What is Left of Psychoanalytic Theory?

DEAR SIR,

In J. O. Wisdom's article 'What is left of psychoanalytic theory?' (Int. Rev. Psychoanal., Vol. 11 (3) 1984) he makes reference to Freud's topographic model but mislabels it 'topological' (see pages 318 and 324). While topographic and topologic have 'topo' in common, they are quite different notions, the former denoting a mode of representation for mapping elevations and contours, while the latter refers to a branch of mathematics dealing with invariant properties of figures and shapes. Their confused usage in Widsom's stock-taking article is yet another piece of evidence for the contention that there is too much jargon in our field. A misuse of terms and concepts borrowed from other fields is particularly embarrassing. (Note, for example, the current 'philosophical' and mostly pretentious debate featuring the superficially understood concept 'hermemeutic'.) But even more troublesome is the Tower of Babel created by the profusion and diffusion of meanings attached to indigenous psychoanalytic terms and concepts such as transference, narcissism, ego, and the like. Unless we take more care with our language, there will be less left of psychoanalytic theory than even Wisdom's hard-nosed thesis has it.