Reflections on Empathy

Kohut speaks in detail of his psychoanalytic and anthropological theory of the self. This program contains the conceptual foundations of both his therapeutic practice and his intellectual excursions into sociology, art, and history. His theory of the self was a further development and extension of psychoanalysis.

Kohut is indefatigable in stressing the role of empathy, that is, sympathetic understanding of the introspection of the Other. He intends empathy not only as a therapeutic agent, but also as an instrument of theoretical knowledge; in many places in Kohut's works it even becomes a model of social conduct.

This video of Heinz Kohut's final presentation, "Reflections on Empathy," was given at the 1981 Self Psychology conference in Berkeley, California. He was aware he was dying, and at the conclusion of his speech he announced his final farewell. The audience, moved by his words, stood to express its deep appreciation. He died four days later on Thursday, October 8, 1981.

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