The "narcissism of small differences" is a term coined by Freud (he
sure knew how to invent memorable names for psychological concepts!) to
describe a propensity for people to feel considerable hostility towards
others whose attitudes or views differ only in minor ways from their
own.
The best example I know (and it is surely unsurpassable) is in the
context of political groups in the UK identifying themselves as
Marxist-Leninist. There must be a dozen or more such groups, ranging in
membership from (mostly) a few hundred to a few thousand, all of whom
reject the others as failing to provide the "true" theory and practice
to enable the proletariat to carry out their historic role as laid down
by Marx. The groups exhibit great hostility towards each other, because
they see their rivals as directing the working-class up a blind alley
(as if "the workers" take any notice of their activities!) Within these
groups the sub-group Trotskyists must be credited with exemplifying the
narcissism of small differences in all its glory. In the UK the
Trotskyist movement split into three main organisations many moons ago.
I remember them well in the 1960s – they tended to operate in different
social spheres, depending on where they thought they had the best
chance of converting (I use the term advisedly) people to their faith.
Each group inevitably produced "tendencies" in opposition to the
current policies of the organisation. This was a carefully chosen term
– it didn't constitute full-scale opposition, because by the tenet
known as "democratic centralism" in Leninist Parties, any group
opposing Party policy once it has been decided upon is liable to be
expelled. By a natural process that maybe Darwin rather than Freud
might have been able to explain :-) "tendencies" progress to "factions"
that are either expelled, or leave on their own initiative to form a
new group or Party. In due course of time, this process then repeats
itself in the new group. Remarkably, the process does not seem to
require a minimum size of group – to my knowledge it has happened in a
group of around a hundred or so members, producing a splinter group
from the original splinter group (technically known as "groupuscules").
We can see another example of the phenomenon of the narcissism of small
differences in the current extreme hostility (mostly expressed on the
internet) between atheists/agnostics/humanists who believe they should
seek "accommodation" with moderate religious people (i.e. that the most
important divide currently is between atheists and moderate
religionists in opposition to religious fundamentalism), and those in
the same camp who believe that it is important to keep emphasising the
incompatibility between atheism and religious beliefs of any kind, and
that that is where the divide really lies.
Incidentally, Freud acknowledged that priority for the concept itself
(though not the name that he coined) should go to the British
anthropologist Ernest Crawley.
Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
allenester...@compuserve.com
http://www.esterson.org
[tips] Freud's "narcissism of small differences".
michael sylvester
Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:06:44 -0700
I am in correspondence with another tipster who mentioned Freud's
narcissism of
small differences.
I do not recall this term.Maybe our die-hard Freudians on Tips can
elucidate.
Michael "omnicentric" Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org.
To unsubscribe click here:
http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5854
or send a blank email to
leave-5854-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu