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I thank August Baker for his thoughtful letter but I think it fails to understand my essay in two important dimensions, the meaning of rationality and the significance of the Sabbath analogy.
First, when I introduced the conception of humans as rational animals I did so in terms of Aristotle’s conception of beings who are capable of logos. This is significantly different from contemporary conceptions of rationality, which seem to me constricted, distorted and in need of the kind of critique that an historical perspective on the concept can offer. So, when Baker says, “Bion (1970) is precisely opposite Lear: reason is emotion’s slave”, this is not true. Plato and Aristotle could and did believe both that humans are “rational animals” and that for the most part, when it comes to humans, reason is emotion’s slave. By way of psychoanalytic comparison, Freud can say both “where id was ego shall become” and that for the most part “the ego is the servant of the id”. These are not opposites. In the first statement, Freud is talking about what he takes to be the direction of movement toward psychic heath, and in the second he is talking about how humans for the most part are.
Second, Baker says that I say, “Freud’s fundamental rule says ‘relax’ to the analysand.” But I do not say that. What I say is: “Basically, the fundamental rule is formed by saying to logos: relax!” The issue is relaxing the constraints of logos – not of asking the analysand to relax. The fundamental rule says nothing about what an analysand’s emotional state is supposed to be. Nor do I. In my experience, it is not at all easy for analysands to relax the constraints of logos. I make clear in my essay that the Sabbath analogy is complex. On the Sabbath we are not simply asked to relax, we are enjoined to take a rest from the work typical of the other days of the week. We are at the same time commanded to remember the Sabbath and make it holy. In other words, when it comes to the Sabbath, there is a lot we o