[The ambitio-impulse different from narcissism].

Abstract

We should not let our dynamic drive bog down in the ambiguous concept of "libido". A concept which disturbed Freud himself as is clearly demonstrated in his latest works and which has been considerably misused afterwards. In order to achieve this aim we have in the light of psychopathology, of the symbolic nature of dreams and of our own personal experience set to describe three fundamental drives-the real roots of Man unseparable from his constitution-namely 1. ambitio: (which prompts Man to assert himself, to develop and dominate); 2. agressio: (the urge to defend our internal territory or to overcome obstacles according to our will); 3. attractio: (the disposition to be moved or attracted by this or that object). The present paper shall deal with ambitio which is not to be mixed up with conscious ambition. This unconscious drive, axial and archaic which nourishes the evolution of all living matter (even a tree trunk) should not be interspersed with guilt but is indispensable to our emergence from the Cosmos. Ambitio can be subject to hypertrophy by a compensatory process in cases of megalomania and on the contrary it can be atrophied in the case of a failure syndrome or inferiority complex for example. The most delicate stage of the process is that of its taming and of its conscious acceptance. All things which if properly dealt with and if we want to avoid the traps of authoritarianism or of the narcissistic delusion will lead us in the interest of others, to the most realistic modesty.