the unconscious
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Philosophy and Psychoanalysis: A Difficult Relationship
Freud was attracted to philosophy, but also irritated by it. Not only did it never seem to get anywhere, but it treated human beings as essentially rational, which was in stark contrast to the way people actually behaved. This approach was clearly not the way forward. As with everything else, the way to establish the Continue reading
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Kohut and the Perils of Killing Sacred Cows
Heinz Kohut believed that psychoanalysis should adopt new theories in the light of new evidence. His work with borderline and narcissistic patients led him to question the prevailing Freudian orthodoxy, and, in 1977, he published The Restoration of the Self, in which he put forward a theoretical framework based on a psychology of the self Continue reading
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Wittgenstein and Freud: Overrated or Undervalued?
Ludwig Wittgenstein and Sigmund Freud have a lot in common. Both were Viennese gurus, who inspired groups of disciples to preach their world-changing revelations to a sceptical world. Both were forthright in putting forward their views, but believed they were offering therapy for which the recipient would ultimately be grateful. Both reached the high point Continue reading
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Is Science Providing Evidence for Freud’s Concept of the Unconscious?
In the face of attacks on the validity of psychoanalysis, it is tempting to argue that science and especially neurology is providing empirical evidence that Freud was right. Scientific evidence for unconscious processes includes research demonstrating that individuals process information, make decisions, and change their behaviour based on stimuli that are below conscious awareness. For Continue reading
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What is the Unconscious? Winnicott gets it wrong and gets it right!
What questions are generally a terrible starting point in philosophy (“what is Time?” “What is consciousness”) because they suggest that what we need to do is identify the kind of thing that is in question, whereas the real issue is to get a clearer understanding of the concepts involved. One way of doing this in Continue reading
Wittgenstein and Freud 