Philosophy, Science, and Psychoanalysis

The perennial interest in psychoanalysis shows no signs of abating and the longevity of psychoanalytic theory is seen in the varied extensions and elaborations of Freudian thinking in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive theory. Nevertheless, the scientific standing of psychoanalysis has long been questioned and developments in the fields of the philosophy of science and psychology require a fresh assessment of the scientific standing of psychoanalysis. While there are a range of views on the topic of whether psychoanalysis is in fact scientific, any satisfactory approach to understanding mind and behaviour requires an approach that is at once both philosophic and scientific. Accordingly, to even approach the question regarding the scientific nature of psychoanalysis, a foundation comprising a sophisticated conceptual and philosophical framework is required. This volume represents the junction where philosophy, science, and psychoanalysis meet and presents arguments critical and supportive of the scientific standing of psychoanalysis, including debates between Adolf Grunbaum, Edward Erwin, Linda. A. W. Brakel and Vesa Talvitie, as well as fresh approaches from Anna Ursula Dreher, Agnes Petocz, Thomas Wallgren, and Simon Boag. While mainstream psychology is largely dismissive of psychoanalysis, the themes covered within this volume have important implications for science as a whole, including the nature of scientific explanation, philosophy of science, as well as the psychology of science.

Table of Contents:
ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS INTRODUCTION - Vesa Talvitie, Linda A. W. Brakel, and Simon BoagCHAPTER ONE Critique of Psychoanalysis - Adolf GrunbaumCHAPTER TWO Psychoanalysis and philosophy of science: basic evidence - Edward ErwinCHAPTER THREE Critique of Grunbaum's "Critique of psychoanalysis" - Linda A. W. BrakelCHAPTER FOUR From scientific explanations to micropsychology: what should psychoanalytic theories be like? - Vesa TalvitieCHAPTER FIVE Psychoanalysis and philosophy of science: reply to Brakel and Talvitie - Edward ErwinCHAPTER SIX Two fundamental problems for philosophical psychoanalysis - Linda A. W. BrakelCHAPTER SEVEN The scientific status of psychoanalysis revisited - Agnes PetoczCHAPTER EIGHT Freud and Wittgenstein in the cuckoo's nest - Thomas WallgrenCHAPTER NINE Psychoanalytic research with or without the psyche? Some remarks on the intricacies of clinical research - Anna Ursula DreherCHAPTER TEN Repression, defence, and the psychology of science - Simon BoagNOTES REFERENCES INDEX

About the Author :
Simon Boag is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Macquarie University where he teaches personality theory, research methods and the history and philosophy of psychology. He has published extensively in the area of Freudian repression and unconscious mental processes, philosophy of mind, conceptual research and is the author of 'Freudian Repression, the Unconscious, and the Dynamics of Inhibition'. Linda A.W. Brakel is Associate Professor (Adjunct) of Psychiatry and Research Associate in Philosophy at the University of Michigan. She is also on the faculty of Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute and practices psychoanalysis in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has authored and co-authored articles on topics ranging from empirical studies testing psychoanalytic concepts to those on the philosophy of mind and action. Her most recent works are three interdisciplinary books: 'Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, and the A-Rational Mind', 'Unconscious Knowing and Other Essays in Psycho-Philosophical Analysis', and 'The Ontology of Psychology: Questioning Foundations in the Philosophy of Mind'. Vesa Talvitie is a Doctor of Psychology, licensed psychotherapist, organisational consultant (FINOD) and currently works as an occupational psychologist for the City of Helsinki. In addition to numerous articles on psychoanalysis in Finnish and English, he is the author of 'Freudian Unconscious and Cognitive Neuroscience: From Unconscious Fantasies to Neural Algorithms' and 'The Foundations of Psychoanalytic Theories: Project for a Scientific Enough Psychoanalysis'.

Review :
Not only was Gillespie an innovator and discoverer, but a pioneer investigator whose work encompasses the entire history of accomplishments of psychoanalytic thought on perversions.' - Charles Socarides William Gillespie began analytic training in Vienna in the early 1930s and has been a pioneer in the study of sexual perversion. His views on female sexuality, regression in old people facing death, and on instinct theory have been both influential and controversial. This first edited collection of twelve of Gillespie's key papers will provide a welcome source of reference for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists in training and practice. In a specially written overview, Charles Socarides, an eminent psychoanalyst in the field of perversion and its treatment, shows how Gillespie's ideas influenced his own contribution and affected the field as a whole. The editor, Michael Sinason, contributes an eloquent biographical introduction, tracing the early influences in Gillespie's life which led to his celebrated role as a tactful and trusted advisor in negotiating the relationship between the International Psychoanalytic Association and the British Psychoanalytical Society.