The Fear of Insignificance

Strenger, Carlo

doi:10.1057/9780230117662

Cited by 28 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Carlo’s work on active self-acceptance is very closely related to his identification of a noxious contemporary cultural malady: the fear of insignificance (Strenger, 2003; see also Strenger, 2011). Carlo defines this fear as the worry that one will not actualize one’s talents to the point of reaching a worldwide impact such as that reached by Carlo’s favorite example, Mark Zuckerberg, in developing Facebook.…”

Section: Why Freedom Is the Most Essential Existential Concern: A Mod...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strenger’s freedom was twofold: to be conscious of inner and outer reality, which is what made him a psychoanalyst, and to adopt an authentic position toward life in the face of such an awareness, which made him an existentialist. I, therefore, hold Carlo Strenger to be one of the chief contributors to the resurrected movement of existential psychoanalysis (e.g., Strenger, 1991, 1998, 2003, 2004a, 2004b, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015; see also Shahar, 2010, 2015; Thompson, 1995, 2016).…”

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Yalom, Strenger, and the psychodynamics of inner freedom: A contribution to existential psychoanalysis.

Shahar¹

2022

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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NegevCarlo Strenger was a unique person, for many reasons. One such reason was his ability to integrate the existential (humanistic) and psychoanalytic schools of thought into a seamless whole. Nowhere is this seamless integration more apparent than in Strenger's treatment of inner freedom. In this article, I juxtapose Irvin Yalom's seminal work on the four existential concerns in psychopathology and psychotherapy (death, responsibility, isolation, and meaning) against Strenger's work on the psychodynamics of inner freedom. More specifically, I touch upon Strenger's identification of three psychological processes that enable inner freedom: self-creation (the tendency of some people to create their own personality "from the ashes," in the face of serious traumatic life circumstances), Sosein (active self-acceptance of one's own mistakes through life), and the act of transcending the fear of insignificance (the ability to live life through one's own eyes rather than through the eyes of historical accounts). Strenger's illumination of these processes, I argue, construes inner freedom as a higher-order existential concern that underlies the four concerns discussed by Yalom. I then discuss the way I put these theoretical observations to use in my theoretical and clinical work, focusing on depression and suicidality.

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Section: Why Freedom Is the Most Essential Existential Concern: A Mod...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Yalom, Strenger, and the psychodynamics of inner freedom: A contribution to existential psychoanalysis.

Shahar¹

2022

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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“…His third ongoing contribution was his investigation of identity formation in the era of globalization. He published a series of articles on the topic, and systematized his views in two books, The Designed Self (2004) and The Fear of Insignificance (2011).…”

Section: Specific Contributions Of This Special Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carlo Strenger: Embracing internal contradictions.

Eagle¹,

Elad‐Strenger²,

Shahar³

2022

Psychoanalytic Psychology

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NegevCarlo Strenger, PhD, was a person of mysteries, riddles, and contradictions. He lived in Israel, but his heart and mind were really global. Born and raised in Switzerland, he spoke freely all dialects of the European language and culture. Having treated many American patients and having strong professional and personal relationships with people in the USA and Canada, he was intimately familiar with North American culture, science, and psychology. Although not all of those who knew Carlo took a liking to his flamboyant style, his intellectual powers and his contribution to bridging (existential) philosophy, (scientific) psychology, and psychoanalysis were widely acknowledged. In this special section, we honor Strenger's diverse contribution to psychoanalysis. This introduction includes a brief exposition of Carlo's work, followed by a description of six contributions to this special section by authors addressing Strenger's writing.

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“…Using the terms, ‘expression of a fetish’ and ‘meditative stance,’ he argues that such spiritual practices enable people to retain a semblance of mental sanity while fully participating in the capitalist market. Also, Strenger (2011) has pointed out how urban residents turn to meditation and spirituality as part of a reflective individualization in order to preserve their own space of freedom. In this sense, one might agree with Žižek’s criticism that Buddhist healing or meditation does not promote but hinders social change.…”

Section: Spiritual Quest As New Urban Aspirationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Becoming a city Buddhist among the young generation in Seoul

Kim

2016

International Sociology

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The quest for spirituality among young urban dwellers represents a novel and highly distinctive form of social reproduction in contemporary South Korea. As young people are forced by a hyper-competitive work environment, fragmenting family, and high youth unemployment, they strive to overcome the attendant feelings of stress and anxiety, turning to the anti-materialist values of Buddhism. Within this context, the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism’s ‘engaged Buddhism’ – as manifested in Jungto Society – provides an interesting case study to examine the ways in which the culture of healing is being popularized among the young city dwellers. Of particular appeal to this generation is Jungto Society’s combination of individualistic practice with social action, which also differentiates it from other Buddhist organizations. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with young city dwellers who engage in Buddhist meditation and practices, this article aims to analyze how a young urban population strives to reconcile the knowledge and management of one’s heart, promoted by Buddhist religion, with the neoliberal ethos of self-improvement. This article argues that the fundamental Buddhist concepts generate a certain form of self-reflection among their practitioners that expands both their religious and civic minds.

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The Fear of Insignificance

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

Yalom, Strenger, and the psychodynamics of inner freedom: A contribution to existential psychoanalysis.

Yalom, Strenger, and the psychodynamics of inner freedom: A contribution to existential psychoanalysis.

Carlo Strenger: Embracing internal contradictions.

Becoming a city Buddhist among the young generation in Seoul

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