«With courage and grace, Zoja deals with ethical issues in analytical culture, exploring experiences if the “grey zone” which, unlike the sphere of pure rationality, knows no clear divide between black and white».
Luciana Sica, La Repubblica

“....Zoja achieves beautifully what he set out to achieve at the errand of his muse of tragedy and Art. I highly recommend Zoja’s book to all interested readers. His book is not only a pleasure to read, but is beautifully edited, and beautiful to behold.”--The Journal of Analytical Psychology ― The Journal of Analytical Psychology

" . . . an edgy, risk-taking, and exciting work. . . Zoja takes us on an extraordinary journey through the history and philosophy of ethics. . . a serious engagement with postmodern ethics, with ramifications far beyond the clinic."--Journal of Analytical Psychology

-- David Tacey ― Journal of Analytical Psychology Published On: 2010-08-01

More than by bad intentions, psychological evil is caused by a lack of awareness. In their analytical relationship, patient and therapist necessarily dwell in the grey zone between good and evil. As the cases of Anna O. and Sabine Spielrein demonstrate, not even the founders of psychoanalysis could avoid falling into it. Would Sabine Spielrein have healed, without her analyst’s deliberate trespassing professional boundaries? Modern handbooks of «ethics of psychotherapy» contain numberless indications, which, however, only seem to open an even vaster grey zone. Overspecialized rules run the risk of loosening the link with ethics. Kant’s imperative comes back with a vengeance: in the analytical relationship, is the Other a mean of an end?

Most books on psychoanalytical ethics focus on rules, but author Luigi Zoja argues that ethics is really concerned with personal decisions—as is analysis itself. Rules are defined by others and center on punishment, but the purpose of analysis is to free the individual to make choices from his or her own “best” psychological and emotional center while still respecting society. Rules establish black and white; real ethics and psychological understanding both operate in the gray zone. Rules emerge from Enlightenment rationality; true ethics proceeds from choices and thus cannot be given in advance or be satisfied by respecting the rational part of the psyche only.

After considering the nature of ethics, Zoja turns to Immanuel Kant and Max Weber for a practical consideration of therapeutic relationships. He applies his ethical principles to the first psychoanalytical cases (Anna O. and Sabine Spielrein) described by Freud and Jung. In his thorough examination of these original examples, Zoja balances the traditional ethic of rules and law with the “new ethic” proposed by Erich Neumann. The result is an appreciation of the complex—at times even contradictory—yet healing nature of analysis.

Luigi Zoja
　　An internationally renowned Jungian analyst and former president of the International Association of Ringier Analysts (IAAP). His career has spanned cities such as Zurich, New York and Milan. Zoja's writings have been translated into fifteen languages and have been widely circulated throughout the world.

His works include:
　　The Father, which explores the evolution of the "father" figure from prehistory to modern times, was published in 2000 and 2016 and translated into several languages, including English, German, French, and Chinese.
　　Paranoia: The Madness That Made History, published in 2011 and 2023 and explores how paranoia affects the course of history, has also been translated into several languages, including English, Spanish, French, and Chinese.
　　Below the Iceberg, published in 2023, explores the existence and influence of the unconscious in society and history.
　　Centauri:myth and male violence, published in 2016, has been translated into Spanish.
　　Violence in History, Culture, and the Psyche was published in 2009
　　Beyond Intentions. Ethics and Analysis was published in 2011 and has been translated into English.

Zoja has twice won the Gradiva Prize for Psychological Work in the United States for his English-published psychological works, The Father and Beyond Intentions. Ethics and Analysis. These achievements not only demonstrate his profound achievements in the field of psychoanalysis, but also reflect the international influence and academic value of his works.