Approaches to a Contemporary Psychoanalytic Field Theory: From Kurt Lewin, Georges Politzer and José Bleger, to Antonino Ferro and Giuseppe Civitarese*

Today in Italy, a group of psychoanalysts works according to Field Theory. In this paper I would like to show that a line of thought from the beginnings of Field Theory in physics, philosophy and psychology leads to the conception of the field of Antonino Ferro and Giuseppe Civitarese. The assumption of a continuous dynamic and a direct relationship between all parts of the field is fundamental for the conception of the analytic field. These parts have a field-dependent identity and are different in sum than when the parts are taken on their own. To trace the evolution of field-theoretical psychoanalysis, I describe the epistemological context in which Kurt Lewin developed Field Theory. I will add selected theoretical elements from works by Georges Politzer and José Bleger.