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objects on an intrapsychic level. Narcissism is a psychopathology that
cannot
be
diagnosed by behavior, but only through understanding the
person 's unconscious relationship to others.
There is no doubt that the disparate cultural phenomena social
commentators are calling narcissism-the retreat from activity in the
public sector into a concern with psychic and physical health-does
exist, but if we call this
individualism
instead of narcissism, little about
it seems new. Sennett comes close to this realization in his discussion of
narcissism as the new version of the Protestant Ethic. He argues that
the Protestant Ethic led to the erosion of belief in external experience
and authority because it denied the privileged status of any religious
institution .
It
is precisely this peculiar characteristic of Protestantism that led
Durkheim to conclude that it does not fit the functional definition of a
religion , because it emphasizes the individual rather than the collective
conscience. This is why the Protestant Ethic and capitalism fit together
so well-the self becomes the arbiter of reality; working for the glory of
God reflects the individual's state of grace. This kind of inner worldly
asceticism, as described by Max Weber, focuses attention on the self as
opposed to any collectivity such as the church.
This was Durkheim 's concern in his writings on organic solidar–
ity. He warned that all the institutions of moral authority, such as the
church , guild, and extended family , had declined, leaving us in a state
of anomie in which we are unwilling to subordinate our self-interest
to
the interest of the collectivity. Modern capitalism, according to Durk–
heim, has led to the destruction of all traditional forms of social
control, so that people find themselves relatively free from constraints,
except the constraint against wanting more; capitalism, he said,
encourages limitless appetites.
Durkheim realized this at the turn of the century. What is new,
then , in what Sennett and Lasch (or, for that matter, Peter Marin and
Tom Wolfe) are describing?
It
seems to
be
the shift in emphasis: from
self-interest discussed in exclusively economic terms to self-interest as it
appears in noneconomic spheres.
Earlier capitalist ideology assured us that anyone could become a
president or a millionaire and that if we did not it was because of a lack
of ability or moral fiber. Now we are assured that we have endless
personal and emotional potential and that if we do not develop it the
fault is our own. The ascetic aspect of American individualism
remains. Although we may
be
competing for orgasms instead of
