John Hanwell Riker has been an award-winning professor of philosophy at Colorado College since 1968 and has published four books. He was the Kohut Distinguished Professor at the University of Chicago in 2003.

Introduction Part One: Kohut and Self Psychology 1. The Structure of the Self as a Transformation of Narcissistic Libido 2. The Functions of the Self, Selfobjects, and Ethical Life 3. The Self as Erotic Striving 4. Metapsychology: The Self, the Ego, and Personhood 5. A Self Psychological Understanding of Psychopathology Part Two: The Concept of Self in the Modern World 6. The Construction of Individuals in Modern Society 7. Contemporary Social Practices that Undermine the Self and the Psycho/Social Ills that Result from this Destabilization Part Three: Plato's Republic and a New Self Psychological Society 8. Plato's Republic: The Ideal of a Rational State and Soul 9. The Ideal Self Psychological State: A New Republic 10. Transcending the Self: Metaphysics, Spirituality, and the Meaning of Life

Drawing from Kohut's conceptualisation of self, Riker sets out how contemporary America's formulation of persons as autonomous, self-sufficient individuals is deeply injurious to the development of a vitalizing self-structure-a condition which lies behind much of the mental illness and social malaise of today's world.