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Thought is only a flash between two long nights,
but this flash is everything.
Henri Poincaré
‘Cogitations’ was the name Bion gave to his thoughts transferred to paper. The physical act of writing was, he found, an aid to his thinking – typing would have been too noisy and ‘fidgety’. He wrote slowly, neatly, with very few alterations, on loose sheets, most of which he subsequently fastened together in two lots (unfortunately not in chronological order). Many are undated, but I believe that the order in which I have arranged them is not grossly in error. They cover the period from February 1958 to April 1979. In addition to relating the subject matter to his published papers and books, I have applied some Holmesian detective work to variations in the colour of ink and paper, and to the style of handwriting, which he changed from time to time as he tried to improve his hand.
These occasional writings were his attempt to discipline, clarify, and evaluate complex ideas – both his own and those of others – by setting them out visually and by often addressing them to an imaginary audience. He never re-read them, but he must have thought them worth preserving because they escaped consignment to the waste-paper basket during gleeful paper-tearing sessions, especially before leaving Los Angeles in 1979. They will be of particular interest to those already familiar with Bion's work as an illustration of his doubts, his arguments with himself, and of how his initial ideas developed. They should not be read in isolation by newcomers, but as an adjunct to his published works, especially those of the 1960s.
The compilation of this book affirms my belief that it forms an essential part of Bion's work and that it would be a considerable loss to psychoanalysis if its contents were to remain imprisoned in filing cabinets.
Francesca Bion
1990