The doctoral exams in Communication Sciences by Mathias Hammann were held on December 12 (2:30 p.m.), in the ICS (Social Sciences Institute) Sala de Atos of the University of Minho, in Braga. The thesis is supervised by Jean-Martin Rabot (University of Minho), and is entitled “Narcissus, the architect of the void”.
According to the new PhD, the research developed seeks to understand the current malaise in its relational and social dimension from narcissism. His approach goes in the sense that “all individuals carry within themselves the marks of a primary narcissism arising from a remote phase of the psycho-emotional development that can be accessed, triggered and accentuated in some sociocultural settings”. Once regressed to the narcissistic parts and its ideal inflated, the aim becomes to avoid evil and to correspond to the ideal of perfection that, at its limit, aims excluding death: “However, the more death and evil are avoided, the more they torment and impregnate life, demanding that all the areas from which evil and death may arise have to be abandoned”. In this way diverse social facets as work, sexuality, politics and knowledge are either destroyed or disinvested, leaving only a reflex system of reproduction of the familiar image. For Mathias Hammann, despite Narcissus’ protests, “fortunately evil and death always prevail, and perhaps in time, the revelation of the vital principle of disunion mediated by a loving object may mow narcissistic ideals, remedy the existential poverty of today and allow the emergence of affection and thought”.
The panel of examiners was chaired by Moisés de Lemos Martins, Full Professor at UMinho’s Communication Sciences Department (Institute of Social Sciences) and CECS Director, representing UMinho’s dean, and was composed of the following members:
– Albertino Gonçalves, Full Lecturer at UMInho’s Sociology Department (Institute of Social Sciences), and CECS investigator
– Maria Manuel Baptista, Lecturer with Habillation at Department of Languages and Cultures of University of Aveiro)
– Isabel Maria Marques Mesquita, Lecturer at Departamento of Psicology of University of Évora
– Jean-Martin Rabot, Lecturer at UMInho’s Sociology Department (Institute of Social Sciences), and CECS investigator