To Be More Person: a reading of Otto Rank

This book addresses the originality of the psychoanalytical thought of Otto Rank (1884 - 1939), who brought contributions from Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to the understanding of the relationship between the human person and culture. A contemporary of Freud, Otto Rank was the most philosophical of the psychoanalysts. Rank accepted the constant coming-into-being of which Nietzsche spoke, and the unavoidable flaws of the human consciousness. However, influenced by Schopenhauer€s ideas concerning the will €“ which is present in the human being and constitutes his greatest relationship with the real world €“ Rank understands the symbolical world as a presentation of the will as well. Therefore, there is legitimacy in the expression of the human will by means of symbols and culture. As human subjectivity is the locus of the symbolic world, this subjectivity, in and of itself, cannot be discredited or disavowed. As a result, we have an ethics that assures the dignity and protection of human subjectivity, as the foundation of all human dignity.

"This book is small but carries much weight, many challenging and worthwhile ideas. He credits Otto Rank in new and interesting ways. Those who are steeped in Rank€s works will be surprised and some will consider Costa to have over-extended his interpretation. This is a stimulating, creative commentary that will challenge those already familiar with Rank while bringing him to new readers in an attractive light."
- Dr. E. James Lieberman, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, George Washington University School of Medicine (review published by the Ernest Becker Foundation).