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I write this having just returned from a conference devoted to the academic study of psychoanalysis. On two separate occasions it was suggested that the writings of Adolf Grunbaum be excluded from the curricula of academic courses on psychoanalysis. Out of an audience of over sixty psychoanalytically-orientated academics and students, only one person other than myself expressed disquiet about this proposal.
Neville Singh objects to my endorsement of Griinbaum's views. In particular, he objects to Grunbaum's objections to the hermeneutic approach to psychoanalysis preferred by Habermas, Ricoeur and others. I am far too ignorant about the contributions of Habermas and Ricoeur to offer an opinion about the relative merits of the ‘Grünbaumian’ and hermeneutic interpretations of psychoanalysis. However, I think it important to note that Grunbaum rejects the hermeneutic view in the context of a reasoned argument.
I invite Mr Singh (and others who share his beliefs) to offer a reasoned argument turning on specific philosophical, theoretical or clinical issues to which I (and others who share my beliefs) might respond. Surely this would be preferable to a global dismissal of Grünbaum's work and the attempts by some to place it in the category of ‘forbidden knowledge’.