Abstract

This article examines the co-constitutive relation between self and other. It suggests that the self is not born but emerges in its relations with others. It explains that the self is generated from social relations, and grows with some continuity, and it can also fragment and come apart in ways that can be either pathological or creative. The coming apart of the self can come in the forms of self-deception and denial which are often part of our everyday life, or in the forms of repression and dissociation which may lead further toward pathology.