NARCISSISM: A MODERN LOOK AT AN OLD PROBLEM. PART 1: NARCISSISM IN THE LIGHT OF S. FREUD'S CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYSIS

This article is devoted to the evolution of S. Freud's views on narcissism and is the first part of a larger study that will include both survey, problem and research papers proper on this phenomenon. Narcissism as a concept has been widely used in both psychological and medical sciences for more than a century. However, there is still no precise definition that could unite all the main interpretations of this concept and there is no universal principle that could become the basis for this kind of phenomenological integration. The aim of this paper, as well as the subsequent ones related to it, is precisely the attempt to fill this gap and to form a sufficiently generalized definition convenient for practical application. In the diachronic slice all works of S. Freud, which include material that can be defined as relevant for defining the field of meaning of the concept «narcissism», are considered. Narcissism, even within the framework of purely classical metapsychology of S. Freud, can be defined as an extremely broad concept that includes a large number of different elements and can be considered in the widest phenomenological spectrum from normative indicators to clinically expressed pathology. The formation of narcissism as a structural component of personality is determined primarily by the interaction of the individual with the environment and, especially, with his or her own body. Narcissism has common roots of origin and can be compared with such concepts as «autism» and «introversion». All the basic postulates of S. Freud, introduced by him as important aspects of functioning of the narcissistic component of the general structure of personality will serve as a basis for further research, including interdisciplinary studies, allowing this concept to be interpreted also from the point of view of architectonics of its neurofunctional basis.