Psychoanalysis, Scientific Method, and Philosophy

Psychoanalysis, Scientific Method, and Philosophy
Author: Sidney Hook
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 386
Release: 1990-01-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9781412832274

This book records one of the few times in the United States that a distinguished group of psychoanalysts met with an equally distinguished group of philosophers of science in a free, critical interchange of view on the scientific status of the field.

Psychoanalysis, Scientific Method and Philosophy

Psychoanalysis, Scientific Method and Philosophy
Author: Sydney Hook
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2020-02-18
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1000663086

This by now well-known pioneering dialogue on Freudian analysis is concerned not with therapeutic implications, individual or social, of psychoanalysis or of any other brand of psychology, but solely with the status of psychoanalysis as a scientific theory. Matching talents with a distinguished group of philosophers and social scientists, psychoanalysts made their claims and willingly subject them to the methodological scrutiny common to the sciences and the philosophy of science. This book records one of the few times in the United States that a distinguished group of psychoanalysts met with an equally distinguished group of philosophers of science in a free, critical interchange of view on the scientific status of the field. While a sense of the event’s excitement is captured here, it also had clear results, such as an expanded notion of psychoanalysis as a scientific theory, and a clear realization that certain elements in psychoanalysis are substantially beyond the boundaries of causal inference or the rules of logic. Two opening statements by Heinz Hartmann and Ernest Nagel set the tone for the debate and discussion that followed. These are followed by social scientific statements of Abram Kardiner, Ernest van den Haag, and Alex Inkeles, followed by the philosophers Morris Lazerowitz, Donald C. Williams, and Anthony Flew. Such distinguished scholars as Adolf Grunbaum, Michael Scriven, Gail Kennedy, Arthur Pap, Philipp Frank. Arthur C. Danto, Max Black and others, round out this pioneering effort in the literature of intellectual combat. Sidney Hook applies to his vision of psychoanalysis the same compelling rigor he applied to other would-be advocates of a science beyond ordinary scientific method or safeguards. He nonetheless points out that even therapeutic success is not the last word, but must itself be tested on a variety of measures: statistical no less than analytical. This remains a courageous and disturbing work, one that commands attention among practicing psychiatrists, psychoanalysts—and their would-be patients.

Cognitive Science and Psychoanalysis

Cognitive Science and Psychoanalysis
Author: Kenneth Mark Colby
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2013-12-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317844432

Exploring the connections between cognitive science and psychoanalysis, the authors indicate that a potentially fruitful relationship can exist between the two fields. The book examines this relationship, concluding that psychoanalysis can contribute to a science of the mind when it flows into a more effective science and technology such as cognitive science. As viewed by the authors, cognitive science is "a new, lively field, full of novel concepts and methods about the mind." This is sharply contrasted with their opinion of psychoanalysis as a discipline which must change and consider such important problems in the study of the mind such as fantasies and feelings. Colby and Stoller do not specify how psychoanalysis must evolve, but they do make suggestions for future research. They believe that they are "exercising the prerogative of tribal elders, pass(ing) the task along to the next generation."

Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge

Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge
Author: Aner Govrin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2015-11-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317515145

Psychoanalysis really should not exist today. Until a few years ago, most of the evidence suggested that its time was drawing to a close, and yet psychoanalysis demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of criticism, alongside significant resurgence over the course of the last years. In "Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge: The Fascinated and the Disenchanted" psychoanalyst and philosopher Aner Govrin describes the mechanisms of sociology within the psychoanalytic community which have enabled it to withstand the hostility levelled at it and to flourish as an intellectual and pragmatic endeavour. He defends the most criticized aspect of psychoanalysis: the fascination of analysts with their theories. Govrin demonstrates that fascination is a common phenomenon in science and shows its role in the evolution of psychoanalysis. Govrin argues that throughout its history, psychoanalysis has successfully embraced an amalgam of what he has defined and termed "fascinated" and "troubled communities." A "fascinated community" is a group that embraces a psychoanalytic theory (such as Bion's, Klein's, Winnicott s) as one embraces truth. A "troubled community" is one that is not satisfied with the state of psychoanalytic knowledge and seeks to generate a fundamental change that does not square with existing traditions (such as new psychoanalytic schools, scientifically troubled communities and the relational approach). It is this amalgam and the continuous tension between these two groups that are responsible for psychoanalysis' rich and varied development and for its ability to adapt to a changing world. Clinical vignettes from the work of Robert Stolorow, Betty Joseph, Antonino Ferro and Michael Eigen illustrate the dynamic by which psychoanalytic knowledge is formed. "Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge" will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and philosophers alike.

Psychoanalytic Disagreements in Context

Psychoanalytic Disagreements in Context
Author: Dale Boesky
Publisher: Jason Aronson
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2008
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780765705563

Contemporary psychoanalysts are eclectic and believe they use the best ideas from each of our numerous competing theoretic models. However, there is confusion and controversy about what constitutes "best." Critical differences between these theories are about inferences concerning the disguised meaning of what patients tell us There can be no meaning without context but we have never developed a consensus about how we establish context (contextualization). This book offers a number of detailed clinical examples to illustrate how confusion about contextualization serves as the source of some of our most important disagreements. Book jacket.

Freud and Philosophy of Mind, Volume 1

Freud and Philosophy of Mind, Volume 1
Author: Jerome C. Wakefield
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2018-11-20
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3319963430

This book consists of a focused and systematic analysis of Freud’s implicit argument for unconscious mental states. The author employs the unique approach of applying contemporary philosophical methods, especially Kripke-Putnam essentialism, in analyzing Freud’s argument. The book elaborates how Freud transformed the intentionality theory of his Cartesian teacher Franz Brentano into what is essentially a sophisticated modern view of the mind. Indeed, Freud redirected Brentano's analysis of consciousness as intentionality into a view of consciousness-independent intentionalism about the mental that in effect set the agenda for latter-twentieth-century philosophy of mind.

New Ideas in Psychoanalysis

New Ideas in Psychoanalysis
Author: Calvin F. Settlage
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2013-05-13
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1134876262

New Ideas addresses the problem and process of change in psychoanalysis from historical, theoretical, and clinical perspectives. Each section of the book is enriched by inclusion of a seminal historical paper (by M. Gitelson, P. Greenson, H. Hartmann, S. Lorand, and L. Stone), inviting the reader to compare integrative attempts of the past with those of the present.

Habermas and Ricoeur’s Depth Hermeneutics

Habermas and Ricoeur’s Depth Hermeneutics
Author: Vinicio Busacchi
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2016-07-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3319390104

This book presents a critical and systematic study of the possibility to consider and practice Freud’s psychoanalysis as a form of depth hermeneutics. It contributes to a screening of the possibility of a hermeneutical interpretation of psychoanalysis, particularly with respect to the therapeutic practice. The book is an investigation into the philosophical implications of the hermeneutical re-reading of psychoanalysis and clarifies the real speculative and theoretical potential behind the dialectic of hermeneutics and psychoanalysis. It examines two themes which, so far, have remained unclarified and unexplored in their potentiality: firstly, at the level of a construction of a procedural model for the human and social sciences, as well as for philosophy, and, secondly, at the level of a philosophy of the human being able to subsume and express the biological and natural dimension of human identity as well as its historical narrative and social identity.