The great lesson of Rank’s depreciation of sexuality was not that he played down physical love and sensuality, but that he saw—like Augustine and Kierkegaard—that man cannot fashion an absolute from within his condition, that cosmic heroism must transcend human relationships.26 What is at stake in all this is, of course, the question of freedom, the quality of one’s life and one’s individuality.

• rank
• sex
• kierkegaard
• relationships
• freedom
• psychology
• transcendence
• causa-sui
• love
• sexuality
• life
• heroism