Humphry Davy: a study in narcissism?

Abstract

Drawing on Jan Golinski's analysis of Humphry Davy's adoption of a variety of social roles, this paper seeks to ground Davy's social interactions by identifying his underlying psychological orientation. A close reading of Davy's own letters and the accounts of him given by his contemporaries suggest that many facets of his behaviour accord closely with those associated with a narcissistic personality, as described in the psychological literature. This perspective helps us understand better many aspects of Davy's life, including his fraught relationship with the Royal Society during and after his election to the presidency in 1820, and especially his conduct in 1816–1818, when he engaged in a vituperative priority dispute with George Stephenson over the invention of the miners' safety lamp. By viewing Davy as a narcissist we can unify apparently disparate aspects of his behaviour.