is observed and overcome.</p> + +<p>It should not be supposed that the secrets of the mind +are exposed for the asking. The method of repression is +a primitive means by which the feeble, nascent self seeks +protection from impulses which, if tolerated, if not shut +out with unreflecting violence, would overrun it (Alexander). +When the self becomes strong and stable, primitive +impulses can be permitted to develop farther in consciousness +without imminent danger that they will pass +over into action by controlling the motor apparatus. Now +the critical, reflecting, deciding self must not be crippled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>by an unduly strong conscience. The structure which we +know as the conscience is begun in early childhood, and +is formed by the incorporation into the self of the orders +and commands which are administered by authority. When +the self is weak, as during these formative years, the conscience +relies on crude methods to protect its hard-won +ascendancy over the antisocial drives in the personality. +It visits penalties of anxiety upon the self whenever there +are any signs of leniency toward these impulses. The conscience +keeps its summary, sadistic quality long after, +and neurotics are properly said to suffer from an excess of +conscience. Blind denial of the existence of fundamental +trends in the personality must be supplanted, and the <i>obiter +dicta</i> of the conscience subjected to the criticism of the +more mature and experienced self. An obstacle to this +procedure is furnished by those energies of the personality +which are specialized in resisting the antisocial impulses +which have been repressed and denied direct and undisguised +access to consciousness. Any lowering of resistance +subjects the individual to acute anxiety, as the conflict between +the socialized and the unsocialized drives is reinstated. +All sorts of subterfuges are hit upon to obviate +the necessity for enduring this anxiety and bringing the +hidden into consciousness, where it can lose its charge. +The overcoming of this resistance to taking up the battle +again is a major process in the prolonged analysis.</p> + +<p>The recapitulation of the drives which the individual +has experienced throughout his life is the process which +lends unique value to the psychoanalytic interview record. +The literature of psychoanalysis is full of sample fantasies +which are assigned to places in the hypothetical sequence +of personality growth. Over twenty years ago +Freud wrote some preliminary remarks on character types, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>especially stressing the rôle of certain excretory pleasures +in the development of some psychological structures. +The sucking, biting and anal retention interests of the +infant and young child have been the subject of theoretical +treatment by several analysts, among whom Abraham is +the most important. Ferenczi has sketched a comprehensive +theory of the rise of genital interests on the part of +the child, and this has been amplified in various directions +by Reich. The differences between male and female development +have been sketched by Sachs, Deutsch, and +Horney.</p> + +<p>It is not within the necessary limits of this discussion to +go farther into the nature of the hypotheses which have +been proposed by these various investigators. We will +be able to formulate them more precisely when we have +succeeded in objectifying what happens in the course of the +interview, and this is to be achieved along the lines previously +sketched. Some day we can state hypotheses more +definitely which can be taken and tested by non-analytical +methods. Some of these conceptions can be confirmed or +eliminated by the direct observation of children of all age +groups. It is quite possible, however, paradoxical though +it may sound, that the best way to study some phases of +infancy and childhood will be to study the adult. There +is some reason to believe that the superior expressive +power of the adult, whether in words or in drawing, may +render explicit many states which are beyond the scope +of one who merely looks at movements. If we find that +the subjective reconstructions during the adult analysis +check closely with the results secured by modified analytical +and behavioristic procedures applied directly to older +children, we will have more confidence in the material +which purports to relate to very early experience. We may +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>also test out as far as possible the “historicity” of the +reminiscences produced at different phases of the analysis. +It should be said in passing that the analysis of children +requires important revisions in the externals of the technique, +as Anna Freud has shown.</p> + +<p>I want to stop at this point to comment upon the significance +of the fact there should be such a thing as the +psychoanalytic method of dealing with the genesis of +personality. How does it happen that at the end of the +nineteenth century there appeared in Western European +civilization this remarkably intricate procedure? Why do +we regard it as worth while to spend months or even +years in constant introspection?</p> + +<p>Viewed in the large, I suppose this is the most spectacular +sign of the value crisis in our civilization. Here +is an effort to stimulate the individual to the reconstruction +of values, not on the basis of imposed authority, but +through prolonged scrutiny of the self as a process. The +processes of the human personality are subjected to the +same patient, arduous, and minute inspection which has +proved so successful when applied to the objects of the +physical world by the naturalist, astronomer, and microscopic +specialist. The end result of a long and successful +analysis is an individual who is able to interpret his relation +to the world in terms of a few master-symbols. These +symbols take on meaning because they have been acquired +in the course of a long apprenticeship under the exacting +eye of another. These symbols define for the individual +in comprehensive terms his relation to unfolding reality. +They permit in favorable instances added smoothness of +adjustment, and offer a means of relief from disproportionate +feelings of futility, despondency, persecution, and +omniscience.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span></p> + +<p>The appearance of a system of communicable master-symbols +for the definition of one’s relation to the universe +is anything but a novel phenomenon in the culture history +of mankind. At one time a leading question was, “What +is God’s will for me?” The belief was that this could be +made manifest after the reading of Holy Writ, reverent +supplication, and sudden revelation. Our Western civilization +has sapped at the pillars of this structure of thinking. +We are committed to the persistent querying of the +world of change, and the problem is always “<i>How</i> does +it change?” How do the routines of the seeable, smellable, +touchable, audible, tasteable universe actually work? In +what characteristic order do the subjective events of the +mind follow one another? In what order do subjective +and objective events occur? And no matter how many +intermediate links in the sequence have been named there +always remain new intermediate and new all-embracing +frames of reference to be identified and placed in orderly +relationship.</p> + +<p>Values are sought to be defined, not on the authority +of another, but in the act of scrutinizing processes. We +place enormous value upon the quest for sequences, and +discover our new values in the act of broadening or deepening +our understanding of change. If you tell a sophisticated +carrier of Western culture that God reveals his +wisdom after the reading of a printed passage, he will +be less impressed by what is put in than by what is left +out of the account. What relation is there between what +is read and what is decided? Can you set up controlled +repetitions for the sake of testing the predictive value of +these generalizations? Are there other words which can +be read but which will result in the same decisions when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>the reader has the same pecuniary stake in acting a certain +way? And so on and on.</p> + +<p>It is worth noticing that the symbols supplied by analysis +are not “ought” words but “process” words. You are +not told to die for your country; you are told to face all +the values which you can find in the situation. This does +not, however, eliminate the “arbitrary” character of decisions +actually reached. The decision comes with all the +shock of revelation, of inevitability, of unexpectedness; +the individual may only control decisions by rehearsing +the pertinent values until he finds himself in the clutches +of a judgment. This willingness to accept uncertainty, to +scrutinize intermediate terms and pertinent values, is an +outcome of the analytical discipline.</p> + +<p>Such a procedure grew up in a civilization whose values +have been in confusion since the medieval cosmology broke +down. President Masaryk, serious thinker and scholarly +writer, began his sociological work with a study of suicide, +which he found to be a rough index of the value strains in +culture. When emotional bonds are forged with exponents +of life-patterns of different design, the mental stage +is set for both creative originality and destructive disintegration. +The individual must assume the load of working +out his own scheme of values, and many are disorganized +in the attempt.</p> + +<p>The validation of the prolonged interview as a contributor +to our dependable knowledge about life depends upon +objectifying its processes; the achievement of its implications +for the reconstruction of the hierarchy of individual +values is an impressionistic and often turbulent experience.⁠<a id="FNanchor_64_64" href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII65"> + CHAPTER XII⁠<a id="FNanchor_65_65" href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> + <br> + THE PERSONALITY SYSTEM AND ITS SUBSTITUTIVE REACTIONS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>So far in this book human behavior has been interpreted +in terms of various “tendencies” which such behavior +is supposed to manifest. Suppose we call into question +this type of psychological explanation. What, after +all, is a “tendency”? It postulates a relationship between +events, one of which is taken as the terminal situation, +and others of which are treated as relative approximations +to the type situation. Terms like “wishes,” “desires,” +“instincts,” “impulses,” “drives,” and “motives” +are all employed in this sense.</p> + +<p>For purposes of analysis, tendency interpretations may +be divided into five main classes, depending on the nature +of the relationship which is postulated between the approximate +and the terminal situation. First, personality +events may be interpreted as approximations toward, or +realizations of, goals (terminals) which are communicated +by the subject. We may believe a man who tells us +that he is running for a train when we see him dashing +along the street toward the railway station.</p> + +<p>Second, personality events may be interpreted as degrees +of approximation to subsequent events which are +actually observed. Mr. C’s solicitude for the health and +welfare of the needy ones of the district may be construed +in the light of his subsequent campaign for Congress.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span></p> + +<p>Third, personality events may be treated as degrees of +resumption of terminal situations of a type which have already +been observed. Lying in bed after waking up in +the morning, whenever there are difficulties to cope with, +may be interpreted as a reactivation of an earlier psychological +impulse to lie still and be waited on.</p> + +<p>Fourth, personality events may be construed as approximations +to “normal” terminal events which are observed +for the biological or cultural category of the individual. +Thus heterosexuality may be postulated as a tendency +of a human being, although he consummates no heterosexual +adjustments.</p> + +<p>Fifth, personality events may be interpreted in terms +of end situations which are “extreme” for the members +of the species or the culture. Thus the acts of man may +be viewed as degrees of approximation to murder, suicide, +and incest.</p> + +<p>Each sense in which the tendency conception is used is +valid and useful for certain purposes, and is exposed to +characteristic liabilities to error. Thus if we accept the +man’s statement that he is running to catch a train, we may +be wrong; he may be running to the woods beyond to escape +the constable.</p> + +<p>The reactive type of statement is an alternative (I should +prefer to say a supplement) to tendency generalizations. +When we make a reactive statement, we specify quite definitely +the antecedent-consequent relation to which reference +is made. The specific stimulus-response description +of the events which elicit the knee jerk, or call out an +avoidance reaction to yellow cloth, illustrates what is meant +here. Of course the stimulus-response style of thinking is +not nearly as exhaustive, and the tendency style of thinking +is not nearly as ambiguous in actual application, as might +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>appear at first glance. The stimulus-response statement of +how to elicit the knee jerk which is usually given may be +predictively valid in eight cases out of ten; but there are +“exceptions” which show how wide is the context of factors +which it would be necessary to include in the picture, were +it nearly complete. And when the stimulus-response mode +of thinking is extended from such relatively stable and +touchable situations to those which involve complex central +(subjective) events in the sequence, it becomes in +reality a disguised form of tendency interpretation.</p> + +<p>The chief possible virtue of tendency conceptions is in +introducing some sort of order in complex phenomena. +If the observer tries to enumerate all the body movements, +all the electronic gyrations, all the nuances of social adjustment +which are thinkable in a given constellation of +personality events, he is likely to become lost in aimless +classification, and to prove barren in the invention of procedures +which are calculated to elicit particular aspects +of the whole which may be of high predictive value. The +human mind is able to operate with a very small number +of categories with which to introduce order into events, +particularly when these are, for the most part, still defined +qualitatively. Clarity of thought demands economy in the +orienting frames of thought.</p> + +<p>How a tendency simplification may lead to fruitful +research for predictively valuable particulars is shown in +the case of Freud, in contrast to Janet. Janet made remarkably +clear classifications of the psychopathological facts +as he saw them, and although his terms and categories were +abundant, his work was comparatively sterile of novel procedures +for the modification of human personalities. Even +his classificatory pursuits were hampered by his little-criticized +assumptions. His notion that dreams were passing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>confusions which were traceable to diminished psychological +tension in sleep deprived dream material of all +significance as classifiable data, and he almost completely +ignored it. Freud, who tended to operate with a few bold +tendency simplifications, brought into the range of observation +whole categories of data which have high predictive +value.</p> + +<p>When tendency simplifications are used until vast numbers +of instances accumulate of their supposed operation, +“subtendencies” (such as the variations of the manifestations +of the Oedipus constellation) multiply apace until +the problems of rendering one tendency consistent with +the expressions of another one carry scientific speculations +into the logical molds of legalism and dogmatic theology. +If the subtendencies are not modified, and long lists of +special tendencies are added, terminological difficulties +likewise arise in applying the unwieldy list. The long +inventories of supposed instincts are less at fault because +they imply an unwarranted assurance about the innate +propensities of man than because they are “too numerous +to mention,” and introduce confusion rather than orienting +principles in the field of study.</p> + +<p>Although the prediction of one set of tangible reactions +from another is the aim of scientific formulation, this by +no means implies, then, that the reactive style of thinking +is the one best calculated to guide the attention of the +thinker to the selection of the most fruitful hypotheses +(“if” predictions). Indeed, especially valuable results +have been secured in the personality field by the pattern +of thinking which views a cross-section of facts as an expression +of a few tendencies.</p> + +<p>But a reactive style of thinking which operates with a +few simplifications might prove useful in the study of human +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>personality at the present time, since both the psychoanalytical +and the “itemistic” psychologies have a plethora +of particulars with which they are familiar, but suffer +from certain crippling viewpoints inherent in their early +starting-points. Psychoanalysis is well accustomed to the +use of a few orienting terms, but since these are stated +in “tendency” form, there is much lack of emphasis upon +rendering the objective marks of their manifestation precise. +The inventory psychologies though accustomed to +precision are accustomed to overlooking the woods for the +trees.</p> + +<p>Can the personality be viewed as a system, and can +we think of it in a few terms which can be gradually objectified, +and which indicate the principal varieties of +personality manifestation? If the personality is a true +system, interferences which are introduced at various +points ought often to produce substitutive reactions at +many remote parts of the personality. Personalities may +be compared from one cross-section to another, and from +one personality to another, by exposing them to similar +interferences, and by examining the substitutive reaction +sequences which emerge.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of summing up the personality at any +given period, we may consider it to be a constellation of +the following action patterns: object orientations, adjustive +thinking, autistic reveries, somatic reactions.</p> + +<p>The object orientations of the individual are describable +as various degrees of assertiveness, provocativeness, +or submissiveness toward sexual and non-specifically sexual +objects in the environment. In extreme instances the +individual may be abusive, insulting, domineering toward +superiors, colleagues, clients, and subordinates in his profession, +and toward his wife or mistress in intimate life; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span>or he may be cowed in his work and timid in his sexuality; +or he may show extreme variations between his professional +and private levels of behavior. These are the +differentiating reactions upon which it is hoped to throw +some light by the examination of the personality system in +its principal manifestations.</p> + +<p>Adjustive thinking has to do with the relationship of the +individual to reality. It issues in socially relevant acts, +which on the creative level mean contributions to science, +art, administration, and philosophy. Autistic thinking is +highly egocentric, but adjustive thinking when it dwells +upon the relationship of the self to its surroundings is +able to treat the self as an object among objects.</p> + +<p>Autistic reveries are non-adjustive to reality. They may +be divided into several classes of which morbid-suicidal, +pessimistic, megalomanic, denunciatory, and persecutory +reveries are particularly common. In exaggerated form +they become the most conspicuous feature of the personality, +and various clinical names are used to distinguish +them. Common, and representative, themes are suggested +by these quotations: “I’m a hopeless sinner”; “The world’s +going to the dogs”; “I’m the slickest guy in the world”; +“The President is the Judas of mankind”; “The President +is using death-rays on me.” Autistic thinking flourishes +in greater or less abundance in every personality whose +history is taken for any length of time.</p> + +<p>The somatic reactions at any given cross-section of the +personality are striped muscle movements and tensions; +heart and circulatory reactions; gastro-intestinal responses; +skin adjustments; organic sexual behavior; respiratory, +pupillary, and urogenital adaptations; inner glandular action +on the biochemical balance of the blood; heat production +(fever and certain metabolic alterations not included +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>before); electrical conductivity; and immunological responses. +Under the same environing conditions individuals +show wide variations in physical behavior, and when +these manifestations show certain gross deviations from +norms, though no organic lesion can be shown to be present, +the presumption is that the energy of some mental +process has been converted into somatic form. This notion +of hysteria (and what may be called hysteroid reactions) +was classically formulated by Freud. Every individual +who is closely scrutinized shows, from time to time, +tendencies to urinate excessively (though no adequate physical +explanation is apparent), to refrain from passing +feces, or to suffer pains in the back or neck.</p> + +<p>The comparisons which may be made among personalities +on the basis of the nature of the substitutive reactions +which arise when they are subjected to similar conditions +may be illustrated on the gross level by citing some +“experiments” which society has tried. Mr. A is a member +of the city council in one of our large cities. On two +occasions, when he was defeated for re-election, he developed +autistic reveries to such an extent that he was +confined in a sanitarium under the care of a psychiatrist. +Thus Mr. A met a deprivation in the sphere of his orientation +to social objects (political activity) by developing +exaggerated autistic reveries (depressive preoccupations). +The case of A may be thrown up against that of Mr. B. +When Mr. B lost out in his campaign for re-election to the +legislature, he began to worry about his health, and although +the physicians could find no adequate physical +basis for his trouble, he developed a host of gastro-intestinal +disturbances which incapacitated him from regular +professional life. His substitutive reaction was somatic. +Another man, a Mr. C, was defeated and spent most of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span>his time writing a subsequently well-recognized book on +political theory. His substitutive reaction was in the sphere +of consecutive, theoretical, adjustive thinking. It will be +remembered that one of our driving administrators, J, +had his administrative duties curtailed and immediately +took the wife of another for his mistress showing that his +object orientation in the world of affairs was a substitute +for his object orientation in the sexual field.</p> + +<p>From this point of view, we are able to examine the +relative function which political activities and preoccupations +play in the personality integration of the individual. +For one it is an alternative to mental disorder, for another +it is an alternative to physical disease, for another an +alternative to aggressive sexuality.</p> + +<p>Now it is of interest and importance to observe that the +study of the life-histories of these men showed that their +mode of meeting the world had become organized rather +early. The man who developed somatic symptoms had +shown a physical upset after losing a contest for the presidency +of his class in college, and also in adolescent and +preadolescent deprivation situations. Alexander traced the +basis for the personality splitting in J to very early childhood.</p> + +<p>I want now to indicate how the prolonged interview +throws much light on personality development, and lends +itself to consideration from the point of view outlined here. +If the analyst is “insulted” by the subject in the course of +a day’s interview, the subject may the next day report +somatic trouble, or morbid reveries, or unusual kindliness +toward an annoying person, or a burst of creative work. +The interviewer, taking such facts in juxtaposition to others, +may be able to predict the kind of substitutive reactions +which this person is likely to show in a whole range +of social situations, and to predict retrospectively the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span>form of reaction which was manifested at different levels +of development. The trained psychoanalyst watches the +subject like a hawk for clues of this kind; the possibility +of removing his “hunches” from the realm of art into the +area of dependable knowledge depends upon the objectification +of his observations, and upon the development of +specifically experimental methods.</p> + +<p>A method by which some certainty is to be introduced +in personality records is by testing the coincidence of +observations taken through time by observers who occupy +specified positions in relation to the subject. Very important +applications of this procedure have been made to +child study by several child psychologists, more particularly +by Florence Goodenough and Dorothy Thomas. A +set of categories were set up to describe various acts, +such as “smiling,” “physical contact with other child,” and +“physical contact with object.” The definiteness of each +term was then tested by having two independent observers +make the same number of observations at fixed intervals +during a prescribed period. The results showed which +categories were ambiguous, and which categories were sufficiently +clear to justify their inclusion in behavior studies. +It was discovered, for example, that “smiling” behavior +showed much less definiteness than “physical contact with +another child.” This procedure makes it possible to measure +the error of a measuring procedure and is strictly +comparable to the calibrating process common to the physical +sciences in determining the relative reliability of +measurements made by a particular instrument. The social +scientist is compelled to rely on the use of his eyes, +and the problem is to standardize the use so that objective +results can be secured.⁠<a id="FNanchor_66_66" href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span></p> + +<p>Such methods of devising and testing categories for the +observation of behavior need urgently to be developed for +the study of courtroom, legislative, committee, mass meeting, +and other types of behavior in situations of immediate +political interest. It is possible to record the differential +reactions of participants, and to distinguish that which is +inherent in the rôle performed (chairman), and that which +is the individualized penumbra of the act (individual +gesture).</p> + +<p>These objective categories and recording practices can +be extended to the study of behavior wherever dominating +and submissive behavior is found. The gap between +the studies of children and the study of personalities in +complicated adult political situations can be filled in with +the idea of finding reliable criteria of the stability of +political reactions. Some early studies have been made +which suggest that types of dominating behavior are +isolable at very early ages. Charlotte Bühler detected +children who dominated through pressure of activity, despotic +behavior, and “leadership” behavior. Her monograph +reproduces photographic illustrations of what she +means by the terms employed.⁠<a id="FNanchor_67_67" href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> An outgrowth of her work +is the experimental study by Marjorie Walker at the Minneapolis +Institute of Child Welfare (under direction of +Anderson and Goodenough). An observational study by +Mildred Parten at the same place showed that in uncontrolled +play activities the dominating or submissive rôles +might be strikingly monopolized by individual children.⁠<a id="FNanchor_68_68" href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>By methods which are less objective but much better than +simple impressionism, there have been a number of “political +types” observed in later development. Karl Reininger +kept a careful record of the behavior of his pre-puberty +schoolboys, and brought out very clearly the functional +distinction between the “leader” and the “specialist.” The +specialist might temporarily guide the group in some activity +for which he was particularly competent, but the +leader kept him within limits and reassumed the direction +as soon as the special activity was over. Reininger has +many shrewd observations to offer about the bearing of +what he saw on the whole range of social psychological +theory, and his monograph is a beautiful example of how +a circumscribed empirical study can be given meaning +and distinction against a broad theoretical background.⁠<a id="FNanchor_69_69" href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> +Hildegard Hetzer watched the spontaneous groupings of +children in play groups, and shrewdly distinguished organizers, +specialists, and social leaders from one another.⁠<a id="FNanchor_70_70" href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></p> + +<p>At a still later level is the study which Viktor Winkler-Hermaden +made of the psychology of youth-movement +leaders. These leaders are recruited from youths who +are not much ahead of their groups in age, and in a well-balanced +and penetrating chapter he contrasted the “ruler,” +“teacher,” and “apostle.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_71_71" href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>Special studies of dominating and submissive types in +various situations ought to be made with some reference +to the reaction-type classifications for the age period which +are made by competent students. Since puberty-adolescence +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>is of so much importance, the categories which are +proposed in the literature ought to be examined by the +special investigator. H. Hoffman gives a modified list of +the puberty types described by Spranger and Croner in +one section of his general book on character formation.⁠<a id="FNanchor_72_72" href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> +Suggestions on various distortions of development which +lie behind certain forms of dominating and submissive +behavior are to be found in August Aichhorn’s lectures +on <i>Verwahrloste Jugend</i>.⁠<a id="FNanchor_73_73" href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> This is the most valuable book +to a student of youth which has yet been explicitly devoted +to the subject by an analyst. Aichhorn reports in his +eighth lecture the results of an extremely important experiment +which he made with the most aggressive and uncontrollable +boys under his supervision (he has served +for many years as the head of a home for homeless boys). +The whole group was put together, and the staff members +were instructed never to interfere with them, short of +stopping permanent injury. These “hard-boiled” youths +broke up the furniture, mauled one another, and wore out +several attendants before they gradually tamed down. +After having learned that they could not taunt the environment +into punishing them, and into justifying their own +suspicions of it, they went through a process of character +re-education. The behavior of the group is reported in +graphical form, and representative instances of what occurred +are recited in the text of the lecture. Several specific +genetic hypotheses are set up to explain particular +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span>kinds of behavior on the part of the boys with whom +Aichhorn has had intimate touch.⁠<a id="FNanchor_74_74" href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> + +<p>Will we be able to predict from objective studies made +of preadolescent boys who dominate their play groups +that one set of them will stand a high chance of dominating +play and work groups in adolescence? Can we thus +isolate rather stable developmental sequences for various +trait constellations which are of direct importance to the +student of politics? Can we achieve a composite picture +for a given culture by studying overlapping age groups +for a two-year period? Certainly the way is becoming +clearer to an effective relationship between political science +and the disciplines associated with the study of the +growing individual.</p> + +<p>One of the difficulties which lie in the path of successful +collaboration with psychiatrists and child psychologists +is that the political scientists have not themselves made it +entirely clear just what the adult differentials are whose +genetic history they would like to understand. What are +the questions about the specifically political life of the +individual which the political scientist would like to have +included in any master-inventory of possible facts about +the intensively studied individual?</p> + +<p>The following classification of political attitudes is intended +to have suggestive value rather than formal completeness. +The first section of this classification refers to +the political preferences and expectations or forebodings +of the individual investigated. Some individuals cherish +a fraternal and some a paternal ideal. The anarchist, socialist, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span>and democrat talk the language of equality among +a family of brothers; the monarchists preserve a father.⁠<a id="FNanchor_75_75" href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> +A series of other ideological distinctions are perhaps sufficiently +clear from the terms used.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="center" style="font-size:larger">CLASSIFICATION OF POLITICAL ATTITUDES</p> +<p class="center">SECTION A. POLITICAL VIEWS</p> + +<p>I. Preferences</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> + Paternal ideal<br> + Fraternal ideal<br> + <br> + Strong central authority<br> + Weak central authority<br> + <br> + Revolutionary ideal<br> + Counter-revolutionary or reactionary ideal<br> + <br> + Cataclysmic change<br> + Evolutionary change<br> + <br> + Indulgent toward coercion, secrecy, ruthlessness<br> + Insistent upon persuasion, openness, scrupulousness<br> + <br> + Emancipatory, defensive, expansive ideal for group<br> + World-unity ideal +</blockquote> + +<p>II. Expectations and forebodings</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> + Small political change can have great results<br> + Small political change can have some results of value<br> + Little of value can be accomplished by politics<br> + Revolutionary changes imminent, eventual, contingent +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>It is probably in relation to political practices, as distinguished +from political views, that the intensive study +of the individual has the most to offer. I have included a +list of questions in Appendix B which are intended to suggest +the sort of thing which is directly pertinent to the interest +of the political scientist in this regard. How has the +individual acted as a subordinate when confronted by superiors +of various kinds (in the army, in school, in fraternity +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>organizations, in business, in party clubs, in propaganda +organizations, in administrative hierarchies, and the +like)? How has the individual acted as a superior when +confronted by subordinates of various kinds? Besides considering +the behavior of the person as subordinate or +superior, we may inquire into his attitude toward individuals +who have not been members of his various organizations, +but who have been possible helpers or obstacles. +Thus he may have approached strangers for money, or +sought to win diplomatic support from another organization +against a common menace. His tactics may be classified +according to the means employed and the measure of +success attained. Special attention may likewise be devoted +to the behavior of the individual, not toward particular +persons, but toward publics, which are necessarily +anonymous. Summarizing:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="center">SECTION B. POLITICAL PRACTICES</p> + +<p>I. As subordinate</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p>Confronted by superiors who are<br> +A. Strong, brutal<br> +B. Masterful but rather objective<br> +C. Weak<br><br> +Reaction (conscious)</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>1. Does not assume a friendly mask (exterior) even though +he sees it would be an advantage (seeks to escape, becomes +stubborn, surly, assaultive, joins anti-authoritation +acts engaged in by associates, continues to contemplate +revenge long after)</p> + +<p>2. Does not see or press up own individual advantage because +of attachment or intimidation (deference without +conscious hostility, pronounced affection, intimidated +sacrifice of associates to curry favor, overgratitude)</p> + +<p>3. Combines friendly mask with conscious acts of hostility +(plays up qualities admired by chief, whether imitative +of chief or expressive of the chief’s repressions)</p> + +<p>4. Irrational elements in adaptation at a minimum</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span></p> + +<p>II. As authority</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p>Confronted by subordinates who are<br> +A. Strong, hostile, dangerous rivals<br> +B. Strong and objective<br> +C. Weak<br><br> +Reaction</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>1. Does not refrain from taking up a hostile front even when +it is recognized to be inappropriate</p> + +<p>2. Takes apparently friendly line while pursuing hostile +purposes</p> + +<p>3. Does not take strong-enough measures to secure efficiency +or respect (too indulgent of mirrors of self or of those +who work out frustrations)</p> + +<p>4. Objective (inflicts narcissistic wound when advantageous, +reassures when useful, develops abilities of subordinates, +thwarts when dangerous)</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>III. In dealing with possible helper or obstructor who is outside +organization (most effective tactics chosen and range of +tactics)</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +Appeals to logical standards<br> +Appeals to sentiment<br> +Non-violent and violent coercion<br> +Inducement (tangible advantage)<br> +</blockquote> + +<p>IV. In dealing with public</p> + +<blockquote> +Types of tactics chosen, success +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>Forms of expression, thought, and interest may be singled +out for special consideration. What is intended here +is sufficiently apparent from the captions:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="center">SECTION C. FORMS OF EXPRESSION, THOUGHT, INTEREST</p> + +<p class="noindent">I. Forms of expression</p> + +<p>(Includes all symbolizing forms: political editorials, novels, +poems, paintings, cartoons, plastic media, plays, acting)</p> + +<p>Most effective style</p> + +<blockquote> +Analytical and dialectical<br> +Persecutory (sarcastic, denunciatory)<br> +Enthusiastic<br> +Humorous<br> +Commanding +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span></p> + +<p>Range of style wide or limited</p> + +<p class="noindent">II. Mode of thought</p> + +<blockquote> +Quick or slow to suggest policies or tactics<br> + +Almost totally uninventive<br> + +Systematically collects data prior to judgment<br> + +Impressionistic improvisation<br> + +Welcomes suggestion and criticism before decision<br> + +Impatient of suggestion and criticism before decision<br> + +Anxious to justify decision to those about or to world<br> + +Indifferent about justifying decision<br> + +Stubbornly holds to decision<br> + +Oscillates in decision<br> + +Much influenced by facts and arguments (or little)<br> + +Much influenced by appeals to sentiments (or little)<br> + +Much influenced by personal inducements (or little)<br> + +Much influenced by coercion (or little) (note that influence +may be negative as to direction)<br> + +Genuine pursuit of general interest in exercise of discretion, +or not<br> + +Elated by victory or depressed<br> + +Genuine or narrow in sharing credit<br> + +Deeply depressed by defeat or satisfied in defeat<br> + +Interested in programs and values<br> + +Interested in processes and methods<br> + +Long-run or short-run objectives<br> + +Aims at immediate or eventual political action<br> + +Presses through to a decision capable of being tested<br> + +Conclusions or decisions vague<br> + +Ideal of responsible personal participation<br> + +Consistency between opinion and practices<br> + +Self-consciousness of own techniques<br> + +Conforms or not to family pattern (exaggerated, adoption +of opposite, ...) +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">III. Political interest</p> + +<blockquote> +Formulated early and persists through life<br> +Formulated early, lies dormant, reawakened<br> +Aroused early, disillusioned<br> +Aroused late +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> + +<p>By this time it is perhaps superfluous to comment that +every fact is defined from the point of view of an observer, +and that the problem is to specify as definitely as possible +the angle of observation of the recorder. Trait lists are +meaningless unless they can be filled in by a fact-collecting +process which surveys the various situations with respect +to which it is of possible relevance. It is very obvious +to the psychopathologist that the man who is “aggressive” +at work may be “timid” in sexuality. All too frequently +personalities are supposed to be “aggressive” +when a certain number of raters have agreed on it, without +stopping to consider whether the raters have a chance +to become acquainted with the behavior of the individual +in many situations. The multiplication of ratings by persons +who are in a poor position to judge the subject (even +by “intimate” friends who do not, however, act as sexual +partners) adds nothing but a spurious specificity to the +data. The interviewer who listens to the intimate life +of the individual through many weeks and months is in +a very strategic position to become acquainted with details +of individual reactions which even intimates have not seen. +A “rating” must be taken with special reference to the +history of the relations of the rater and the rated. It may +be that we shall presently find that the ratings of analysts +in dealing with certain types of people who can +be easily identified do not substantially deviate from those +of “intimates” or even rather casual acquaintances of certain +kinds. Such knowledge will enable research to proceed +with more certain pace toward the time when we +shall know what to look for and how to elicit what we +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>want with the maximum of economy. The specialist who +interviews a man for an hour may be able, during the +course of what appears to be an ordinary social relation, +to find the tell-tale signs which detailed research has +shown to be invariably, or almost invariably, connected +with particular impulse systems and developmental histories. +As Bjerre so well put it:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>As soon as our intercourse with a certain person is no longer +governed by common interests, but by a desire to acquire a +knowledge of his inmost being, we immediately abandon the formal +content of his utterance and begin unconsciously to seek for +whatever indication of his inner life appears in his speech independently +of, or even in spite of, his conscious will.⁠<a id="FNanchor_76_76" href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>What is achieved is a correlation of the results of +“casual” contact and “intensive” study, a correlation +which is the common target of a converging attack upon +the understanding of the human personality.</p> + +<p>Some day we shall know how to validate the saying of +the old physician which is on the title-page of this book: +“From him who has eyes to see and ears to hear no mortal +can hide his secret; he whose lips are silent chatters with +his fingertips and betrays himself through all his pores.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII"> + CHAPTER XIII + <br> + THE STATE AS A MANIFOLD OF EVENTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Implications have continually been drawn in the foregoing +pages about the bearing of the intensive study of +individual personalities upon the meaning of the political +process as a whole. Since the psychopathological approach +to the individual is the most elaborate procedure +yet devised for the study of human personality, it would +appear to raise in the most acute form the thorny problem +of the relation between research on the individual +and research upon society. We are therefore justified in +devoting more extended attention to the theoretical problem +involved than we have yet taken occasion to do.</p> + +<p>It may be asserted at the outset that our thinking is +vitiated unless we dispose of the fictitious cleavage which +is sometimes supposed to separate the study of the “individual” +from the study of “society.” There is no cleavage; +there is but a gradual gradation of reference points. +Some events have their locus in but a single individual, +and are unsuitable for comparative investigation. Some +events are widely distributed among individuals, like +breathing, but have no special importance for interpersonal +relations. Our starting-point as social scientists is +the statement of a distinctive event which is widely spread +among human beings who occupy a particular time-space +manifold.</p> + +<p>Subjective events occupy definite positions in the flow +of events, and the problem of explanation is the problem +of locating stable relations. Since subjective events are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>not open to direct observation, but are inferred from movements, +the observer, O, must infer the existence of subjective +terms in the sequence by imagining what he would +experience under all the similar circumstances which he +can survey and compare to his own experience. Reduced +to its simplest terms, the observer’s procedure is that of +isolating a subjective event which he wishes to investigate, +and of searching for the “externals” which will make the +conditions of its occurrence clearly communicable to others. +These externals are sometimes fairly clear, and can readily +be stated in precise, “touchable” form. The sensation of +“roughness” can be predicted to follow the application of +certain objects to specified parts of the skin. A transition +from a rough to a smooth object may also produce “flinching,” +which can be somewhat definitely described, and +which accompanies and (perhaps) initiates some of the +subjective events.</p> + +<p>When any observer undertakes to talk about the state, +he may choose specific subjective experiences, such as a +sense of loyalty to a community, and say that all who have +this experience (and/or certain others) under specified +conditions make up the state. Such specified conditions +may include the act of testifying to it when asked by an +intimate friend, or when warned that the community is +in danger. The concept of the state may be amplified by +searching for the external circumstances which precipitate +the appearance of the subjective events which are +characteristic of stateness.</p> + +<p>Such a method of defining the state absolves us from +“superindividual” constructs. The locus of the subjective +events is still individual. The group is not a superindividual +phenomenon but a many-individual phenomenon. The +time-space abstraction of the “group” is just as “real” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>or “unreal” as the time-space abstraction called the “individual.” +They are both equally real or unreal, and they +stand and fall together.</p> + +<p>The state has duration. It is a time-space frame of +reference for individual events. Particular individuals +may pass on, but if the overwhelming majority of those +who occupy a certain geographical area continue to experience +the subjective events of the type chosen as critical +for the state, the state endures. The state is thus independent +of any one individual, but it ceases to exist when +enough individuals change their minds or die without procreating.</p> + +<p>I have not yet defined the particular events which are +to be treated as the marks of the state. In the sea of +subjective events we must choose certain typical ones. +Now definitions of this kind can be developed most advantageously +when we proceed, not by a method of rigorous +exclusion, but of relative emphasis. Suppose we tentatively +begin by saying that the distinguishing experience is +that of communal unity, when it is manifested by the use +of coercion against outside and inside disturbers of the +communal order. Imagine an observer is overlooking a +primitive village. He sees a band of young men whose +behavior he interprets thus: They are wearing painted +stripes, brandishing spears, and having left the village, they +engage in fighting a band of young men from a neighboring +village. Is this evidence of the existence of the state? +The facts are insufficient to justify a decision. Closer observation +may show that these young men all live in one +quarter of the village and that other young men are idling +about. When the “warriors” come back, they are only +cheered by those who live in one section. Those who live +there may prove to be members of one family, some of +whose young men have avenged a private wrong in which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>the village as a whole has no part. The system of claims +and expectations which is the essence of the communal order +is not at stake. The communal order must be involved +if the state is involved.</p> + +<p>Robert H. Lowie⁠<a id="FNanchor_77_77" href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> has shown that the term “state” may +properly be used to designate even the most primitive +communities, and that the common distinction between +a prestate and a state period of cultural development is +a distortion of the facts. The simplest peoples known, the +Yurok of northwestern California, the Angami of Assam, +and the Ifugao of northern Luzon, all have a sense of +belonging to a social unit larger than a kin group, and +act in overt defense of this order. The theft of property +of one kin group, when committed by a fellow-villager, +is mulcted by a traditional fine, but the theft, when committed +by a marauding outsider, is punished by death. In +the case of adultery, warring families inside the village +are merely engaged in adjusting the size of the penalty; +it is universally assumed that some penalty is due.</p> + +<p>The marginal cases notoriously play havoc with definitions. +The statement made before that the distinguishing +mark of the state is the experience of communal unity, +when it is manifested by the use of coercion against outside +and inside disturbers of a communal order, is too narrow to +cover a small but extremely interesting series of facts. +There may be no use of coercion against outsiders, for +the war pattern may be entirely absent from the community, +although violence against insiders who threaten the +communal system of claims and expectations appears to +be universal.</p> + +<p>The view so far proposed rests upon a frank acceptance +of social “parallelism.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_78_78" href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> Hans Kelsen has subjected +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span>the theories of parallelism of psychological states (common +emotion and the like) to a sharp, and in many ways +devastating, criticism. He says that “common emotion, +common volition and common idea can never mean anything +more than a description of the coincidence in consciousness +of a number of individuals.” But</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent">if one really wished to consider the state as consisting of a community +of consciousness such as this, and as a matter of fact, +such a realistic, empirical psychological meaning is often attributed +to what is called the collective will or the collective interest +of the state, then, in order to avoid inadmissible fictions, one +would have only to be consistent enough really to consider the +state as formed only by the contents of those whose consciousness +had shown the necessary agreement. One would be bound to +realize that community of will, feeling or thought, as a psychological +group manifestation, fluctuates tremendously at different +times and places. In the ocean of psychic happenings, such communities +may rise like waves in the sea and after a brief space be +lost again in an ever-changing ebb and flow.⁠<a id="FNanchor_79_79" href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>In this keen dialectic Kelsen has been led astray by +a failure to recognize the time dimension of the events +referred to by such a concept as the state. Subjective +facts are located in time in relation to one another when +viewed from the standpoint of any observer. The concept +of the state involves similar events in relation to one another +within a duration. The concept of the state includes +this idea of a temporal frame, and can best be grasped +as a relational system (a manifold) in which a certain +frequency of subjective events is maintained. Thus the +state is not abolished when some individuals sleep or occupy +themselves with the banalities of existence, unless +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>the state is defined with reference to a duration of a few +seconds or hours or days. But there is no reason whatever +for choosing such a transitory frame of reference. It +is just as valid to use a year as a minute, or a decade as +a year, for the time dimension. Thus the state can be +treated in what Kelsen speaks of as an “empirical psychological” +sense. It is a durable empirical fact just so +long as a certain frequency of subjective events occurs. +If Kelsen agrees that contents of consciousness are +“empirical,” he is bound to see them in a world of duration, +and he has no authority to prescribe that the state +must refer to subjective events as a “knife-edge instant.”</p> + +<p>The state, then, is a time-space manifold of similar subjective +events. Kelsen is incorrect in alleging that the acceptance +of the parallelism of psychological phenomena +as a fundamental fact destroys the state as a permanent +institution.</p> + +<p>Mere parallelism of psychological events does not give +us the state, for a distinguishing type of subjective event +must be selected if we are to characterize the state, the +family, and other social groups. Kelsen is entirely correct +in criticizing those theories of the state which invoke +parallelism but neglect to specify the particular “contents +of consciousness,” “since not every and any group +manifestations formed upon the parallelism of psychic +processes is able to constitute that community.”</p> + +<p>That subjective event which is the unique mark of the +state is the recognition that one belongs to a community +with a system of paramount claims and expectations. This +recognition of belonging does not necessarily imply an +indorsement of this state of things. The essence of the +state is this recognition, and the individual may indorse +or deplore the fact without abolishing it. One need not be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span>sentimentally bound to the order; it is enough if the order +is noted.</p> + +<p>This unique experience is never found unassociated +with other subjective events. The recognition is usually +amplified by pride in belonging to the state, and by a determination +to enforce the order upon one’s self and others. +One’s recognition of the order is usually accompanied +by an idealization of one’s participation in it, by an idealization +of the order itself, and by a condemnation of deviations +from it. All this is frequently expressed as the +“sense of justice” which is the foundation of certain +theories of law and the state.</p> + +<p>The subjective event which marks the state is usually +manifested in various “externals.” Thus the use of coercion +is well-nigh universal. The externals may be broadened +to include behavior which may be treated as a substitute +for coercion. Ordering and obeying relationships +which function in a coercive crisis may continue when +peace comes. There may be an apparent “elaboration +backward” of processes antecedent to coercion in foreign +and domestic affairs, and this may obviate a resort to the +<i>ultima ratio</i>. The regulation of the use of coercion, and +the maintenance of a certain degree of mobilization during +non-crisis periods, devolves upon “leaders,” who may +preside over initiations, goods distribution, and general +ceremonials. The process by which “heads” are selected +may involve electoral colleges, elections, and agitations.</p> + +<p>It is worth observing that in the description of political +processes terms are employed which often carry no “subjective” +connotations on their face. But in fact every term +unavoidably carries subjective implications, and if these +be ignored, there is danger that social theory will hypostatize +“patterns” or “traditions” as extra-subjective entities, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>endowed with distinctive energies and amenable to +special laws.</p> + +<p>Often the subjective “burr” on the pattern is so dim +that the subjective need scarcely ever be made explicit. +Many generalizations can be made by disregarding the +subjective element and focusing attention upon the transformations +through which the associated patterns pass. +Linguistics has achieved notable success by this method. +Phonetic arrangements are named as objects of investigation +and the fact discovered that those sounds which occur +in certain relationships presently alter in regular ways.</p> + +<p>It is theoretically possible to make a rough scale of +descriptive conceptions according to the relative fulness +or thinness of the subjective element in the pattern. To +express this symbolically, the complexity of the <i>S</i> to the +<i>E</i> (subjective to external) varies between nearly 100 and +nearly 0. The contemporary prominence of what is called +“social psychology” is due to the effort to draw attention +to the consideration of patterns in which the <i>S</i> factor is +large.</p> + +<p>The failure to stress the subjective dimensions of the +events referred to as “processes,” “patterns,” or “customs” +is not only due to the circumstance that the <i>S</i> is +often negligible, but that the objective element may often +appear with other subjective elements. John B may rise +when the national anthem is played, but he may do so +“automatically” with his mind mostly preoccupied with +the sore on his heel. The particular <i>S</i> which is meant +when the full pattern of patriotic ceremonialism is discussed +may thus be supplanted by another <i>S</i> with the same +<i>E</i>. Thus the act becomes an entirely different phenomenon, +and may erroneously be classed with patriotic ceremonialism +in the full sense.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span></p> + +<p>This point has far-reaching consequences for political +science. The accurate comparison of behavior patterns +depends upon comparison of the whole pattern. It must +not be automatically inferred that <i>S</i> exists where <i>E</i> is +found. The nature of the subjective factor can be inferred +from extending the observation in several directions. It +may be lengthened (John B may complain of a sore heel +after the anthem). It may be more intensively scrutinized +within the same period (John B may be seen to shift his +weight from one foot to another, and to frown when one +heel touches the floor).</p> + +<p>Descriptive political conceptions are undergoing a continuous +redefinition in the life of society, and unless the +student of political processes is on the alert to test his +descriptive conceptions in the light of changing reality, he +will operate with falsifications and not with simplifications. +“Voting,” to choose an instance, is a concept of the +greatest complexity. It does not alone consist in the dropping +of ballots into urns or boxes or hats, or in the punching +of buttons on a machine. These external elements, +the <i>E</i>’s, in the concept of voting are not the heart of the +matter. What count especially are the subjective terms in +the constellation of which these externals are a part, and +a highly variable part at that. How seriously do people +take the responsibility of collecting information about the +personalities and issues with which they are confronted +and judging these matters in the light of a conception +of the public interest? Voting is an entirely different matter +when individuals are coerced into casting ballots a +certain way and when they are free, leisured, and interested. +To call the casting of ballots under all circumstances +“voting” is to deprive the term of most of its significance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span></p> + +<p>It is highly probable that the phenomenon which is +loosely called voting in Chicago is today quite different +from what is was fifty years ago; it is radically true that +the phenomenon called voting in London is something +different from voting in Cook County.⁠<a id="FNanchor_80_80" href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> How are we to +decide what meaning to assign to particular aspects of +the political process as we observe them at different times +and places? The ocean of subjective happenings which +are related to external movements of a kind often associated +with politics is ever changing, and it cannot be described +by inventory methods. Not inventory but sampling +is essential if empirical definiteness is to be attached to +a term.</p> + +<p>Speaking very generally, two modes of procedure are +possible. The first is to begin with the externalities which +are a rather fixed feature of a pattern of social behavior +with which the investigator is familiar, and to proceed to +find out how the subjective features of this pattern change. +One may study “balloting” or “modes of punishment” +and the like from this point of view. Throughout Western +European culture there prevails such relative homogeneity +of pattern that research may proceed directly from this +starting-point.</p> + +<p>The field ethnologist, who deals with cultures of a drastically +different kind, must often use another avenue of +approach. A set of external movements like “balloting” +may not be sufficiently widespread to permit comparison. +The ethnologist must proceed by stating to himself the +subjective fact whose presence he would like to detect +(such as a desire to participate earnestly in deciding communal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>problems), and participate as fully in the daily +life of the people as he can, in the hope that presently +he will divine such a subjective viewpoint and its characteristic +modes of expression. It is true that there are +some movements of man whose significance is practically +universal, but these are too few to enable the utter alien +to dispense with a long period of participation in the day-to-day +life of the people. What happens is that the observer +presently begins to recognize the subjective fact +behind the movements of the body, but this primitive +judgment of his is a diffused judgment, based upon a mass +of subtle particulars which he may long be unable to +isolate in his own thinking and to point out to others; indeed, +this process is never complete, or we should have a +complete understanding of human life.</p> + +<p>Obviously both points of departure for research have +their advantages. The American student of social patterns +in Western Europe has thousands of subtle meanings +established in common with Frenchmen, Germans, or British. +This is an enormous time-saving asset. If anyone +undertakes to use the ethnologist’s approach to a familiar +culture, the results are likely to strike the participant in +that culture as perfectly obvious and hardly worth the +effort.⁠<a id="FNanchor_81_81" href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> + +<p>The whole aim of the scientific student of society is +to make the obvious unescapable, if one wishes to put the +truth paradoxically. The task is to bring into the center +of rational attention the movements which are critically +significant in determining our judgment of subjective +events, and to discover the essential antecedents of those +patterns of subjectivity and of movement. For all the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>people who are startled to find that they have spoken +prose all their lives, there are many to emulate the rustic +who “know’d it all the time” when scientific facts are +stated about human nature. That which is known implicitly +and based upon diffused, unverbalized experience +must be made explicit if new ways of dealing with the +world are to be invented.</p> + +<p>The work of investigation may eventuate in statements +of the subjective constellations which find expression in +particular cultural forms, or in the description of the +subjective constellations which are connected with forms +which are universal for all men. The frame of reference +of the social scientist is the culture; the frame of reference +of the human psychologist is the species.</p> + +<p>What is known as the “quantitative method” provides +a valuable discipline for the student of culture because it +directs his attention toward the discovery of events which +are often enough repeated to raise a strong presumption +that a particular sequence does actually exist. These +events must be so defined that similar events can be identified +by other workers. This necessitates an operational +definition of the concept, which is to say, terms must be +used to specify the position of the observer in relation to +the configuration which it is proposed to describe.⁠<a id="FNanchor_82_82" href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p> + +<p>The impatience among students of culture with the slow-footed +quantitative approach is partly due to the diffuse, +implicit nature of the experiences upon which is based +the judgment about a subjective event outside one’s self, +and the resulting bias of the student of culture against +exaggerating the significance of items in the pattern. The +statement that “his life-experience has been hued with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>melancholy” is a generalization which presupposes a +knowledge of a prodigious number of facts. Or the statement +that “the prestige of public office is greater in Germany +than in any country” depends upon possible observations +as numerous as the sands of the sea. Any proposition +in Bryce’s <i>Modern Democracies</i> or in Masaryk’s +analysis of Russian civilization refers to tremendous +ranges of data. Of course, the experience of any observer +is puny beside the Gargantuan proportions of the facts, +and able inquirers always proceed upon a sampling basis. +They get in touch with men of every income group, every +religious, every racial, and every provincial group; they +study the manifestations of the culture in painting, literature, +mathematics, legislation, administration, and physical +science.</p> + +<p>The procedure of a Bryce was quantitative in the sense +that many observations were accumulated before inferences +were fixed, but it was not quantitative in the special +mathematical sense of the word. The student of culture +is often alienated by the quantitative approach, because +the quantitative method necessitates the simplification of +the number of facts taken into account; the impressionistic-quantitative +approach of the student of culture gets +an undivided reaction to the whole and makes simplification +afterward, perhaps revising and indeed oscillating +at frequent intervals.</p> + +<p>There is more in common between the student of culture, +and especially of alien culture, and the student of +the individual by prolonged-interview methods than might +appear at first sight. The ethnologist confronting the manifestations +of an alien culture and the psychopathologist +confronting the alien manifestations of the unconscious +secure unique training in their research for meanings in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>details which escape the attention of the naïve man. Both +form their idea of the subjective events from a multitude +of signs, which may be spread over months of intimacy, +and both are somewhat inclined to disparage the search +for simple external facts which can be relied upon to +indicate a specific subjective content.</p> + +<p>The psychopathologist possesses the most elaborate +known means of exploring the manifold subjective events +which may be associated with external movements. Besides +the conscious subjective experience there is a rich +unconscious life which he is especially proficient in exposing. +Thus our movements are not alone the outcome +of simple conscious processes; they are said to be “overdetermined” +by a variety of factors.</p> + +<p>This concept of overdetermination is not unknown to +popular common sense. We know that John B is proud +of being an American, and that he wants to fight for his +country; we comment slyly that John B’s best girl likes +the uniform, and this is one reason why he volunteers. +And more than that. We know that action is not always +the outcome of experiences that point in the same direction. +We may know that John B. is anxious to stay on the +job a month longer and to get a promotion, and that going +into the army at a given moment means sacrifice. Thus +his mind is partly divided against itself. What psychopathological +methods do is to disclose yet wider vistas, +and to expose the operation of factors which cannot be +readily seen. Thus a deep longing for death may be a +contributing factor to heroism.</p> + +<p>The psychopathological approach is embarrassing less +in the specific content of its revelations than in the wealth +of meaning which it discovers behind what is at first +glance but a simple pattern. The rôle, of a particular subjective +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>experience and of a movement cannot be fully +appraised apart from the total context at which it functions, +and this method discloses a wider context than common +sense is aware of.</p> + +<p>Now the multiplicity of human motives has always been +a source of embarrassment to people who wanted to manage +men or merely to understand them. The clumsy machinery +of judicial administration has been worked out +along certain lines in the hope of introducing some degree +of uniformity into adjudication by limiting the consideration +of the motives which operate in a particular +case. The judge is thus supposed to limit himself to the +determination of the existence of a particular state of facts, +and to act in a particular way if these facts can be established +according to a prescribed procedure. The movement +toward the standardization of the discretion of public +officers expresses itself in this general pattern of thought:</p> + +<p>An act is prohibited by the state.</p> + +<p>Certain prescribed “externals” shall establish the fact of the +act having been committed.</p> + +<p>The actor shall be dealt with in certain specified ways.</p> + +<p>This crusade against the subjective element in the mind +of the public officer is in some measure determined by the +desire of the judge or civil servant to avoid responsibility.⁠<a id="FNanchor_83_83" href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> + +<p>The psychopathological approach precipitates something +very like a panic among those who have tried to box the +manifestations of human life into conventional common-sense +categories. A dozen motives seem to bloom where +but one was found to bud before.</p> + +<p>Let us see what this does for political theory. The prolonged +study of individuals enables us to discern the details +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>of the process by which the political pattern, as we +meet it in adult life, comes to be achieved by individuals.</p> + +<p>When X runs for office or passes judgment, his behavior +is overdetermined by motives, conscious and unconscious, +which were organized in successive patterns during infancy, +childhood and youth. The recognition of belonging +to a communal order never functions in isolation, and the +comparison of life-histories shows that this is implanted +in the child on the basis of meanings which he has elaborated +in his struggle, first against inhibitory factors in +the environment, and presently, when he has introjected +the demands of the environment, against his own antisocial +impulses.</p> + +<p>The early restrictions which the environment imposes +upon a child are important in that they are met by reactions +on his part which predispose him to meet subsequent +limitations in certain ways. These early restrictions +are imposed upon the child by inflicting pain or by distracting +attention to pleasurable stimuli. Inhibition is thus +established in the organism by <i>force majeur</i> on the part of +the environment, since the infant is simply overpowered +or outgeneraled by the environment.</p> + +<p>Thus far in his development the growing individual +has not become socialized in the sense that he has become +self-regulating in relation to objects in the environment. +The infant learns “sphincter morality” (in the phrase of +Ferenczi), but this involves no emotional relationship to +objects. His pleasures remain on his own body (autoplastic), +and the environment is an instrument for removing +bodily tensions in the simplest manner. Gradually the +child begins to look for gratification by lively erogenous +activities upon the body of another. This outward push +of activity is again limited and frequently blocked by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span><i>force majeur</i>. In the place of sexual relations to objects +there now appears a new form of relation, and the child +socializes himself by incorporating the practices of those +about him.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that emotional bonds are established +in two ways: by object choice (for sexual acts) +and by identification. Identification, Freud writes, is the +original form of emotional tie with an object. It can become +a substitute for a libidinal object tie, and it may +arise with every new perception of a common quality +shared with some other person who is not an object of the +sexual instinct. This latter is partial identification. The +qualities of the object are copied (introjected). The energy +for the identification is said to be supplied by aim-inhibited +sexual instincts. The name of the state, the ceremonial +acts of deference toward ceremonial symbols—all +this and much more is characteristically a feature of +the child’s growth.</p> + +<p>Characteristic, that is to say, frequent, but not invariable. +Children are always brought in relation to a system +of interferences and indulgences (ways of raising children), +and they always perceive an order of some kind. +But in some cases when a nation lives subjected to a state, +the recognition of the state relation may be accompanied +by resentment.</p> + +<p>The state pattern itself prevails when many people take +it as more than a mere state of affairs, and the idea is +reinforced by “irrelevant meanings.” Some individuals +impose motivations upon others through the state pattern. +These individuals, whether despots or enthusiasts, +may be termed “radicles,” the active ones who serve as +radiating centers for the preservation and amplification of +the state pattern.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span></p> + +<p>Freud treats the state as an emotional unity.⁠<a id="FNanchor_84_84" href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> The members +of the state identify themselves with an abstract object +(the idea of the state) and are bound emotionally by +the partial identification which arises in perceiving an +analogous relationship to the object. Kelsen has objected +to this conception of the state as a real subjective unity +by arguing that identification is a process between individuals, +and that each member of a state cannot be +thought of as having entered into personal relationships +with every other member. Even if his narrow construction +of identification were well founded, the state could still +be treated as a real subjective unity on the basis of interlocking +identifications. A has identified with B and B with +C, and one of the features of B which the child A would +typically take over (introject) would be the name and +other symbols of the state.</p> + +<p>Indeed, it is the interlocking character of identifications +which reasonably insures the incorporation of the +state symbol into the child’s conception of himself. There +is such a process as negative identification, the rejection +of patterns which are connected with hated persons. The +child is usually exposed to many adults and contemporaries, +and if they all associate themselves with the state, +the child is almost certain to reject only those patterns +which pertain exclusively to the hated individuals. This +is the fundamental reason for the staying power of patterns +once accepted in a group.</p> + +<p>It has been customary in the psychoanalytical literature +on social and political processes to describe the state as a +universal father-substitute. We are at length in a position +to discuss the problems raised by such a generalization. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span>The distinctive contribution of the psychopathological approach +is the plurality of individual meanings which it +discloses. It is an anticlimax to discover that the appearance +of diversity is, after all, spurious, and that those who +insist upon the strenuous simplification of human motives +are justified. The point which I wish to insist upon is that +the data revealed by the psychopathological procedure are +far more significant for political and social science than +this single-track generalization would lead one to suppose.</p> + +<p>The special value of the psychopathological approach +is that it represents a supermicroscopic method of utilizing +individual instances for the study of culture patterns. +If we begin with a political pattern and view it +against the private histories of actual people, we find that +this pattern takes on variable meaning from one individual +to another, but that broad groupings of associated meanings +are possible of ascertainment. Any subjective event +which is frequently associated with a political pattern is +important. Valid generalizations depend upon multiplying +cases which are selected from different groups in the +culture, and which are studied by methods capable of +disclosing subjective contexts. This is the point where +quantitative procedures can be made profitable to the student +of culture, whose attention is riveted on patterns +whose subjective element is important.</p> + +<p>But are these studies likely to lead to anything valuable +if subjective events are so variable that any subjective +event may be associated with any other subjective event? +Why not terminate the investigation at the outset by saying +that the general law of probabilities can be relied +upon to predict the frequency with which any two of a +number of specified subjective events may be expected +to occur together? Is not our empirical inquiry likely to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span>terminate in an inventory of subjective states and their +frequently accompanying movements, thus foredooming +any effort to discover more-frequent-than-chance simultaneities, +antecedents, and successions? If you look long +enough, won’t you find every subjective event associated +with every other one?</p> + +<p>A great many facts tend to substantiate this point of +view. It is true that many imposing psychological schools +of thought have arisen, run swiftly for a time in narrow +channels, and then stagnated in a shallow pool of “faculties” +or “instincts,” mere inventories of patterns which +are abstracted from all concrete events and which are +therefore capable of being combined in any event in +nearly infinite combinations. The search for specific connections +slacks down, and the psychological mill pond is +only stirred when somebody throws a stone in the pool in +the form of a new theory of specific causation, which +troubles the waters until it is found that the specific event +is found to occur with only chance frequency. In this +sense the only contributors to psychology are those who +are sufficiently naïve, or sufficiently unscrupulous, to exaggerate +the rôle of a specific type of experience. So we +have psychologies based on “fear” or “love” or “imitation,” +or we have a long string of separate terms, “sub-fears,” +which multiply as the range of concrete observation +widens, and the failure of the selected factor to explain +everything is made manifest, or disguised.</p> + +<p>Thus a history of psychology could be written by taking +“completed” systems, analyzing the functional equivalence +of the categories applied, and reducing every new system +to a collection of synonyms for the terms of preceding +systems. This hypothetical history of psychological theories +would show how an inquirer, much impressed by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span>certain experiences, would seize upon certain terms to +describe them, and how, confronted by more and more +empirical realities, he would modify the distinctive meaning +of his explanatory conceptions out of existence. A +history of psychoanalytic terminology, such as Rank has +sketched in his treatment of genetic psychology, might be +raw material for such a comparison.</p> + +<p>Would nothing remain but dictionaries of synonyms, all +rather dubious contributions to the grist of linguistic research? +It might be that our projected history would show +that each psychological system left a permanent legacy +behind it in the form of a significant “mechanism” which +had not previously been stressed. Now the whole world of +“causation” is implicated in any event, and the whole +number of significant mechanisms which may be discerned +in the “mind at a moment” is infinite. So our hypothetical +volume might conclude by accepting the assumption that +some events can be brought about by more than chance +frequency, subject to the reservation that experimental +confirmation is never reliable as to the future. The critical +configurations may never “reappear.” We commonly +say that the probability of an event’s future repetition +is greater if it has been oft repeated in the past. But there +is no means of demonstrating that the future contains +analogous configurations to the elapsed. The probability +of the future repetition of an event is “no probability.” +If events appear to be predictable, this is so because our +knowledge of contingencies is limited, and our sequences +of similar configurations may still be treated as special +instances of “no sequence.” The stable is a special case +of the unstable, to put the ultimate paradox. The discovery +of aggregates of mechanisms whose rearrangement in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>short periods would enrich the apparatus of social control +is the dream (the mirage?) of psychology.</p> + +<p>Whether these objections will be well founded depends +on the outcome of the test, and are incapable of dialectical +resolution. It may be pointed out that the search for +generalized mechanisms rests on no firmer logical foundations +than the search for subjective sequences, since mechanisms +are likewise aspects of the world of events, and as +such are subject to the same “no probability” laws of +recurrence.</p> + +<p>It should be repeated that the aim of life-history investigation +is not to arrive at such thin generalizations as +the statement that the state is a universal father-imago +(symbol). What matters to the student of culture is not +the subjective similarities of the species, but the subjective +differences among members of the same and similar cultures. +The life-history configuration is precisely the one +which has special meaning for the study of culture, and +has its own valid place as an object of investigation in +the world of events.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>We may at this point briefly retrace the steps which +have been taken in this monograph. The psychopathological +approach has been examined in its historical setting, +and the distinctive value of the free-fantasy method of +using the mind has been illustrated. Its importance, likewise, +for the understanding of political types has been +shown with special reference to the agitators and the administrators.</p> + +<p>The general formula for the developmental history of +the political man employs three terms:</p> + +<blockquote> + <i>p</i> <span class="bracket">}</span> <i>d</i> <span class="bracket">}</span> <i>r</i> = <i>P</i> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span></p> +<p class="noindent"><i>p</i> equals private motives, <i>d</i> equals displacement on to public +objects, <i>r</i> equals rationalization in terms of public interest. +<i>P</i> signifies the political man, and <span class="bracket">}</span> means “transformed +into.”</p> + +<p>The political man shares the <i>p</i>, the private motives +which are organized in the early life of the individual, +with every man, and the <i>d</i>, the displacement on to public +objects, with some men. The distinctive mark of the <i>homo +politicus</i> is the rationalization of the displacement in terms +of public interests. Political types may be distinguished +according to the specialized or the composite character of +the functions which they perform and which they are desirous +of performing. There are political agitators, administrators, +theorists, and various combinations thereof. +There are significant differences in the developmental history +of each political type.</p> + +<p>The hallmark of the agitator is the high value which +he places on the response of the public. As a class the +agitators are strongly narcissistic types. Narcissism is +encouraged by obstacles encountered in the early love relationships, +or by overindulgence and admiration in the +family circle. Libido is blocked in moving outward toward +objects and settles back upon the self. Sexual objects +which are like the self are preferred, and a strong homoerotic +component is thus characteristic. Among the agitators +yearning for emotional response of the homoerotic kind +is displaced upon generalized objects, and high value is put +on arousing emotional responses from the community at +large. The oratorical agitator, in contradistinction to the +publicist, seems to show a long history of successful impostorship +in dealing with his environment. Agitators differ +appreciably in the specificity or in the generality of +the social objects upon which they succeed in displacing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>their affects. Those who have been consciously attached to +their parents and who have been successful impostors +(“model children”) are disposed to choose remote and general +objects. Those who have been conscious of suppressing +serious grievances against the intimate circle, and who +have been unable to carry off the impostor’s rôle successfully, +are inclined to pick more immediate and personal +substitutes. The rational structure tends toward theoretical +completeness in the former case. The object choices for +displaced affects depend on the models which are offered +when the early identifications are being made. When the +homoerotic attitude is the important one, the assaultive, +provocative relation to the environment is likely to display +itself; when the impotence fear is active, grandiose reactions +figure more prominently.</p> + +<p>As a group the administrators are distinguished by the +value which they place upon the co-ordination of effort in +continuing activity. They differ from the agitators in that +their affects are displaced on less remote and abstract +objects. In the case of one important group this failure +to achieve abstract objects is due to excessive preoccupation +with specific individuals in the family circle, and to +the correlative difficulty of defining the rôle of the self. +Very original and overdriving administrators show a fundamental +pattern which coincides with that of the agitators. +The differences in specific development are principally +due to the culture patterns available for identification +at critical phases of growth. Another group of administrators +is recruited from among those who have passed +smoothly through their developmental crises. They have +not overrepressed powerful hostilities, but either sublimated +these drives, or expressed them boldly in the intimate +circle. They display an impersonal interest in the task +of organization itself, and assert themselves with firmness, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>though not with overemphasis, in professional and +intimate life. Their lack of interest in abstractions is due +to the fact that they have never needed them as a means +of dealing with their emotional problems. They can take +or leave general ideas without using them to arouse widespread +affective responses from the public. Tied neither +to abstractions nor to particular people, they are able to +deal with both in a context of human relations, impersonally +conceived. Their affects flow freely; they are not affectless, +but affectively adjusted.</p> + +<p>The psychopathological method was also employed to +discover the significance of political convictions, for it is +evident that beliefs are expressive of a rational and logical +“manifest” content, and that they symbolize a host of +private motives. In this connection there was passed in +review the history of a compulsive conformist to the pattern +of the family, and the histories of several nonconformists. +The private meaning of militarism and pacifism, +and of the pessimism and censoriousness of old age, were +explored.</p> + +<p>Attention was then turned from the case-history fragments +to the problem of drawing out the implications of +intensive personality study for the theory of the collective +political process.</p> + +<p>Political movements derive their vitality from the displacement +of private affects upon public objects. The affects +which are organized in the family are redistributed +upon various social objects, such as the state. Political +crises are complicated by the concurrent reactivation of +specific primitive impulses. One might suppose that when +important decisions are in process of being made society +would deliberate very calmly; but the disproportionality +between the behavior of man during wars, revolutions, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>elections, and the requirements of rational thinking is notorious. +Evidently a reactivating process is at work here; +there is a regressive tendency to reawaken primitive sadism +and lust.</p> + +<p>Political symbols are particularly adapted to serve as +targets for displaced effect because of their ambiguity of +reference, in relation to individual experience, and because +of their general circulation. Although the dynamic +of politics is the tension of individuals, all tension does +not produce political acts. Nor do all emotional bonds +lead to political action. Political acts depend upon the +symbolization of the discontent of the individual in terms +of a more inclusive self which champions a set of demands +for social action.</p> + +<p>Political demands are of only a limited relevance to +the changes which will produce permanent reductions in +the tension level of society. The political methods of coercion, +exhortation, and discussion assume that the rôle +of politics is to solve conflicts when they have happened. +The ideal of a politics of prevention is to obviate conflict +by the definite reduction of the tension level of society by +effective methods, of which discussion will be but one. +The preventive point of view insists upon a continuing +audit of the human consequences of social acts, and especially +of political acts. The achievement of the ideal of +preventive politics depends less upon changes in social +organization than upon improving the methods and the +education of the social administrators and the social scientists.</p> + +<p>The empirical material utilized in the book was brought +together in the course of prolonged interviews with individuals +under unusually intimate conditions. At the present +time there are no satisfactory records of what actually +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span>happens under these interview conditions, and it is +important for the future of personality study to improve +the methodology of these procedures. The objectification +of what transpires in the interview can be secured by arranging +for a verbatim transcript of what goes on, and by +recording the physical changes which occur.</p> + +<p>Effective personality research depends upon viewing the +personality reactions as a system, and upon perfecting the +procedures by which the substitutive reactions of this system +may be exposed. Broadly speaking, the personality +may be treated as a system of object orientations, adjustive +thought, autistic reveries, and somatic reactions. The +problem is to introduce interferences into the system, and +to reveal the substitutive reactions for comparison and further +analysis. Every “fact” about personality events is to +be defined from the standpoint of a specified observer, +and a major problem for the future is to check the “facts” +of the observer in the prolonged interview against the +“facts” of observers in other situations. Personality research +can be made more valuable for political science +when the adult reactions are clearly seen which chiefly +interest the political scientist (see Appendix B).</p> + +<p>What, in general terms, is the relationship between research +upon the individual and upon society? There is no +cleavage; there is but a gradation of reference points. +Events which are of collective interest always have an +individual locus, and these events may be studied in their +relation to the sequence of events “within the individual” +or in relation to the events “among individuals.” The distinctive +event which serves as the orienting frame for political +research is the recognition of belonging to a community +with a system of paramount claims and expectations. +This event, when distributed with sufficient frequency +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span>among the individuals who occupy a given territory during +a specified time period, define the state, which is thus +a manifold of events. Research which studies the order +of events “within the individual” or “among individuals” +is equally relevant to the understanding of the state; the +difference is a difference of starting-point and not of final +result.</p> + +<p>When the state is seen as a manifold of events the conditions +of whose occurrence are to be understood, the theoretical +foundation is laid for both the intensive and the +distributive inquiries upon which the politics of prevention +can be built. In particular will it be possible to profit as +the years pass, and as psychopathology widens the range +of its investigations, and increases the dependability of its +methods.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_A"> + APPENDIX A + <br> + SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The literature of psychoanalysis from its inception to 1926 is +conveniently available in John Rickman’s <i>Index Psychoanalyticus, +1893–1926</i>. The <i>Gesammelte Schriften</i> of Sigmund Freud +have been published by the Internationaler Psychoanalytischer +Verlag, Vienna, in eleven volumes. This publishing house puts +out most of the literature of the circle around Freud. Of Freud’s +books the beginner may be referred to his <i>General Introduction +to Psychoanalysis, The Interpretation of Dreams</i>, and <i>Three Contributions +to Sexual Theory</i>. An English edition of Freud’s collected +papers is in process of publication. The most important +technical journal is the <i>Internationale Zeitschrift für arztliche +Psychoanalyse</i>. There is an English journal, <i>The International +Journal of Psycho-Analysis</i>, and an American one, <i>The Psychoanalytic +Review</i>. (A French periodical has recently appeared.)</p> + +<p>Among the “orthodox” psychoanalytical treatises the following +are of particular importance:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Ferenczi, S.</span> <i>Bausteine zur Psychoanalyse</i>. Leipzig, 1926.</p> + +<p>——. <i>Versuch einer Genitaltheorie</i>. Leipzig, 1924.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Ferenczi, S.</span>, and <span class="smcap">Hollos, S.</span> <i>Psychoanalysis and the Psychic +Disorder of General Paresis</i>, “Nervous and Mental Disease +Monograph Series,” No. 42. New York and Washington, +1925.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The psychological manifestations of a physical disease are predicted on +the basis of the psychoanalytical theory of personality development. Of +great methodological importance.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Abraham, K.</span> <i>Klinische Beitrage zur Psychoanalyse aus den +Jahren 1907–20</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1921.</p> + +<p>——. <i>Psychoanalytische Studien zur Charakterbildung</i>. Leipzig, +etc., 1925.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The most influential approach to the problem of character formation. +Amplified in many directions by Jones, Glover, etc.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Alexander, S.</span> <i>Psychoanalyse der Gesamtpersönlichkeit</i>. Leipzig, +etc., 1927.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>A notably lucid presentation of the general theory. Recently translated +as <i>The Psychoanalysis of the Total Personality</i> and published in the “Nervous +and Mental Disease Monograph Series.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hartmann, H.</span> <i>Die Grundlagen der Psychoanalyse.</i> Leipzig, +1927.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>A very important book which views analytical concepts in relation to +the data of experimental psychology.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Deutsch, Felix.</span> “Experimentelle Studien zur Psychoanalyse,” +<i>Internationale Zeitschrift</i>, IX (1923), 484–96.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Reports the demonstration of the mechanism of repression by the use +of post-hypnotic suggestion.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Kempf, E.</span> <i>Psychopathology</i>. St. Louis, 1921.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Stresses the function of the autonomic functions, and undertakes to +amplify psychoanalytical theory in this direction.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>Among those who have broken off from Freud, after having +been associated with him, are Stekel, Jung, and Adler. Stekel +has published ten volumes of case histories which are valuable +for the beginner who needs to acquire a sense of what sort of +thing the human mind is capable. The other two are of more +theoretical importance. Jung’s <i>Psychological Types</i> is of the +most immediate interest to social scientists, although his speculations +about the “racial unconscious” are suggestive. Alfred +Adler’s standpoint is set out in his <i>Individual Psychology</i>. His +circle in Vienna publishes a journal.</p> + +<p>An excellent manual is <i>The Structure and Meaning of Psychoanalysis</i> +(New York, 1930), by William Healy, Augusta F. Bronner, +and Anna Mae Bowers.</p> + +<p>The psychoanalytical movement can be placed in the general +perspective of medical psychology by referring to such a manual +as William A. White’s <i>Outlines of Psychiatry</i> or Bernard Hart’s +<i>Psychopathology</i>. There are excellent books in German on medical +psychology by Kronfeld, Birnbaum, Schilder, Kretschmer, and +many others. The general movements in the field can be followed +in the <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i> or the <i>Journal of Nervous +and Mental Diseases</i>, the latter of which is edited by William A. +White and Smith Ely Jelliffe, who also supervise the well-known +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>series of books, usually translations, called the “Nervous and +Mental Disease Monograph Series.” Pierre Janet’s <i>Psychological +Healing</i> reviews the general history of psychopathology. Among +the innumerable articles and books which undertake to appraise +the clinical and normal implications of psychoanalysis, the symposium +edited by Hans Prinzhorn may be chosen, <i>Krisis der Psychoanalyse</i> +(Leipzig, 1928), Band I (the projected second volume +will not appear). Otto Rank, who has likewise broken with +Freud, is publishing a series of books on the psychoanalytical +interview which promises to serve as a bridge between the general +theory and the objective studies of the interview situation +which are in progress in America.</p> + +<p>On the special problem of personality and character types, the +volume by A. A. Roback, <i>The Psychology of Character</i>, may be +instanced as a very comprehensive guide to the literature. His +<i>A Bibliography on Personality</i> is also available. An acute analysis +of typologies was offered by O. Selz before the German experimental +psychologists in 1923. See the following:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Selz, O.</span> “Über die Personlichkeitstypen und die Methoden ihrer +Bestimmung,” <i>Bericht über den VIII. Kongress für experimentelle +Psychologie</i>. Jena, 1924.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Klüver, H.</span> “An Analysis of Recent Work on the Problem of +Psychological Types,” <i>Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases</i>, +LXII, No. 6 (December, 1925).</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The current output is reviewed from time to time in relation to tests by +Mark A. May, Gordon W. Allport, and certain other psychologists who are +especially interested in the field. The <i>Psychological Index</i> can be consulted +for the purpose of keeping abreast of the large quantity of published +material.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>The most influential recent book is Kretschmer’s <i>Physique and +Character</i>. The somatic factors in personality are stated with +charm and brevity by E. Miller, <i>Types of Mind and Body</i>. Useful +summary and critical volumes are by William I. Thomas and +Dorothy S. Thomas, <i>The Child in America</i> (New York, 1928), +chapters viii-xiii inclusive, and by R. G. Gordon, <i>Personality</i> +(New York, 1926).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span></p> + +<p>The psychoanalytical literature which has undertaken to deal +with politics or politicians explicitly may be appended here:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Pfister, Oskar.</span> “Analytische Untersuchungen über die Psychologie +des Hasses und der Versöhnung,” <i>Jahrbuch der +Psychoanalyse</i>, II (1910), 134–78.</p> + +<p>——. “Die Bedeutung der Psychoanalyse für die Staats- und +Gesellschaftslehre” (Vortrag an VI. Int. Psa. Kong., Hague, +September 8–11, 1920), abstract in <i>Internationale Zeitschrift</i>, +VI, 400.</p> + +<p>——. “Die menschlichen Einigungsbestrebungen im Lichte der +Psychoanalyse,” <i>Imago</i>, XII (1926), 126–35.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The <i>Imago</i> is the psychoanalytical journal which is devoted to applications +of psychoanalytical theory to the interpretation of culture.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sachs, Hanns.</span> “Die Bedeutung der Psychoanalyse für Probleme +der Soziologie” (Vortrag), abstract in <i>Centralblatt für Psychoanalyse</i>, +II (1911), 464–69.</p> + +<p>——. “Ein Traum Bismarcks,” <i>Internationale Zeitschrift</i>, I +(1913), 80–83.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sachs, Hanns</span>, and <span class="smcap">Rank, Otto</span>. <i>Die Bedeutung der Psychoanalyse +für die Geisteswissenschaften.</i> Wiesbaden, 1913.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>This was published in the “Grenzfragen des Nerven und Seelenlebens,” +No. 93, a series which contains many volumes of great interest to social +scientists. Kretschmer now is the responsible editor. The book also appears +as No. 23 in the “Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Rank, Otto.</span> “Der ‘Familienroman’ in der Psychologie des Attentäters,” +<i>Der Künstler</i> (virte vermehrte Auflage; Leipzig, +etc., 1925), pp. 142–48.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>This fragment first appeared in 1911.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Storfer, A. J.</span> “Zur Sonderstellung des Vatermordes.” Leipzig, +etc., 1911.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Parricide and regicide are punished with unusual severity in different +legal systems.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Abraham, Karl.</span> “Amenhotep IV (Echnaton),” <i>Imago</i>, I +(1912), 334–60.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>One of the earliest applications of analytical concepts to a historical +personage.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Freud, Sigmund.</span> <i>Totem und Taboo</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1913.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Outlines his hypothesis of the origin of culture in an original parricide +by a band of revolting brothers, who resented the monopoly of the females +by the old man of the tribe, and who undertook to repress memories of +the crime. See the discussion by Malinowski of this hypothesis in <i>Sex and +Repression in Savage Society</i> (New York, 1927).</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>——. “Zeitgemässes über Krieg und Tod,” <i>Imago</i>, IV (1915–16), +1–21.</p> + +<p>——. <i>Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1921.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>An application of Freud’s theories to the psychology of crowds and +social institutions. See William McDougall, “Professor Freud’s Group Psychology +and His Theory of Suggestion,” chapter xvii of <i>Problems of Personality</i> +(ed. Campbell and others; New York, 1925).</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>——. <i>Unbehagen der Kultur</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1929.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Jekels, Ludwig.</span> “Der Wendepunkt im Leben Napoleons I,” +<i>Imago</i>, III (1914), 313–81.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Kaplan, Leo.</span> “Der tragische Held und der Verbrecher,” <i>ibid.</i>, +IV (1915), 96–124.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Jones, Ernest.</span> “War and Sublimation.” Read before the British +Association for the Advancement of Science, Section of +Physiology, September 10, 1915; published in <i>Reports</i> of +the Association, LXXXV, 699 ff.</p> + +<p>——. (ed.). <i>The Social Aspects of Psychoanalysis</i>. London, +1923.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tausk, Viktor.</span> “Zur Psychologie des Deserteurs,” <i>Zeitschrift</i>, +IV (1916–17), 193–204, 228–40.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Blüher, Hans.</span> <i>Die Rolle der Erotik in der männlichen Gesellschaft</i>. +2 vols. Jena, 1917.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bernfeld, Siegfried.</span> “Die Psychoanalyse in der Jugendbewegung,” +<i>Imago</i>, V (1919), 283–89.</p> + +<p>——. “Über eine typische Form der männlichen Pubertät,” +<i>ibid.</i>, IX (1923), 169–188.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Federn, Paul.</span> <i>Die Vaterlose Gesellschaft</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1919.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Clark, L. Pierce.</span> “A Psychologic Study of Abraham Lincoln,” +<i>ibid.</i>, VIII (1921), 1–21.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span></p> + +<p>——. “A Psycho-historical Study of the Epileptic Personality +in the Genius,” <i>ibid.</i>, IX (1922), 367–401.</p> + +<p>——. “The Narcism of Alexander the Great,” <i>Ibid.</i>, X (1923), +156–69.</p> + +<p>——. <i>Napoleon: Self-Destroyed</i>. New York, 1929.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Kolnai, Aurel.</span> <i>Psychoanalyse und Soziologie</i>. Leipzig, etc., +1920.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lazell, Edward W.</span> “Psychology of War and Schizophrenia,” +<i>Psychoanalytic Review</i>, VII (1920), 224–45.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Rinaldo, Joel.</span> <i>The Psychoanalysis of the Reformer</i>. New York, +1921.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">White, William A.</span> <i>Thoughts of a Psychiatrist on the War and +After</i>. New York, 1919.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Low, Barbara.</span> “Civic Ideals: Some Psycho-analytical Considerations,” +<i>Sociological Review</i>, 1922.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Boven, William.</span> “Alexander der Grosse,” <i>Imago</i>, VIII (1922), +418–39.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Berger, G.</span> “Zur Theorie der menschlichen Feindseligkeit,” <i>ibid.</i>, +IX (1923), 344–67.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lorenz, Emil.</span> <i>Der politische mythus, Beitrage zur mythologie +der Kultur</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1923.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Illustrates the state-father relationship from the lore and literature of +many cultures.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Reik, Theodor.</span> <i>Geständniszwang und Strafbedürfnis: Probleme +der Psychoanalyse und der Kriminologie</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1925.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Outlines in masterly fashion the implications of the need for punishment +and the compulsion to confess for criminology. Reik has also published +extensively on religion from the psychoanalytical standpoint.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Kohn, Erwin</span>, <i>Lasalle der Führer</i>. Leipzig, etc., 1926.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Alexander, Franz</span>, and <span class="smcap">Staub, Hugo</span>. <i>Der Verbrecher und seine +Richter</i>. Vienna, 1929.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>A sketch of criminology from the psychoanalytical standpoint, drawing +heavily on Alexander’s conception of the neurotic character, as distinguished +from the neurotics who show hysteric or compulsive symptoms.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Friedjung, Josef K.</span> “Zur Psychologie des kleinen Politikers,” +<i>Imago</i>, XIV (1928), 498–501.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Among those who have undertaken from allied fields to apply +psychoanalytic viewpoints may be mentioned William F. Ogburn, +who read a paper before the economists in 1918; Thomas D. +Eliot, sociologist; Harry Elmer Barnes, historical sociologist; +E. D. Martin, social psychologist; Preserved Smith, historian; +R. V. Harlow, historian; W. H. R. Rivers, ethnologist; and Theodore +Schroeder, lawyer. See especially:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Barnes, Harry Elmer.</span> <i>The New History and the Social Studies</i>, +chap. iii. New York, 1925.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Discusses the bibliography in English.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Swoboda, Hermann.</span> “Zur Psychologie des Parlamentarismus,” +<i>Oesterreichische Rundschau</i>, Band XIV, Heft 1, January 1, +1908.</p> + +<p>——. “Die Kunst des Regierens,” <i>ibid.</i>, Band XVII, December +15, 1908.</p> + +<p>——. “Der Volksvertreter,” <i>ibid.</i>, Band XXXII, Heft 3, August +1, 1912.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>These articles of Swoboda are the first well-considered applications of +psychoanalysis to politics by a non-specialist. The first article treats the +rôle of parliamentarism as “catharsis,” and specifically refers to the work +of Breuer and Freud.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>Aside from specifically psychoanalytical efforts to interpret +individuals and collective trends, there have been many efforts on +the part of other psychiatrists and physicians, or their followers, +to offer such interpretations. The whole literature of “pathography” +is abstracted and discussed here:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Lange-Eichbaum, Wilhelm.</span> <i>Genie-Irrsinn, und Ruhm.</i> Leipzig, +1928.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Students of politics will be most interested in the references +and abstracts concerning Rousseau, Alexander the Great, Amenhotep +IV, Bismarck, Blücher, emperors and princes, Frederick +the Great, Lincoln, Loyola, Ludwig II of Bavaria, Napoleon, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span>Robespierre. Möbius put “pathography” on a scientific basis. +The following is one of the best of the “pathographies,” since it +stresses the diseased aspects of the personality in the perspective +of the total development of the subject’s career:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Heidenhain, Adolf</span>, <i>J.-J. Rousseau, Persönlichkeit, Philosophie +and Psychose</i>, “Grenzfragen des Nerven-und Seelenlebens,” +Heft 117. Munich, 1924.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The study of the effect of individual pathology on culture, and +of culture upon individual pathology, is envisaged as a program +in the following:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Birnbaum, Karl.</span> <i>Grundzüge der Kulturpsychopathologie</i>, +“Grenzfragen des Nerven- und Seelenlebens,” Heft 116. Munich, +1924.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The reckless extension of individual pathological terms to the +state of society as a whole has caused much confusion, but a case +can be made out for a valid use of the concept of the pathological. +Thus:</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p><span class="smcap">Schneersohn, F.</span> “Zur Grundlegung einer Völker- und Massenpsychopathologie +(Soziopsychopathologie),” <i>Ethos</i>, I (1925–26), +81–120.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>This includes an exhaustive bibliography of the efforts of psychiatrists +to extend their conceptions to society, and a detailed consideration of the +methodological issues involved.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p>Special attention should be called to the forthcoming volume +by Harry Stack Sullivan on <i>Personal Psychopathology</i> in which a +systematic treatment of the whole field of psychiatry and sociology +is presented. Dr. Sullivan has vastly stimulated a <i>rapprochement</i> +between physician and social scientist in the United States. See +the <i>Proceedings</i> of the two colloquiums on personality investigation, +held under the auspices of the American Psychiatric Association, +first published in the <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i> for +May, 1929, and May, 1930, and separately obtainable.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_B"> + APPENDIX B + <br> + QUESTION LIST ON POLITICAL PRACTICES + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>This question list refers directly to the organized political +life of the subject. Questions which are designed to +elicit preferences are not included. For general personality +questions and trait lists, the usual sources may be consulted +for suggestions.⁠<a id="FNanchor_85_85" href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p> + +<p>The question list here must, of course, be modified if +used orally or with naïve subjects. An effort is always +to be made to elicit specific incidents which arise in the +mind. “Reminiscences” and not theories about the self +are desired.</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p>1. List the various associations and organizations of which you +have been a member and in which you enjoyed rights which +were approximately equal to those exercised by everyone +else. Specify in each case whether you were almost inactive, +moderately active, quite active. State when you became a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>member and how your subsequent activity fluctuated. Give +dates when possible. Remember that you have been a member +of various democratically organized political units. Mention +also the prep-school class organizations, school and college +organizations, alumni associations, profession organizations, +civic associations, parties, and elective public offices. +Organizations which were autocratically organized +(that is, which exercised authority over those who had no +formal right to choose the officials) should not be included. +Do not omit associations of war veterans, Daughters or Sons +of the Revolution, pacifists, anarchists, reform agitators, constitutional +defense leagues, etc.</p> + +<p>2. List the various organizations with which you have been associated +either as one in autocratic authority or as one subject +to autocratic authority. This should include schools +which you have attended, appointive offices in the government, +most business connections, trusteeships, etc.</p> + +<p>3. List your various free-lance activities which have involved +scarcely any organization but which have been a source of +income. Partnerships which have involved practically no +staff, private secretaryships, and such are meant to be listed +here.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The following questions are intended to bring out the +salient facts in connection with your relationship to each +democratically organized and autocratically organized association +or institution with which you were affiliated. +Answer for each organization which you have listed in so +far as applicable.</p> + +<blockquote class="hang"> +<p>4. Just how did you become a member of this organization? +What steps did you take? Who helped you? Why were +you taken in? If you organized this body, why did you do +it? When did you first entertain the idea? How did your +plans develop? What assistance did you get and by what +means? What was your reputation inside the organization +when you first came in? Were you, for instance, ignored or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>regarded as promising or accepted and given responsibility +immediately?</p> + +<p>5. What friends or enemies did you have inside the organization +when you first came into it?</p> + +<p>6. To what offices or positions of authority in the organization +were you elected or appointed?</p> + +<p>7. In each case explain how it came about. When did you +first entertain the idea that selection was possible? How +much did you hesitate and ponder before deciding to try +for the position or before accepting it if it was thrust upon +you? What alternatives did you consider? With whom did +you talk over the matter? What was urged on you? What +were the disadvantages which deterred you or the advantages +which lured you? Just what did you do to get the +office or position? Who were your chief aids? Who were +your chief competitors? What were the points in your favor +and in favor of the others? How did the various cliques, +groups, and other components of the organization line up? +Sketch your strategy and practices in dealing with each one +before selection. Did any issues of policy figure and how?</p> + +<p>8. What were the cases in which you ran or were considered +at one stage or another for selection? Answer the questions +as before for each instance.</p> + +<p>9. What appointive power or influence did you exercise in office? +Whom did you consult in making or influencing these +appointments? To what extent did you consider competence? +The rewarding of friends? The division or elimination +of your opponents?</p> + +<p>10. What objectives, if any, had you thought out when you assumed +responsibility?</p> + +<p>11. What were the chief issues on which you took a position? +How did your influence make itself felt in each instance (in +public speaking, interviewing, appointive pressure, etc.)? +How did each major issue happen to emerge? How did you +arrive at your position? Whom did you consult? What +considerations were balanced on both sides of the question? +To what extent did you make issues by interjecting specific +proposals into the situation? How did you happen to do +this? What were the elements in the organization which were +lined up on either side of the question? What concessions +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>did you make in order to achieve your ends? Do you regard +your concessions as too cheaply bought as you look +back upon them? What results did you secure which satisfy +you?</p> + +<p>12. During your tenure were there personal misunderstandings, +quarrels, and hatreds between you and anybody? How did +they come about? What did you do and what was the relation +of what you did to what happened?</p> + +<p>13. Were there personal misunderstandings, quarrels, and antipathies +among others inside the organization which you were +asked to settle or which you tried to settle? What did you +do and what relation did it bear to what finally happened?</p> + +<p>14. Were there personal misunderstandings, quarrels, and antipathies +between members of your own organization and people +in other organizations which you were asked to settle or +which you tried to settle? What did you do and what relation +did it bear to what finally happened?</p> + +<p>15. Did your organization have any ill feelings as a body for +other organizations or groups when you came into office? +What did you do to inflame or reduce it? What effect? Why?</p> + +<p>16. Did your organization have any friendly feelings as a body +for other organizations or groups? What did you do to +cement or to disrupt these relations? Why? With what effect +on the course of events?</p> + +<p>17. Did your organization develop any friendly or unfriendly +relations with organizations or groups to which they had +been previously indifferent during your term in office? +What did you do that had anything to do with this result? +Why?</p> + +<p>18. Did your organization use physical, legal, or other forms of +pressure upon any other organization or group during your +term? What was your rôle in suggesting, supporting, directing, +or obstructing the adoption of these tactics? Why? +What resulted?</p> + +<p>19. Did your organization use physical, legal, economic, or +other forms of pressure upon any of its own members during +your term? What was your rôle in suggesting, supporting, +directing, or obstructing the adoption of these tactics? Why? +With what effect?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span></p> + +<p>20. By whom were you praised during and after your term of +office for your record? How were you praised or recognized +and honored and for what? Effect on you?</p> + +<p>21. By whom were you adversely criticized during and after +your term in office for your record? How were you censured +and for what? Effect on you?</p> + +<p>22. Were you re-elected or reappointed, promoted or demoted, +after serving your term or before? Why?</p> + +<p>23. How did you get along with your immediate superiors, collaborators, +and assistants? To what extent did you manipulate +them? What different tactics did you employ with each? +What success?</p> + +<p>24. What were your formal and ceremonial duties in the organization +as an officer? Did you enjoy them?</p> + +<p>25. How did you enjoy your other official activities?</p> + +<p>26. As a non-official, or non-position-holding member of the organization, +what did you enjoy about it? The ceremonies? +The routine operations? The uncertain features?</p> + +<p>27. As a member of the rank and file, what policies and activities +did you initiate, support, or oppose? Why? How much +did you do and to what effect? How did the elements of the +organization line up? Were you usually in the minority or +the majority? What elements were usually with you?</p> + +<p>28. How did your reputation change during your years in the +organizations?</p> + +<p>29. What particular friends and enemies did you acquire?</p> + +<p>30. As a member of the rank and file, did you have personal misunderstandings, +quarrels, and hatreds between you and other +members? Why? What did you do? Results?</p> + +<p>31. Did you arbitrate any grievances or try to smooth them out? +Success? Why?</p> + +<p>32. What was your attitude toward other organizations or groups +with which your organization either competed or had some +relations? As a member of the rank and file, what did you +do to change or intensify prevailing attitudes? Influence?</p> + +<p>33. Did your organization use physical or other means of pressure +against outside organizations and other members of +your organization? As a member of the rank and file, what +did you do and with what effect? Did you think your organization +was the best of its kind?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span></p> + +<p>34. Have you severed your connection or become inactive? Why?</p> + +<p>35. If you are still active, what are your plans and hopes?</p> + +<p>36. How did this particular organization touch the administrative, +legislative, and judicial branches of the government? +The political parties? How? What methods were used to +bring pressure to bear? What was your part in them?</p> + +<p>37. As you look back on your life in the organization do you +think of practices which you indulged in or tolerated which +you regard as perhaps questionable? Instances? Did you +so regard them at the time? What would have happened if +you had not indulged in them? Should an organization be +run on a different basis now?</p> + +<p>38. What effect did life in the organization have upon your +activity in the politics of the community at large? Did you +have impulses to express yourself publicly or privately upon +matters which you felt it expedient to follow? Or were you +driven to such expression and activity?</p> + +<p>39. If you were to judge entirely in terms of your experience +as a member of this organization, what would be your judgment +of the honesty and efficiency of the public service and +the party machine?</p> + +<p>40. What political prejudices or philosophies were current +among various elements inside the organization?</p> + +<p>41. Think of various members of this organization who were +rather typical. How did you act toward them when you met +them? What topics of conversation, of anecdote, etc., did +you indulge in? What activities in common were there?</p> + +<p>42. Did you think that you were imposed upon by any members +as you look back upon it now? Did you estimate some +of them too highly? Who? Why?</p> + +<p>43. Did you underestimate some? Who? Why?</p> + +<p>44. Were you estimated too high or too low? By whom? Why?</p> + +<p>45. What things apart from common dishonesty would have +caused you to lose standing in the organization? What opinions +and activities would have compromised you?</p> + +<p>46. Did you risk loss of standing at any time by word or deed? +Were you tempted to? Why did you refrain?</p> + +<p>47. When you tried to add others to the organization, whom +did you seek? What type of people, in general, were you +interested in?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span></p> + +<p>48. Did the organization live up to your ideal? Why?</p> + +<p>49. Who were the most powerful ones in the organization at different +periods? What were your relations with them? What +did you do consciously to win them? Success? What did +you do to antagonize them? How did they take it? What, +in short, was the attitude of the leaders toward you?</p> + +<p>50. Did you ever have a sense of frustration arising from your +failure to participate in discussions of policy, either because +you hesitated to express yourself or because you expressed +yourself badly?</p> + +<p>51. What is your matured judgment of the utility of this organization +in society?</p> + +<p>52. How did your organization connections help or hurt you socially +or any other way?</p> + +<p>53. How did your outside connections help or hurt you in the +organization?</p> + +<p>54. What, generally speaking, were your advantages and disadvantages +with reference to securing and holding a prominent +position in the organization?</p> + +<p>55. In general, what place did this organization play in your +life?</p> + +<p>56. With respect to each one of your so-called free-lance or +very personal activities, answer such questions as these: How +did you happen to take it up? Upon what factors would +your success and failure depend? What did you do to manage +the persons upon whom success or failure depended? +With what result? What reaction did your experience have +upon your outlook upon political life generally?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span></p> +</blockquote> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX"> + INDEX + </h2> +</div> + + +<ul class="index"> + <li class="ifrst">Abraham, Karl, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Adjustive thinking, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Adler, Alfred, <a href="#Page_71">71</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Administrators:</li> + <li class="isub1">definition and histories of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> ff.;</li> + <li class="isub1">general theory of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Adolescence and politics, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Agitators:</li> + <li class="isub1">definition and histories of, <a href="#Page_78">78</a> ff.;</li> + <li class="isub1">general theory of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Aichhorn, August, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Alexander, Franz, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> + n., <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Allport, Floyd, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Anderson, John, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Apfelbach, Hans, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Aristotle, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Attitudes, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Autistic reveries, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Bernfeld, S., <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Bernheim, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Biography, political, uses and limitations of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Birnbaum, K., <a href="#Page_200">200</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Bjerre, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Blackstone, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Bleuler, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Blondel, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Blüher, Hans, <a href="#Page_178">178</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Boas, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Bodin, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Boss, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Breuer, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Bridgman, P. W., <a href="#Page_251">251</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Brücke, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Bryce, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Bühler, Charlotte, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Burrow, Trigant, <a href="#Page_201">201</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Carlyle, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Case histories, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> ff., <a href="#Page_78">78</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Catharsis, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Catlin, G. E. G., <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Charcot, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Chave, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Chicago, University of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a> n., <a href="#Page_207">207</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Christensen, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Composite types, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Comte, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Consensus, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Convictions, political, <a href="#Page_153">153</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Conway, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Co-relational types, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Cowley, W. H., <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Crises, political, <a href="#Page_179">179</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Croner, Else, <a href="#Page_232">232</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Crowd, <a href="#Page_193">193</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Debate, zone of, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + + <li class="indx">De Grange, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Democracy, <a href="#Page_194">194</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Despot, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Deutsch, Helene, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Developmental types, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Dicey, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Dictator, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Dilthey, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Discussion, <a href="#Page_194">194</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Dream, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Durkheim, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Eder, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Education, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Ellis, Havelock, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> n., <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Emotional bonds, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Energy of developed personality, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Events, subjective and external, <a href="#Page_240">240</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Exhortation, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Fabian Society, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Familiarization, a purpose of the study, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Federn, Paul, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Ferenczi, S., <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a> n., <a href="#Page_105">105</a> n., <a href="#Page_150">150</a> + n., <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> n., <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Fliess, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Follett, Mary L., <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Forms of expression, thought and interest, <a href="#Page_235">235</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Formula for development of political man, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Frazer, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Free-fantasy, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> + + <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span>Freud, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> ff., <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a> + ff., <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> n., <a href="#Page_111">111</a> n., <a href="#Page_179">179</a> n., <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a> + ff., <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Friendship and politics, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Functional meaning of politics, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Garner, J. W., <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Giese, Fritz, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Glover, E., <a href="#Page_103">103</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gneist, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Goodenough, Florence, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Gosnell, H. F., <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n., <a href="#Page_249">249</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gould, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Hall, G. Stanley, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hamilton, G. V., <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hartman, Dale, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Healy, William, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Heimsoth, K. G., <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hetzer, Hildegard, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hobbes, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hoffmann, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Homo politicus</i>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hoover, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Hypnosis, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Identification, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Institutional meaning of politics, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Interview as a method, <a href="#Page_204">204</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Intimacy and politics, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Ireland, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Irrationality and politics, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a> ff.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Janet, Pierre, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> n., <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Jellinek, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Jones, E., <a href="#Page_103">103</a> n., <a href="#Page_179">179</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Jung, <a href="#Page_62">62</a> ff., <a href="#Page_73">73</a> ff., <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Keilholz, A., <a href="#Page_179">179</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Kelsen, Hans, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a> ff., <a href="#Page_257">257</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Kempf, E. J., <a href="#Page_115">115</a> n., <a href="#Page_159">159</a> n., <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Kjellén, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Koller, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Kretschmer, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Kropotkin, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Laband, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lange-Eichbaum, W., <a href="#Page_7">7</a> n., <a href="#Page_200">200</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Laski, H. J., <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lassalle, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lasswell, H. D., <a href="#Page_3">3</a> n., <a href="#Page_28">28</a> n., <a href="#Page_39">39</a> n., <a href="#Page_202">202</a> n., <a href="#Page_204">204</a> + n., <a href="#Page_205">205</a> n., <a href="#Page_221">221</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lazarus, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lee, Sir Edward, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lenin, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Liébeault, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Logical thought, limitations of, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lombroso, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lowell, A. L., <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n., <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lowie, R. H., <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Lynd, R. S. and Helen, <a href="#Page_250">250</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Machiavelli, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Marx, Karl, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Masaryk, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Masturbation, cultural history of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Meaning of political patterns, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Mechanism types, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Merriam, Charles E., <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n., <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Meynart, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Michels, Robert, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n., <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Möbius, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Moore, Henry T., <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Morgan, J. P., & Co., <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Morley, John, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Movements, vitality of political, <a href="#Page_173">173</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mowrer, E. A., <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Munro, W. B., <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Nancy, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Nexo, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Nuclear types, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Nunberg, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Object orientation, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Old Testament prophets, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Paine, Tom, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Paley, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Park, Robert E., <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Parten, Mildred, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Pathological, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Personality, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Persuasion, personal, oratorical and written, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Political methods, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Political movements, <a href="#Page_173">173</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Political patterns, <a href="#Page_248">248</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Political practices, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Political symbolization, <a href="#Page_183">183</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Political tension level, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Political types, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Politician, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Politics:</li> + <li class="isub1">and conflict, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">effect of, on politicians, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">institutional and functional meaning of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + + <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>Prevention, politics of, <a href="#Page_173">173</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Propaganda and unconscious motives, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Psychoanalysis, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Psychopathology, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Public, <a href="#Page_193">193</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Quantitative approach, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Radiating nucleus, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Radin, Paul, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Rado, S., <a href="#Page_179">179</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rank, O., <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Reactive interpretation, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Reich, Wilhelm, <a href="#Page_105">105</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Reik, Theodor, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Reininger, Karl, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Revolution, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Rice, S. A., <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Rich, Gilbert J., <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Rinaldo, Joel, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rohmer, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rôles, specialized and composite, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Rousseau, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Ruggiero, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Ruml, B., <a href="#Page_201">201</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rush, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Sadger, Wilhelm, <a href="#Page_103">103</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Schmidt, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Sexuality, rôle of, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shaw, Bernard, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Sidgwick, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Simmel, Georg, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Smith, Adam, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Social scientist, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Somatic reactions, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Specialized types, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Spranger, Eduard, <a href="#Page_49">49</a> ff., <a href="#Page_232">232</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Statesman, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Staub, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Steindhal, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Stekel, Wilhelm, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Strachey, Lytton, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Sullivan, Harry Stack, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> n., <a href="#Page_207">207</a> n., <a href="#Page_233">233</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sward Keith, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Symbolization in politics, <a href="#Page_185">185</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Symbols, political, as targets of displacement, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Tendency interpretations, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Tension level, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Thomas, Dorothy S., <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Thomas, W. I., <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Thurstone, L. L., <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Tissot, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Types:</li> + <li class="isub1">co-relational, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">developmental, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">institutional and functional, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">nuclear, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">specialized and composite, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Typologies, popular and scientific, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Values, changes of, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Vienna, University of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Vierkandt, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Views, political, <a href="#Page_234">234</a> ff.</li> + + <li class="indx">Violence a political method, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Voltaire, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> n.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Wagner-Jauregg, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Walker, Marjorie, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Wallas, Graham, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Weber, Max, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Weininger, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Wertheimer and Hesketh, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + + <li class="indx">White, William A., <a href="#Page_179">179</a> n.</li> + + <li class="indx">Willoughby, W. W., <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Winkler, Viktor, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Wittals, Fritz, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Wordsworth, W., <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Zilboorg, Gregory, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + + <li class="indx">Znaniecki, F., <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> +</ul> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES"> + FOOTNOTES + </h2> +</div> + + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="label">[1]</a> See Harold D. Lasswell, “The Study of the Ill as a Method of Research +on Political Personalities,” <i>American Political Science Review</i>, November, +1929.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2_2" href="#FNanchor_2_2" class="label">[2]</a> “Psychosis” means the more serious mental disturbances; “neurosis” +means the less serious ones.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3_3" href="#FNanchor_3_3" class="label">[3]</a> The best summary of this literature is Wilhelm Lange-Eichbaum, <i>Genie-Irrsinn +und Ruhm</i>. See also the works of Ireland, Lombroso, Möbius, and +Gould.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4_4" href="#FNanchor_4_4" class="label">[4]</a> See De Grange’s excellent treatment of this matter in his paper on +the methodology of Comte in the case book to be published by the Social +Science Research Council.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5_5" href="#FNanchor_5_5" class="label">[5]</a> What has been said above is current in the biography of Freud by +Fritz Wittals, and in Freud’s autobiographical sketches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6_6" href="#FNanchor_6_6" class="label">[6]</a> Modified from “Self-Analysis and Judicial Thinking,” <i>International +Journal of Ethics</i>, April, 1930.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7_7" href="#FNanchor_7_7" class="label">[7]</a> The training should, of course, be conducted by a specialist alert to his +responsibilities.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8_8" href="#FNanchor_8_8" class="label">[8]</a> “Politik als Beruf,” in <i>Gesammelte Schriften</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9_9" href="#FNanchor_9_9" class="label">[9]</a> I summarized some of this literature in “Types of Political Personalities,” +<i>Proceedings of the American Sociological Society, 1927</i>. Reprinted in +<i>Personality and the Group</i> (edited by Burgess).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_10_10" href="#FNanchor_10_10" class="label">[10]</a> <i>Personality in Politics.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_11_11" href="#FNanchor_11_11" class="label">[11]</a> <i>The History of European Liberalism.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_12_12" href="#FNanchor_12_12" class="label">[12]</a> <i>Physique and Character</i>, chap. xiii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_13_13" href="#FNanchor_13_13" class="label">[13]</a> <i>Quantitative Methods in Politics</i>, chap. v.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_14_14" href="#FNanchor_14_14" class="label">[14]</a> <i>The Science and Method of Politics.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_15_15" href="#FNanchor_15_15" class="label">[15]</a> <i>The New State.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_16_16" href="#FNanchor_16_16" class="label">[16]</a> It is not profitable to pursue these distinctions farther. I should prefer +to distinguish the statesman from the politician by treating the latter as a +function of a democratically organized community and as one who is limited +to persuasion in the advancement of his conceptions of public right. +The statesman may use force, and is not necessarily a function of democratically +organized society.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_17_17" href="#FNanchor_17_17" class="label">[17]</a> His viewpoint is best expressed in “Die Typen der Weltanschauung,” in +<i>Weltanschauung-Philosophie und Religion in Darstellungen</i> (edited by M. +Frischeisen-Kohler).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_18_18" href="#FNanchor_18_18" class="label">[18]</a> <i>Soziologie</i>, chap. iii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_19_19" href="#FNanchor_19_19" class="label">[19]</a> <i>Grundriss der Sozialökonomik</i>, III, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_20_20" href="#FNanchor_20_20" class="label">[20]</a> See Robert Michels, <i>Political Parties</i>; C. E. Merriam, <i>American Party +System</i>, and <i>Introduction</i> to H. F. Gosnell’s <i>Boss Platt and His New York +Machine</i>; Martin Conway, <i>Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War</i>; Lowell, +<i>Public Opinion in War and Peace</i>; Rohmer, <i>Die Vier Parteien</i>; A. Christensen, +<i>Politics and Crowd Morality</i>; W. B. Munro, <i>Personality in Politics</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_21_21" href="#FNanchor_21_21" class="label">[21]</a> <i>Die öffentliche Persönlichkeit.</i> Beihefte zur <i>Zeitschrift für angewandte +Psychologie</i>, Vol. XLIV.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_22_22" href="#FNanchor_22_22" class="label">[22]</a> “Innate Factors in Radicalism and Conservatism,” <i>Journal of Abnormal +and Social Psychology</i>, XX (1925–26), 234–44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_23_23" href="#FNanchor_23_23" class="label">[23]</a> Allport really used a rank-order method of handling opinion expressions +which he unjustifiably treated as marking definite positions along a +base line. Thurstone has greatly improved the technique of opinion measurement. +See Thurstone and Chave, <i>The Measurement of Attitude</i> (Chicago, +1929). For Allport’s original paper (with D. A. Hartman), see “Measurement +and Motivation of Atypical Opinion in a Certain Group,” <i>American +Political Science Review</i>, XIX (1925), 735–60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_24_24" href="#FNanchor_24_24" class="label">[24]</a> “Three Distinctions in the Study of Leaders,” <i>Journal of Abnormal and +Social Psychology</i>, Vol. XXIII (July-September, 1928).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_25_25" href="#FNanchor_25_25" class="label">[25]</a> By Keith Sward, Social Science Research Council Fellow, and others. +I discuss the problem of evaluating test results later on.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_26_26" href="#FNanchor_26_26" class="label">[26]</a> “A Biochemical Approach to the Study of Personality,” <i>Journal of Abnormal +and Social Psychology</i>, Vol. XXIII (July-September, 1928).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_27_27" href="#FNanchor_27_27" class="label">[27]</a> Hans Apfelbach, <i>Der Aufbau des Charakters</i>. Cf. Otto Weininger, +<i>Geschlecht und Charakter</i>; Fliess, <i>Ablauf des Lebens</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_28_28" href="#FNanchor_28_28" class="label">[28]</a> C. G. Jung, <i>Psychological Types</i>, chap. x.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_29_29" href="#FNanchor_29_29" class="label">[29]</a> <i>Beyond the Pleasure Principle.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_30_30" href="#FNanchor_30_30" class="label">[30]</a> “The Significance of Physical Constitution in Mental Disease,” <i>Medicine</i>, +V (1926), 375–451.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_31_31" href="#FNanchor_31_31" class="label">[31]</a> The popular superstition about the dangers of masturbation seems to +have become widespread in Western Europe in the eighteenth century. +Havelock Ellis dates it from the appearance of a sensational book by an +anonymous English doctor which was called <i>Onania: or the Heinous Sin +of Self-Pollution and All Its Frightful Consequences in Both Sexes, Considered, +with Spiritual and Physical Advice, etc.</i> This is said to have +passed through eighty editions and to have been translated into German. +Tissot, a physician of Lausanne, contributed his <i>Traité</i> on the same subject +in Latin in 1760. This appeared in French four years later, and subsequently +in nearly all European languages. His watchword was that masturbation +was a crime, “an act of suicide.” Voltaire popularized his viewpoint +in the <i>Dictionnaire philosophique</i>, and the tradition became firmly set. See +Havelock Ellis, <i>Studies in the Psychology of Sex</i>, I, 248–49. The cultural +relativity of this attitude toward masturbation is brought out in ethnological +reports.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_32_32" href="#FNanchor_32_32" class="label">[32]</a> <i>Psychoanalytische Studien zur Charakterbildung</i> (International Psychoanalytische +Bibliothek, 1925), Nr. XVI. Freud’s first contribution to the +subject was published in 1908. His brief article, “Charakter and Analerotik,” +is reprinted in the fifth volume of the <i>Gesammelte Schriften</i>. Others +who have written in the same field are Sadger, Ferenczi, Jones, and E. +Glover.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_33_33" href="#FNanchor_33_33" class="label">[33]</a> Joel Rinaldo paraphrases Freud in his <i>Psychoanalysis of the “Reformer”</i> +and without supporting cases argues that the reformer is always +a meddling hysteric. This is not to be taken for granted, for he may more +often prove to be an obsessive type, when he shows mental pathology. For +the best picture of the two clinical types, see Janet, <i>Les névroses</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_34_34" href="#FNanchor_34_34" class="label">[34]</a> See Ferenczi, <i>Versuch einer Genitaltheorie</i> (Internationale Psychoanalytische +Bibliothek, 1924), Band XV, esp. Sec. V. Also Wilhelm Reich, +<i>Die Funktion des Orgasmus</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_35_35" href="#FNanchor_35_35" class="label">[35]</a> See Freud’s discussion of paranoia in his “Psychoanalytische Bemerkungen +über einen autobiographisch beschriebenen Fall von Paranoia,” +<i>Gesammelte Schriften</i>, Band VIII.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_36_36" href="#FNanchor_36_36" class="label">[36]</a> This grandfather committed suicide at an unreported age, and his +youngest son is said to be “very nervous.” B’s oldest sister had a nervous +breakdown in high school. The third sister is “neurotic.” B is described +as having been a frail infant, and a shy child. Bed-wetting continued until +he was twelve or fourteen, and he occasionally had attacks of indigestion. +Physical examination failed to disclose any significant physical factor in +his difficulties.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_37_37" href="#FNanchor_37_37" class="label">[37]</a> Examples are given in Kempf’s <i>Psychopathology</i>, and in other textbooks +on the subject.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_38_38" href="#FNanchor_38_38" class="label">[38]</a> See Helene Deutsch, <i>Psychoanalyse der weiblichen Sexualfunction</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_39_39" href="#FNanchor_39_39" class="label">[39]</a> See “The Dynamics of Schizophrenic Reactions Related to Pregnancy +and Childbirth,” <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i>, VIII (1929), 733–66.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_40_40" href="#FNanchor_40_40" class="label">[40]</a> The physician in charge of this case comments that there may be a +homosexual <i>anlage</i> on the physical level, but that this is not certain.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_41_41" href="#FNanchor_41_41" class="label">[41]</a> Harry Stack Sullivan has stressed the critical importance for personality +growth of the adolescent phase in which the individual is impelled +to enter into intimate emotional relations with one or two other persons of +his own age. Those who partially fail in this show various warps in their +subsequent development.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_42_42" href="#FNanchor_42_42" class="label">[42]</a> “Der neurotische Charakter,” <i>Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse</i>, +XIV (1928), 26–44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_43_43" href="#FNanchor_43_43" class="label">[43]</a> Abraham and Ferenczi have reported cases of this kind.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_44_44" href="#FNanchor_44_44" class="label">[44]</a> <i>Op. cit.</i>, p. 448.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_45_45" href="#FNanchor_45_45" class="label">[45]</a> See the chapter on “Psycho-analysis in Relation to Politics” in <i>Social +Aspects of Psycho-Analysis</i> (London, 1924).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_46_46" href="#FNanchor_46_46" class="label">[46]</a> “Dogma und Zwangsidee,” <i>Imago</i>, XIII (1927), 247–382.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_47_47" href="#FNanchor_47_47" class="label">[47]</a> Succinctly described in “Über eine typische Form der männlichen +pubertät,” <i>Imago</i>, IX (1923), 169 ff. On the homoerotic elements see Hans +Blüher, <i>Die deutsche Wandervogelbewegung als erotisches Phänomen</i>, and +his more elaborate volume cited in the Bibliography.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_48_48" href="#FNanchor_48_48" class="label">[48]</a> I was kindly permitted to see this manuscript which is not yet published.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_49_49" href="#FNanchor_49_49" class="label">[49]</a> See Sandor Rado, “Die psychischen Wirkungen der Rauschgifte,” <i>Internationale +Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse</i>, XII (1926), 540–56; A. Keilholz, +“Analyseversuch bei Delirium Tremens,” <i>ibid.</i>, pp. 478–92; and +Stekel’s volumes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_50_50" href="#FNanchor_50_50" class="label">[50]</a> For a sketch of the unconscious processes involved in warfare see S. +Freud, “Zeitgemässes über Krieg und Tod,” <i>Imago</i>, IV (1915–16), 1–21; +Ernest Jones, <i>Essays in Psycho-Analysis</i>; William A. White, <i>Thoughts of +a Psychiatrist on the War and After</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_51_51" href="#FNanchor_51_51" class="label">[51]</a> <i>Chicago Daily News</i>, July 20, 1927.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_52_52" href="#FNanchor_52_52" class="label">[52]</a> The distinction between the crowd and the public is best developed +in the writings of Robert E. Park. Freud undertook to explain the crowd +on the theory that an emotional bond was forged by identification of the +individual with a leader, and by a process of partial identification through +the perception of this similar relationship to the leader. He set out from +the observation that when people are interacting upon one another they +behave differently than when they are alone. The loss of individuality represents +a relinquishment of narcissistic gratification which can only come +when libido is directed outward toward objects. Freud’s theory applies +strictly to a special case of crowd behavior only. Crowd states may also +arise when interlocking partial identifications occur on the perception of +a common threat. Crowd behavior often arises before anybody assumes a +“leading” rôle, and rival leaders are “selected” by the crowd.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_53_53" href="#FNanchor_53_53" class="label">[53]</a> <i>Studies in the Psychology of Sex</i>, I, 231.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_54_54" href="#FNanchor_54_54" class="label">[54]</a> Kempf, <i>Psychopathology</i>, p. 704.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_55_55" href="#FNanchor_55_55" class="label">[55]</a> Franz Alexander, “Mental Hygiene and Criminology,” <i>First International +Congress on Mental Hygiene</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_56_56" href="#FNanchor_56_56" class="label">[56]</a> For an appreciation of the rôle of the pathological person in society +see Wilhelm Lange-Eichbaum, <i>Genie-Irrsinn, und Ruhm</i>, and Karl Birnbaum, +<i>Grundzüge der Kulturpsychopathologie</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_57_57" href="#FNanchor_57_57" class="label">[57]</a> Something like this is no doubt the thought in Trigant Burrow’s very +obscure book on <i>The Social Basis of Consciousness</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_58_58" href="#FNanchor_58_58" class="label">[58]</a> This point was forcibly made by Beardsley Ruml in his speech at +the dedication of the Social Science Research Building at the University +of Chicago. See <i>The New Social Science</i>, edited by Leonard D. White, pp. +99–111.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_59_59" href="#FNanchor_59_59" class="label">[59]</a> I have suggested that those who write human biography should be +included among those who require this comprehensive training. See “The +Scientific Study of Human Biography,” <i>Scientific Monthly</i>, January, 1930.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_60_60" href="#FNanchor_60_60" class="label">[60]</a> Modified and expanded from “The Psychoanalytic Interview as a +Method of Research on Personalities,” in <i>The Child’s Emotions</i>, pp. 136–59.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_61_61" href="#FNanchor_61_61" class="label">[61]</a> See Harold D. Lasswell, “The Problem of Adequate Personality Records: +A Proposal,” <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i>, May 1929. Also Appendix +B of <i>The Proceedings of the First Colloquium on Personality Investigation</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_62_62" href="#FNanchor_62_62" class="label">[62]</a> We are now engaged upon studies of this kind at the Personality +Laboratory in the Social Science Research Building at the University of +Chicago. Harry Stack Sullivan is conducting a series of researches on expression +changes, with particular reference to schizophrenia, which are of +the greatest importance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_63_63" href="#FNanchor_63_63" class="label">[63]</a> The topic of reliable criteria will be dealt with in detail in the reports +upon experiments in progress.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_64_64" href="#FNanchor_64_64" class="label">[64]</a> The best technical discussions of the nature of the analytical situation +are in the writings of Freud, Rank, Ferenczi, Nunberg, and Alexander.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_65_65" href="#FNanchor_65_65" class="label">[65]</a> Expanded from an article with the same title which appeared in the +<i>Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology</i>, January, 1930.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_66_66" href="#FNanchor_66_66" class="label">[66]</a> Dorothy Swaine Thomas and Associates, <i>Some New Techniques for +Studying Social Behavior</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_67_67" href="#FNanchor_67_67" class="label">[67]</a> “Die ersten sozialen Verhaltungsweisen des Kindes,” <i>Quellen und +Studien zur Jugendkunde</i>, Heft 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_68_68" href="#FNanchor_68_68" class="label">[68]</a> Referred to by John E. Anderson, “The Genesis of Social Reactions in +the Young Child,” <i>The Unconscious: A Symposium</i>. These researches are +abstracted in William I. Thomas and Dorothy S. Thomas, <i>The Child in +America</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_69_69" href="#FNanchor_69_69" class="label">[69]</a> <i>Über soziale Verhaltungsweisen in der Vorpubertät</i>, “Wiener Arbeiten +zur pädogogischen Psychologie” (herausgegeben von Charlotte Bühler and +Viktor Fadrus), Heft 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_70_70" href="#FNanchor_70_70" class="label">[70]</a> <i>Das volkstümliche Kinderspiel</i>, Heft 6, in the same series as the above.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_71_71" href="#FNanchor_71_71" class="label">[71]</a> “Psychologie des Jugendführers,” <i>Quellen und Studien zur Jugendkunde</i> +(herausgegeben von Dr. Charlotte Bühler).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_72_72" href="#FNanchor_72_72" class="label">[72]</a> <i>Das Problem des Charakteraufbaus</i>, pp. 68–80. See E. Spranger, <i>Psychologie +des Jugendalters</i>, and Else Croner, “Die Psyche der weiblichen +Jugend,” <i>Schriften zur Frauenbildung</i>, Heft 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_73_73" href="#FNanchor_73_73" class="label">[73]</a> <i>Internationale Psychoanalytische Bibliotek</i>, Band XIX.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_74_74" href="#FNanchor_74_74" class="label">[74]</a> See especially p. 278. Harry Stack Sullivan is tracing out the developmental +history of various forms of personality in his forthcoming volume +on <i>Personal Psychopathology</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_75_75" href="#FNanchor_75_75" class="label">[75]</a> Paul Federn commented in his pamphlet that a democratic state +must depend upon a democratic family life.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_76_76" href="#FNanchor_76_76" class="label">[76]</a> See his excellent methodological chapter in <i>The Psychology of Murder</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_77_77" href="#FNanchor_77_77" class="label">[77]</a> <i>The Origin of the State.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_78_78" href="#FNanchor_78_78" class="label">[78]</a> Not to be confused with mind-body parallelism, which is not accepted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_79_79" href="#FNanchor_79_79" class="label">[79]</a> Cf. Kelsen, <i>Der Soziologische und der juristische Staatsbegriff</i>; “Der +Begriff des Staates und die Sozialpsychologie,” <i>Imago</i>, VIII (1922), 97–141; +“The Conception of the State and Social Psychology,” <i>International +Journal of Psycho-Analysis</i>, V (1924), 1–38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_80_80" href="#FNanchor_80_80" class="label">[80]</a> Perhaps the most important part of the Merriam and Gosnell study +of <i>Non-Voting</i> is the symposium of conversational scraps which suggest +what balloting actually means to various classes and sections of a modern +metropolitan community.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_81_81" href="#FNanchor_81_81" class="label">[81]</a> Such criticism has been directed against the pioneer venture of the +Lynds, <i>Middletown</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_82_82" href="#FNanchor_82_82" class="label">[82]</a> An able discussion of the operational concept is in P. W. Bridgman, +<i>The Logic of Modern Physics</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_83_83" href="#FNanchor_83_83" class="label">[83]</a> Alexander and Staub have commented on this in <i>Der Verbrecher und +seine Richter</i>. But it is principally due to the suspicion of the public +officer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_84_84" href="#FNanchor_84_84" class="label">[84]</a> See his sketch of social psychology in <i>Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_85_85" href="#FNanchor_85_85" class="label">[85]</a> More specifically, Kretschmer’s <i>Psychobiogramm</i>, published in H. Hoffmann, +<i>Das Problem des Charakteraufbaus</i>, as an appendix; Heyman’s +trait list (republished in <i>Gesammelte Kelinere Schriften</i>, Dritter Teil); +the psychograms of W. Stern (in <i>Die differentielle Psychologie in ihren +methodischen Grundlagen</i>), of Baade, Lipman, and Stern (<i>Zeitschrift für +angewandte Psychologie</i>, Band III), of P. Margis (Breslau dissertation, +1911, <i>Das Problem und die Methoden der Psychographie mit einer Individualanalyse +von E. T. A. Hoffmann</i>), of L. Lewin (<i>Friedrich Hebbel: +Beitrag zu einem Psychogramm</i> [Berlin, 1913]), of E. Stern (“Patho-psychographische +Untersuchungen,” <i>Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten</i>, +Band LXI), of F. Kehrer and S. Fischer (“Modell einer klinisch-experimentellen +Pathographie,” <i>Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und +Psychiatrie</i>, Band LXXXV); the outlines of Dr. Paul Federn (<i>Schema der +Libidoaufnahme</i>, MSS in my possession), of F. D. Wells (MSS in my possession), +of G. V. Hamilton, of Adolf Meyer (mimeographed MSS in my +possession), of Amsden and Hoch, of Floyd Allport, and the lists of Woodworth, +Laird, House, Freyd and Thurstone.</p></div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78273 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78273-h/images/cover.jpg b/78273-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..83b5bab --- /dev/null +++ b/78273-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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