Open AccessDe-stigmatising manipulation: An exercise in second-order empathic understanding
Author(s) -
G Stanghellini
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
south african journal of psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.425
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 2078-6786
pISSN - 1608-9685
DOI - 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v20i1.510
Subject(s) - action (physics) , psychology , meaning (existential) , representation (politics) , empathy , order (exchange) , personality , social psychology , cognitive psychology , epistemology , psychotherapist , philosophy , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , politics , political science , law , economics
Standard definitions of ‘manipulation’, especially regarding people with a borderline personality diagnosis, usually highlight the alloplastic purpose of manipulativity, i.e. the intention to produce a belief in, or action by another person. In this article, I will try to show that this is only one side of the coin, and shed light on a complementary aspect of manipulative behaviour: manipulation can serve an epistemic, rather than alloplastic, pragmatic motif – the attempt to establish contact with the other in order to achieve a more distinct experience and representation of the other. My tentative hypothesis is based on the meaning of manipulation as touching (‘manus’ means ‘hand’) in infant behaviour where manipulation is a means to explore, rather than a way to modify the other’s state of mind