Jamieson Webster's 'Sul respirare' explores breathing as psychoanalytic subject

Psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster's new book 'Sul respirare' (translated by A. L. Carbone, il Saggiatore, 2026) examines the act of breathing through psychoanalytic and philosophical lenses. The essay argues that individual and civilizational destiny is tied to breath. At birth, the first inhalation marks a painful separation from the mother, establishing the foundations of subjectivity and transforming into language and communication. Freud believed the memory of that primal cry underlies human empathy. The book engages with the history of psychoanalysis and philosophy.