On ‘The fear of death’ as the primary anxiety
How and why Klein differs from Freud
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8972027 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel B Blass (Heythrop College, 23 Kensington Square, London, W8 5HN, UK), Rachel Β Blass (Heythrop College, University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 613-627 |
| Publication date | 2014-04-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1745-8315.12177 |
| PMID | 24773413 |
| OpenAlex | W2154510380 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 10 |
It is well known that Melanie Klein held the view that 'fear of death' is the primary source of anxiety and that her position is explicitly opposed to that of Sigmund Freud, who maintained that that fear cannot in any way or form be a source of anxiety. In a previous article on Freud's Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety (Blass, 2013), the author argued that, counter to what is commonly portrayed in the literature, Freud's considerations for rejecting the fear of death as a source of anxiety were based on relational and experiential factors that are usually associated with Kleinian psychoanalysis. In light of this affinity of Freud with Klein a question arises as to the actual source of their differences in this context. The present paper offers an answer to this question. The author first presents some of her earlier findings on what led Freud to reject the fear of death as a source of anxiety and then turns to investigate Klein's considerations for accepting it. This takes us beyond her explicit statements on this matter and sheds new light on the relationship of her views regarding death and anxiety and those of Freud. In turn this deepens the understanding of the relationship of Freud and Klein's conceptualizations of the psyche and its internal object relations, pointing to both surprising common ground and foundational differences
Anxiety · Context (archaeology · Death anxiety · Death drive · Epistemology · Fear of death · Object (grammar · Psyche · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · History · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis and Social Critique · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
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| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,27 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2025 (11) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 14 |