The Chains of Eros

Andre Green, a leading figure in contemporary psychoanalytic theory, deplores the absence of sexuality and the erotic from current psychoanalytic theory and practice. Instead, he demonstrates how human sexuality forms an ‘erotic chain’. The work of analysis, he argues, consists in following the dynamic movements of the erotic process, by ascertaining its links with other aspects of the psyche.Green re-visits many previously neglected or ignored areas of psychoanalytic debate, including the complicated relationship between pleasure and reproduction, and the links between psychoanalysis, anthropology, and biology. He also embarks on extensive and radical re-readings of Klein, Winnicott, Lacan, and other major psychoanalytic thinkers.

Author Biography

Andre Green (1927-2012) was a psychoanalyst who lived and worked in Paris. He was President of the Paris Psycho-Analytical Society and was Vice-President of the International Psychoanalytic Association. He was co-editor of the Nouvelle Revue de Psychanalyse. He also wrote numerous books, including ‘On Private Madness’, ‘The Work of the Negative’, ‘The Fabric of Affect in the Psychoanalytical Discourse’, ‘The Chains of Eros’, ‘Life Narcissism. Death Narcissism’ and ‘Key Ideas for a Contemporary Psychoanalysis’.