The Dichotomy of the Self by Farah Smiley is a book about the different aspects of the self and how they can be conflicting or complementary. The author discusses different concepts such as the ego, the id, and the superego, and how they can all work together or against each other.
Smiley provides many examples to help illustrate her points. For instance, he discusses how an individual might want to succeed professionally, but at the same time may feel guilty about neglecting their family. This conflict is due to the fact that the ego wants to achieve success, while the id wants to satisfy personal needs. The superego then steps in to try and resolve this conflict by making the person feel guilty about their professional ambitions.
Smiley also discusses how people can have multiple selves depending on the situation. For example, a person might act one way around their friends and another way around their family. This is due to the fact that people have multiple egos which are tailored to fit different social contexts.
The book concludes with a discussion of how people can harmonize all of these different aspects of themselves. Smiley argues that this can be done by accepting and embracing all of your different selves.
The Dichotomy of the Self is an interesting book that delves into the different aspects of the human psyche. Farah Smiley does a great job of breaking down complex psychological concepts and making them easily understandable for the reader. I found the book to be engaging and thought-provoking, and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in psychology or self-discovery.