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Why limit the number? Because a psychoanalyst, engaged in observation (which he should be) limits his field for other activities. Similarly and conversely, if he concentrates on Theory, he limits his field for observation. He can hope to lay hands on the right one, or one near enough to make no difference if the number and quality of theories available are adequate, without having his attention distracted from what is going on.
The number: if they are too few, say only one, the Oedipus – too much time is taken, or would be taken in the session in reaching that point in the deductive hierarchy where the hypothesis could be seen to represent the model or realization – that is to say the point at which the theory becomes sufficiently particularized for its relevance to the realization to be clear.
If on the other hand they are too many, then too much attention is diverted to hunting through a mass of hypotheses which are so particularized that they have to be generalized before their applicability and relevance can be seen. And in the meantime precious opportunities for observation are being missed. T, to … Tn, where n = any number >0 and <6, depending on person.
Quality: means that which makes the theory capable of change and development and logical expansion. It must then be capable of (i) standing up to logical analysis and, more importantly, (ii) susceptible to revision and therefore supercession, and (iii) expansion by deductive logic. They must be sufficiently high in the hierarchy of theories to cover a wide area; that is to say, to provide a premise for a large number of hypotheses – when taken in conjunction with others of the basic theories selected.
The selection and formation of the personal handbook of theories is in itself a valuable exercise and enables the analyst to stand back from himself and see where he stands at any point in the space identified by two coordinate axes, one the man's body of
psychoanalytic thought, and second the