> Doug replies to me:
> >>Not at all. There is no such thing as 'auto-critique.' The Self cannot
> >>critique itself without falling into narcissism. Didn't Marx and Freud tell
> >>you that?
> >
> >Well not exactly. Freud psychoanalyzed himself, which is a kind of
> >critique, no? Not that he succeeded, or that a psychoanalysis ever
> >succeeds. But without some allowance for self-critique, we'd all be
> >completely, inescapably creatures of our personal histories and social
> >positions. Engels would have been a capitalist pig and not Marx's
> >collaborator and patron.
>
> I think that 'auto-critique' fundamentally works to preempt (expected and
> unexpected) critiques by others. One criticizes oneself in the secret hope
> that one won't be (badly) surprised by becoming an object of others'
> criticisms. In other words, 'auto-critique' protects our fragile ego from
> becoming wounded. In this sense, 'auto-critique' is a defense mechanism one
> develops in order to manage the fear and shame of having one's own
> (inescapably) partial vision exposed in front of others. It is what we do
> so as not to get 'caught with our pants down,' so to speak. It is a sign of
> the lack of solidarity (or of trust in our friendship/comradeship with
> others). That is why I heavily discount the value of navel-gazing about
> 'privilege.' It is not just an impossible task; it is also a smarmy gesture.
I'm so dense, I just don't understand why auto-critique HAS to do all these things.
I'm so dense, I think that just about anything can be used in service of a defense mechanism
I'm so dense, there's not much point in explaining it to me again.
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"