Marbles, Clocks, and the Postmodern Self

Abstract

This article traces the construct of self from its modern origins in Cartesian dualism through postmodern psychoanalytic forms. As the self crosses the postmodern divide, a new configuration based on relationality emerges that alters classic metapsychological postulates. The postmodern concepts of nonreductive physicalism and holonic hierarchies serve to explicate a version of personhood derived from the Trinitarian doctrine of God. Because these transformations radically affect psychotherapeutic theory and practice, an understanding of the postmodern self that is both authentically biblical and current epistemologically is crucial for Christian therapists. To aid this end, the article employs an analogy that uses marbles and clocks to demonstrate the shift from the conception of the modern self to the postmodern person.