Narcissism attempts the impossible in-itself for-itself synthesis that defines divinity

Evidence

Both priestess and idol, the narcissist crowned with glory hovers in the heart of eternity, and on the other side of the clouds kneeling creatures worship her: she is God contemplating himself. “I love myself, I am my God!” said Mme Mejerowsky. To become God is to realize the impossible synthesis of the in-itself and for-itself: the moments an individual thinks he has succeeded are special times of joy, exaltation, and plenitude. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1793

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines narcissism in existentialist terms as the doomed attempt to realize the impossible synthesis of in-itself and for-itself.
• XREF: The impossible in-itself/for-itself synthesis is the very project of bad faith and of the desire to be God in Being and Nothingness — pure Sartrean grounding. — connects to: The human ideal of God is a self-contradictory synthesis of the in-itself and for-itself — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 67; God is the hypostasized ideal of the impossible self-synthesis — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 363; Desiring evil for its own sake tries and fails to objectify God. (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Reflection aims impossibly to unify the for-itself with itself into a totality #corroborates (0.85)
• Unrequited narcissism inverts from grandiosity into persecution delusion #contradicts (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1829
• Assimilationism operates as solipsistic narcissism that cannot recognize otherness #exemplifies (0.80)
• Mystical love is a narcissistic apotheosis where God’s gaze mirrors the woman’s self-image #exemplifies (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1906
• The diseased soul fails either to self-differentiate or to persist as identity #corroborates (0.75) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 365
• Subjectivity cannot reside in its own being but haunts itself #corroborates (0.75) — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 374
• Any attempt at sincere self-knowledge covertly turns oneself into a thing #corroborates (0.72) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 306
• Consciousness mirrors divine self-relation rather than constituting it #corroborates (0.70)