The versatility of the Kleinian model. Melanie Klein’s theory and formulations of morality and forgiveness

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline Melanie Klein’s basic concepts through a detailed investigation of her viewpoints on the nature and origins of “objects.” Above all, it will be the burden of argument to document and chronicle how Klein gives powerful insights into notions of morality, forgiveness and love, which are particularly illuminating for ethical or philosophical studies. Famous for having given the death instinct a prominent, centre-stage position, Klein’s real achievement, however, in Emilia Steuerman’s opinion, “is her understanding of love as reparation (caritas),” (The Bounds of Reason 27) intrinsically linked to the reality of the death instinct. The elaboration on the two basic positions of Melanie Klein’s theory will show them to be related to two distinct formulations of morality. The concept of reparation, which represents one of the most interesting nodal points of her theoretical writings, will be construed to overlap, psychoanalytically, the concept of forgiveness put forth by philosophers such as Hannah Arendt or Jacques Derrida. Klein’s astute inclusion of an intolerance towards appreciation and admiration in her theorization of envy will be shown to have rendered the counterbalancing concept of gratitude equally impressive. Closely related to reparation, gratitude possesses the same redemptive quality, serving to mitigate the burden of aggression. It is a measure of the versatility of the Kleinian model that it enables her readers to extrapolate from her theorization of key psychoanalytical concepts to the dynamics of notions pertaining to fields such as ethics or philosophy