Abstract
This article explores the way in which Kohut's concept of Tragic Man functions as a response to criticisms of self psychology as proffering a partial, utopian, strife-denying theory of human development. After citing several representative critiques in this respect, I review the concept of Tragic Man as defined by Kohut, and then seek to deepen the clinical usefulness of this concept through a discussion of affects, empathy, and free association. A clinical vignette concludes the paper, through which some of these ideas find illustration.
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Klugman, D. The Existential Side of Kohut's Tragic Man. Clinical Social Work Journal 30, 9–21 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014270210519
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014270210519