ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a detailed phenomenological description of the affective state of being enthusiastic, of which even German phenomenologist’s of a bygone era would be envious. It describes the extravagance and expansiveness, the enjoyable, albeit temporary, quality of the affect. The chapter also describes the effect of one being enthusiastic on others, which varies from participation to detached observation, to a feeling of being left out. Drawing from Rapaport's five viewpoints on metapsychology, Ralph Greenson moves to a metapsychological discussion of the phenomenon of enthusiasm, though he refers to four of the viewpoints only, omitting the adaptational one. Greenson is loyal to id psychology when he talks about oral, anal, and phallic forms of enthusiasm. Greenson gives plenty of clinical evidence of the patient's memories, erotic activities, and fantasies to support his psycho-genetic understanding of the "enthusiast". The psychogenetic prototype that Greenson follows is an outdated adultomorphic paradigm.
