alter ego

1. Another side of oneself; a second self.
2. An intimate friend or a constant companion.

[Latin : alter, other + ego, I, self.]

The other self. Under the doctrine of alter ego, the law will disregard the limited personal liability one enjoys when acting in a corporate capacity and will regard the act as his or her personal responsibility. To invoke the doctrine, it must be shown that the corporation was a mere conduit for the transaction of private business and that no separate identity of the individual and the corporation really existed.

A second self; the way in which a friend is to be regarded, according to Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics 1166^a 32, 1169^b 7).

The representation of an other complicit in the subject's narcissism, or self-object, the alter ego refers to the narcissistic need of an other similar to the self, a factor in the development of the self. The term appeared in the work of Heinz Kohut in 1971 in the context of alter ego transference, a form of mirror transference. After 1984, given the autonomy of the alter ego transference, it appears as a constituent of the self, along with the grandiose self, the pole of ambitions, and the idealized parental imago, the pole of ideals. Defined as an arc of tension between the two poles, the alter ego takes into account the harmony of the self, while the mirror affirms the vigor of the self and its idealization and cohesion. The line of development of the alter ego is important throughout the period that extends from the age of four to ten years; friendship, the need for someone like us, sometimes changes into the need for an imaginary companion. The alter ego is associated with humanity and sexual identity through self-identification—the father's true son. The reverse would be a Kafkaesque world of dehumanizing experiences. When this sector is stopped, repressed needs remain fixed and are difficult to verbalize because of the shame they arouse. The alter ego is associated with other needs and narcissistic transferences. Within this context, the concept of identification loses the specificity it has in Freudian metapsychology in terms of the constitution of the ego.

Bibliography

Kohut, Heinz. (1971). The analysis of the self. New York: International Universities Press.

——. (1977). The restoration of the self. New York: International Universities Press.

——. (1984). How does analysis cure? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

—AGNÈS OPPENHEIMER

A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability in order to hold them personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly, or when to refuse to do so will deprive an innocent victim of redress for an injury caused by them.

A corporation is considered the alter ego of its stockholders, directors, or officers when it is used merely for the transaction of their personal business for which they want immunity from individual liability. A parent corporation is the alter ego of a subsidiary corporation if it controls and directs its activities so that it will have limited liability for its wrongful acts.

The alter ego doctrine is also known as the instrumentality rule because the corporation becomes an instrument for the personal advantage of its parent corporation, stockholders, directors, or officers. When a court applies it, the court is said to pierce the corporate veil.

An intimate friend, considered another side of oneself: “He was my alter ego; we were always picking up each other's thoughts.” Alter ego is Latin for “another I.”

second self

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For other uses, see Alter ego (disambiguation).

"Double life" redirects here. For other uses, see Double life (disambiguation).

An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, a second personality or persona within a person. It was coined in the early nineteenth century when schizophrenia was first described by early psychologists.^[1] A person with an alter ego is said to lead a double life.

The term alter ego is commonly used in literature analysis and comparison to describe characters who are psychologically identical, or sometimes to describe a character as an alter ego of the author, a fictional character whose behavior, speech or thoughts intentionally represent those of the author.

Alternatively, this can refer a similar situation when a role or persona is taken on by an actor.^[2]

The characters Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde in Robert Louis Stevenson's thriller Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde represent an exploration of the concept that good and evil exist within one person, constantly at war. Edward Hyde literally represents the doctor's other self, a psychopathic being unrestrained by the conventions of civilized society, who shares a body with the doctor.

Another famous one is Miley Cyrus, with her alter ego Hannah Montana. This was made into a TV show where Miley is trying to hide her true identity.

This can also refer to the way a person may act differently in different situations.

See also

• Author surrogate
• Avatar
• Doppelgänger
• Id, ego, and super-ego
• Impersonator
• Secret identity

References

1. ^ Irving B. Weiner, Donald K. (EDT) Freedheim (2003). Handbook of Psychology. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 262. ISBN 0471176699. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZNWkkLLCDKsC&pg=PA262&dq=%22Alter+ego%22+psychology&ei=8rLFRpLCMZSS7QKiu9zfDw&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=hct0ZDCEbN1udHNMfMYVmNT2zYc. 
2. ^ Glenn Daniel Wilson (1991). Psychology and Performing Arts. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9026511191. http://books.google.com/books?id=3shEzj0wccgC&pg=PA272&dq=%22Alter+ego%22+psychology&as_brr=3&ei=PdbFRvHJM5SS7QKiu9zfDw&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=n5bCN6TPZ1JNQGLzFv6EbVFt97g. 

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