Transcendent Dimensions of the Self: A Spiritual Home for Self Psychology?

Abstract

Both Jung and Kohut place the notion of the discovery of “self” at the center of their psychological theories. Yet where Jung sees this process of discovery as possible only through connecting with the archetypes, which are at once immanent and transcendent, Kohut seemingly veers away from any notion of this in his thought. This article discusses the similarities and differences between Jungian and Kohutian ideas regarding dimensions of self to suggest that Kohut’s discovery of a mature self through cosmic narcissism is indeed touched with overtones of transcendence and spirituality. Raanan Kulka’s work on Buddhism also opens up Kohut’s thought to these dimensions, and greatly increases the possibilities for considering self psychology in spiritual and ethical terms. The term spiritual is used throughout this essay as a sense of participating in a supraordinate being that grants the self a sense of meaning not explicable through everyday experience.