Dilemma of Narcissus

By Louis Lavelle

Book Overview

A profound reading of the Narcissus tale and of the recovery of one's own soul.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0943914620
• ISBN13: 9780943914626
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Larson Publications
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The Virtue of Unselfishness

For the late French philosopher Louis Lavelle, there is no dilemma, as the book's original title "L'Erreur de Narcisse" better conveys. He quickly dismisses narcissism, the "scum of egoism," as a psychospiritual tragedy that traps its adherents in loneliness. More interesting are his examinations of the attitudes, virtues, and graces that can counterbalance and even cure this error of the soul. In the tradition of Montaigne, Lavelle's method is discursive and meditative. His first principles are a creative amalgam of Platonic, Stoic, Romantic, existentialist, and Christian elements, but, to my mind, his more Christian speculations are the best parts of the book. For example, here is an excerpt from his chapter on the concept of communion: "By a blessed paradox, if I cease to observe myself in favor of those around me, I come to know myself without having attempted to do so. And likewise when I cease to pursue my own good in favor of another's, I find mine in the act" (p. 161). First published in 1939, The Dilemma of Narcissus is in some ways time bound, but as an exploration of the importance of unbinding the self from futile self-obsession, it has a timeless message.