ABSTRACT
In examining the inherent meaning of this idea – that the self of man is aware, or can be, that it is aware that it is aware that it is aware – we must admit at the start that we have no clear idea yet as to the character of the restrictions, if any, on the successive number of these mirror reflections that might be achieved. One seems quite justified in suggesting, however, that ego-strength and intelligence are complexly related to the number of levels of remove to which this regression can be taken, before one becomes dizzy and disassociated. For example, Dostoevsky (in his Tales from the Underground) displays an absolute wizardry in his mastery of these reverberations. This is surely one reason why Freud called him the greatest psychologist.
