Is there a technical term in psychology that neatly encapsulates the Nietzschean maxim that the self-despiser nevertheless esteems himself as a self-despiser?
Well, near the end of his “On the Psychology of the Child Archetype”, Jung says that a conscious inferiority complex is always complemented by an unconscious superiority complex and vice versa.
Interesting, thanks, I’ll look into that.
Here’s the actual passage, though I’m translating it from a Dutch translation of the original German:
[size=95]“[T]he conscious megalomania is compensated for by an unconscious inferiority, and conversely conscious inferiority is compensated for by an unconscious megalomania (one never finds the one without the other).” (Jung, “On the Psychology of the Child Archetype”, final section.)[/size]
Perhaps we could say that someone who consciously despises himself unconsciously esteems himself as someone who consciously despises himself; and that someone who consciously esteems himself unconsciously despises himself as someone who does not consciously despise himself. Interestingly, this would imply not only a higher esteem for contempt than for respect, but even more so a higher esteem for consciousness than for unconsciousness.
Jung may have said the same thing elsewhere as well, and in greater detail. In any case, the said essay is also interesting with regard to the three metamorphoses.