Healthy Self-Esteem vs. Pathological Narcissism: Drawing the Line

Abstract: The notion of narcissism, originating from the myth of Narcissus — where a handsome teenager becomes enamored with his own reflection — was systematically addressed for the first time in Sigmund Freud’s 1914 essay “On Narcissism”. This article commences with a succinct overview of Freud’s perspective on narcissism, which serves as the foundation for most later discourse on the subject, before addressing key philosophical inquiries that have persistently emerged regarding narcissism and self-love. How do we distinguish between healthy self-esteem and pathological narcissism? Considering the seemingly omnipresent nature of “the dear self” (as Kant termed it) in human awareness, what would it need to foster a really non-narcissistic regard for others, and is this feasible — or even advantageous?

The concept of narcissism, originating from the myth of Narcissus — where a handsome youth becomes enamored with his own reflection — first emerged in the late nineteenth century through the works of British sexologist Havelock Ellis and German psychiatrist Paul Näcke, before receiving its initial systematic analysis in Sigmund Freud’s 1914 essay “On Narcissism” (see FREUD, SIGMUND). In the late twentieth century, the notion was further refined by psychoanalysts Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg, and popularized by Christopher Lasch’s…