The Marginal Self - An Existential Inquiry into Narcissism

In The Marginal Self: An Existential Inquiry into Narcissism, drawing from existential philosophy, psychiatry and literature, Ren-. Muller characterizes what he sees as the phenomenon of marginality-the failure to become one-s most authentic and best self. This refusal often involves denying one-s freedom, the essence of being human, even as that freedom is ironically misused in negating it. Muller argues that the Judeo-Christian tradition and the reliance on reason as a transcendent absolute, both bedrocks of Western culture for over 2,000 years, no longer provide a satisfactory foundation for living. He shows how marginalizing choices made in an alienating culture inevitably lead to disillusion and pathological behavior.