d’échapper à des situations très difficiles, c’est souvent en s’alliant aux autres. Il faut regarder cette contradiction sur plusieurs temps, le court, le moyen et le long terme et plus le temps s’allonge, plus l’égoïsme met le sujet hors-jeu ce qui rejoint ce que nous disions au début sur le degré de solitude et d’isolement lié à l’égoïsme. Je me suis amusé à relever quelques définitions et citations. Quel est votre avis sur leur justesse ou leur incongruité  : « L’égoïsme, voilà le genre d’amour qui est justement décrié parce qu’il n’est pas l’amour de soi mais une passion désordonnée de soi. » (Aristote) C’est bien vu. Il faut un peu d’amour de soi, de narcissisme sinon on ne peut exister. Le problème n’arrive que quand il devient excessif et prend un caractère passionnel et dans passion il y a souffrance. Le plus récent  : le pape Benoît XVI a déclaré lors de son voyage en juillet dernier à Sydney  : « L’égoïsme empoisonne les âmes. » Cela ne m’étonne pas d’un chef d’église. C’est évidemment vrai pour quelqu’un dont la mission est de rapprocher et de relier les hommes. « Un égoïste est un homme qui pense que s’il n’était pas né, les gens se demanderaient pourquoi. » C’est une jolie phrase amusante qui renvoie à ce que l’on pourrait appeler l’égoïsme manifeste où le sujet pense qu’étant le centre du monde tout lui est dû. C’est une position infantile. La recherche de certaines satisfactions immédiates à travers les SHUTTERSTOCK - OLLY Par Gerald Asaria plaisirs de la vie quotidienne est une façon habile de satisfaire cette exigence. -/The Collins English Dictionary defines the egoism as the belief « that the pursuit of one’s own welfare is the highest good ». A clear, simple definition but one that barely hints at the broad spectrum covered by the multitudinous forms of egoism. As Lucien Guitry humorously put it, an egoist is « someone who doesn’t spend every minute of their life ensuring the happiness of all the other egoists ». So... a necessity for progressing in life or pathological symptoms calling for psychotherapy ? It seemedpreferable to seek the opinion of a great psychiatrist, Dr Jean-Charles Pascal, head of the psychiatric department at the Erasme hospital in Antony. How do you define an egoist ? -/Someone who focuses the investment of their libido essentially on themselves, libido in this sense meaning the energy each one of us can draw on, not just sexual energy. Can that become pathological ? -/There is a necessary level of egoism ; each person has to take care of themselves, if only to ensure their own survival. I often tell my grandchildren to look after themselves, not take too many risks. But taken to extremes that can lead to excesses, become a deviant condition in which there’s no place for others and cut the person off from society. It’s a problem when it encroaches on other aspects of life to the extent of leading to a formof solitude and isolation and above alla lack of consideration for others that makes the person unbearable to those close to them. Fortunately egoists can have self-centred pleasures that are socially tolerable provided they don’t go so far as to never get enough and behave in way detrimental to others’pleasure. Is megalomania a formof egoism, in politics for example ? -/It’s one of egoism’s manifestations. By definition a politician should be essentially altruistic, humanistic, and yet it’s in politics that we find a good number of examples of egoism, perhaps sometimes because power isolates. We might also mention egoism’s first cousin, excessive narcissism. Whatever we call it, can it be treated ? -/Psychotherapy can alter the degree of egoism and find ways to reverse the isolation of a person focused essentially on satisfying their own desires. An egoist who’s reached that stage will generally be having difficulty making friends and forming relationships so therapy can help them be less self-centred. So is egoismentirely negative ? interview -/No. We need a certain dose of it if only to have a good survival instinct, which we all need. However, it’s just as obvious that often the best way to escape difficult situations is to join forces with others. I’ve tracked down a few definitions and quotes and would like your opinion as to how apposite or incongruous they are. -/« Egoism, that is the kind of love justifiably disparaged because it is not a love of oneself but an immoderate passion for oneself. » (Aristotle) Well said. We need to love ourselves a little, be slightly narcissistic, otherwise we couldn’t exist. The problem only arises when that love becomes excessive and of a passionate nature since in passion there is suffering. More recently Pope Benedict XVI stated during his visit last July to Sydney  : « Egoism poisons souls. » That doesn’t surprise me from the head of a church. It’s obviously true for someone whose mission is to bring together and unify people. « An egoist is someone who thinks that if they hadn’t been born people would be wondering why. » That’s a delightfully amusing quote that relates back to what we might call manifest egoism, egotism, in which the person believes they’re the centre of the world so eve- novembre 2008 www.cote-magazine.ch ÉGOÏSTE INTERVIEW EGOIST 63