具体描述
This volume reflects the achievements in developing new concepts and models of family therapy and new approaches to special clinical issues and problems during the 1980s. Chapters by experts such as Boszormenyi-Nagy, Everett, Guttman, Lankton, Liddle, McGoldrick, Madanes, and Walsh offer insight into a variety of areas including systems theory, cybernetics, and epistemology; contextual therapy; Ericksonian therapy; strategic family therapy; treating divorce in family therapy practice; ethnicity and family therapy; and training and supervision in family therapy.
The Labyrinth of the Self: A Deep Dive into Existential Phenomenology and Narrative Construction A Definitive Exploration of Subjectivity, Meaning-Making, and the Lived Experience This volume is a comprehensive and meticulously researched examination of the intersection between existential phenomenology and contemporary narrative theory. Moving beyond traditional frameworks, this work seeks to illuminate the intricate ways in which individuals construct their sense of self, navigate crises of meaning, and integrate disparate life events into a coherent, though perpetually evolving, personal narrative. It serves as a critical text for scholars, advanced practitioners, and those deeply invested in the philosophy of human experience. Part I: Foundations – Grounding the Lived World The initial section establishes the philosophical bedrock necessary for understanding the subsequent exploration of narrative. We begin not with clinical application, but with a rigorous re-engagement with core phenomenological insights. Chapter 1: Husserl’s Legacy and the Epoché of Subjectivity This chapter revisits Edmund Husserl's project, but reframes the concept of epoché (bracketing) not merely as a methodological tool, but as the perpetual, necessary tension underpinning authentic self-awareness. We argue that the 'bracketing' of presuppositions is less about achieving objective neutrality and more about recognizing the horizon against which meaning is illuminated. Detailed analysis is provided on the concept of the lifeworld (Lebenswelt) as the pre-reflective, shared, yet uniquely experienced ground of all understanding. Chapter 2: Heidegger’s Being-in-the-World and Temporalizing the Self Transitioning from Husserl, this chapter focuses on Martin Heidegger’s ontological shift. The analysis centers on Dasein (Being-there) as fundamentally temporal. We dissect the concepts of Being-toward-death and authenticity, arguing that the confrontation with finitude is the primary engine for narrative coherence. Furthermore, we explore the implications of equipmentality (Zuhandenheit) for understanding our immersion in the world, suggesting that our engagement with tools shapes the very structure of our narrative possibilities. Chapter 3: Merleau-Ponty and the Primacy of Perception Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s emphasis on the primacy of perception and the body is central to understanding the non-discursive elements of self-construction. This chapter details the 'flesh of the world' (chair du monde), exploring how bodily schema—our felt sense of orientation, movement, and interaction—precedes and informs linguistic articulation. We draw connections between early motor learning and the foundational assumptions embedded in personal mythology, offering nuanced critiques of purely cognitive models of self. Part II: The Architecture of Narrative Self This middle section bridges the gap between abstract philosophy and the tangible process of self-making through stories. It scrutinizes how raw lived experience is transformed into narratable content. Chapter 4: Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics of Identity: Ipse and Idem Paul Ricoeur’s work forms the core of this section. We engage deeply with the distinction between idem (sameness over time, the quantitative self) and ipse (selfhood, the qualitative, narrative identity). Through detailed textual analysis of Oneself as Another, we articulate a dialectical model where personal identity is perpetually negotiated between the constancy sought in the idem and the transformation inherent in the ipse. Case studies, drawn from literary biography rather than clinical records, illustrate the moments where this negotiation breaks down or solidifies. Chapter 5: Narratology Beyond Plot: Voice, Perspective, and Unsaid Gaps This chapter dives into the structural elements of narrative as applied to the self. It moves beyond simple linear plotting to examine narrative voice, focalization, and the crucial role of gaps or lacunae. We propose a theory of 'Narrative Silence' – the necessary exclusion of certain experiences for the sake of coherence – and analyze how these silences become powerful, often disruptive, undercurrents in lived reality. The concept of heteroglossia (Bakhtin) is employed to explore the multi-voiced nature of the internal monologue. Chapter 6: Time, Temporality, and Chronotope in Personal Storytelling Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope (the inseparable unity of time and space in literature), this chapter applies it to the individual’s retrospective gaze. We examine how memory is not a retrieval of fixed events, but a restructuring dictated by the present-day chronotope. For instance, how a childhood memory narrated from the perspective of mid-life bereavement takes on an entirely different spatial and temporal resonance. Focus is given to the difference between chronological time (temps) and lived duration (durée). Part III: Crises, Revision, and Ethical Implications The final section addresses moments where established narratives falter, the process of revision, and the ethical responsibilities inherent in storytelling. Chapter 7: The Rupture: Narrative Collapse and Existential Disorientation This chapter explores events that fundamentally challenge the coherence of the established self-narrative—shocks, profound loss, systemic betrayal. We analyze these ruptures not as mere setbacks, but as ontological crises where the individual is temporarily cast back into the pre-narrative void described in Part I. We explore methodologies for articulating the unarticulated experience following such collapse, focusing on metaphoric bridging rather than direct explanation. Chapter 8: The Ethical Imperative of Revision: Responsibility to the Past Self If identity is narrative, then revision is an ethical act. This chapter argues that genuine personal growth involves a responsible restructuring of the past—not falsification, but recontextualization that honors the integrity of past choices while forging new paths. We scrutinize the tension between self-forgiveness and the acknowledgment of past harm, framing this negotiation within the context of the story being told to the 'Other' (Lévinas’ influence). Chapter 9: Metaphor, Myth, and the Search for Ultimate Meaning The concluding chapter synthesizes the preceding explorations. It argues that while phenomenology grounds the immediacy of experience and narratology structures it, the ultimate human drive is toward mythic integration—finding a place within a grander, if ultimately unprovable, framework of meaning. This involves examining the role of metaphor as the language adequate for expressing what resists linear articulation. We conclude by proposing that the authentic life is not one with a perfectly finished story, but one characterized by the continuous, courageous engagement with the process of narrative authorship. Target Audience: Doctoral candidates in philosophy, psychology, literary theory, and cultural studies; researchers focused on hermeneutics and existential thought; advanced scholars of narrative structure. Key Contributions: A rigorous synthesis bridging existential ontology with contemporary narrative theory, offering a sophisticated framework for understanding subjective continuity outside of reductive psychological models.
