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Of the numerous fields of thought and endeavor to which psychoanalysis may be applied, the realm of philosophy has an especially intimate relevance. This is not merely because it has always been an intriguing matter to inquire why philosophers always ask so many unanswerable questions, but far more because they are preoccupied with the nature and validity of human knowledge, or rather, “knowing.” I have always suspected that if we knew more about the unconscious processes which lead to cognition, we would be able to shed a refreshing light upon the origins of not only logical thought and mathematics but mystical experience. As to studies of the personal histories of philosophers, this, I assume, may enlighten us somewhat—but neither more nor less than those of other creative individuals.
With the ultimate purpose to which I have alluded, I have found the work of Jean Piaget on epistemology enormously fruitful. In the following discussion of Psychoanalysis and Philosophy, edited by Hanly and Lazerowitz, I shall make reference to his work on “genetic epistemology.” The review of this book is meant as only part of a more extensive inquiry into the relationships between psychoanalysis and philosophy.
The usual order of comment in book reviews is praise, genuine or perfunctory, followed by criticism, qualified or outspoken. I shall reverse this sequence here.
The chapters of this compilation of various papers on the interplay between psychoanalysis and philosophy are arranged in alphabetical order according to the authors' names. It seems to me that it would have been preferable to arrange them in the order of the nature of the subject matter, proceeding from the general to the specific. The material lends itself naturally