Wordie: Cathexis: Comments

Comment by Vermontster, 2 months ago

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:31:40 +0000

The joys of psychoanalytic language! Ick.

Comment by oroboros, about 1 year ago

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:38:11 +0000

Slumry: check the paragraph titled "Will The Real Freud Please Stand Up" in "Integral Spirituality" p. 122-3. Undoubtedly there would be more in "Integral Psychology" which I haven't read.

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:01:56 +0000

Any particular writing's of Wilber's that you can cite on that subject?

Comment by oroboros, about 1 year ago

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:30:47 +0000

Ken Wilber has some ideas on the mis-translation of Freud's writings as well.

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:19:43 +0000

That is interesting. As I recall, one of Freud's translators more or less coined this word as a translation of a German word that means someting like "to occupy" If a person cathects something, he or she invests emotional energy in it and makes it his own. Bruno Bettelheim wrote a book about what he regarded as the mis-translation of Freud's writing.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:53:16 +0000

That is interesting--hadn't considered that. Here's what I found on etymologies:

catharsis: Greek kátharsis, a cleansing, equiv. to kathar- (var. s. of kathaírein to cleanse, deriv. of katharós pure)

cathexis: Greek káthexis, a keeping, equiv. to kathek- (var. s. of katéchein to keep, hold on to, equiv. to cat cat- + échein to have, hold)

Comment by oroboros, about 1 year ago

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:02:52 +0000

Interesting to contemplate the possible (?) connection to catharsis. Investment of emotional energy v. release of same.