Hide and Seek: The Psychology of Self-Deception
by Neel Burton
What we believe to be the motives of our conduct are usually but the pretexts for it. —Miguel de Unamuno
Self-deception is common and universal, and the cause of most human tragedies. Of course, the science of self-deception can help us to live better and get more out of life. But it can also cast a murky light on human nature and the human condition, for example, on such exclusively human phenomena as anger, depression, fear, pity, pride, dream making, love making, and god making, not to forget age-old philosophical problems such as selfhood, virtue, happiness, and the good life. Nothing, in the end, could possibly be more important.Burton provides an excellent explanation of how we use psychological defence mechanisms to protect ourselves from painful truths. —The Psychiatrist
About the author
Dr Neel Burton is a psychiatrist, philosopher, and wine-lover who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College in the University of Oxford, and the recipient of the Society of Authors’ Richard Asher Prize, the British Medical Association’s Young Authors’ Award, the Medical Journalists’ Association Open Book Award, and a Best in the World Gourmand Award. His work has featured in the likes of Aeon, the Spectator, and the Times, and been translated into several languages.
ContentsPart I: Abstraction
1. Denial
2. Repression
3. Anger
4. Dissociation
5. Intellectualization
6. Rationalization
7. Positive illusions
8. The manic defence
9. Depression
Part II: Transformation
10. Displacement
11. Scapegoating
12. Somatization
13. Reaction formation
14. Stockholm syndrome
15. Minimization and exaggeration
16. Symbolization and dream interpretation
17. Reification and the self
Part IIIA: Evasion through fraud or fantasy
18. Vagueness
19. Inauthenticity
20. Reconstruction of reality
21. Confabulation
22. Splitting
23. Dehumanization
24. Daydreaming
25. Regression
Part IIIB: Evasion through people or the world
26. Socialization
27. Garrulousness
28. Dramatization
29. Grandiosity
30. Humour
31. Asceticism
32. Sublimation
33. Altruism
34. Anticipation
35. Fear and anxiety
Part IV: Projection
36. Projection
37. Projective identification
38. Idealization
39. Devaluation
40. Identification
Final words
Self-deception is common and universal, and the cause of most human tragedies. Of course, the science of self-deception can help us to live better and get more out of life. But it can also cast a murky light on human nature and the human condition, for example, on such exclusively human phenomena as anger, depression, fear, pity, pride, dream making, love making, and god making, not to forget age-old philosophical problems such as selfhood, virtue, happiness, and the good life. Nothing, in the end, could possibly be more important.Burton provides an excellent explanation of how we use psychological defence mechanisms to protect ourselves from painful truths. —The Psychiatrist
About the author
Dr Neel Burton is a psychiatrist, philosopher, and wine-lover who lives and teaches in Oxford, England. He is a Fellow of Green-Templeton College in the University of Oxford, and the recipient of the Society of Authors’ Richard Asher Prize, the British Medical Association’s Young Authors’ Award, the Medical Journalists’ Association Open Book Award, and a Best in the World Gourmand Award. His work has featured in the likes of Aeon, the Spectator, and the Times, and been translated into several languages.
ContentsPart I: Abstraction
1. Denial
2. Repression
3. Anger
4. Dissociation
5. Intellectualization
6. Rationalization
7. Positive illusions
8. The manic defence
9. Depression
Part II: Transformation
10. Displacement
11. Scapegoating
12. Somatization
13. Reaction formation
14. Stockholm syndrome
15. Minimization and exaggeration
16. Symbolization and dream interpretation
17. Reification and the self
Part IIIA: Evasion through fraud or fantasy
18. Vagueness
19. Inauthenticity
20. Reconstruction of reality
21. Confabulation
22. Splitting
23. Dehumanization
24. Daydreaming
25. Regression
Part IIIB: Evasion through people or the world
26. Socialization
27. Garrulousness
28. Dramatization
29. Grandiosity
30. Humour
31. Asceticism
32. Sublimation
33. Altruism
34. Anticipation
35. Fear and anxiety
Part IV: Projection
36. Projection
37. Projective identification
38. Idealization
39. Devaluation
40. Identification
Final words
