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The psychoanalyst finds himself or herself dealing daily with aspects of human behavior and experience which do not always fit neatly into predetermined explanatory models. It follows, then, that the broader the perspective of the psychoanalyst in regard to the vicissitudes and dimensionalities of human existence, the better prepared he or she will be to help his or her patients. Since a prime function of analysis from the patient's viewpoint is the ascription of meanings which can be utilized in the patient's subsequent life and endeavors, analytic insights must be couched in an idiom consonant with the patient's own style, background and unique quality of experience. Thus in human psychology, there is no “one truth.” Instead there are many “truths,” or at least many forms and dimensions through which human truth is expressed.
It is with this view in mind that we need to understand and appreciate the relevance of the social sciences to psychoanalysis.
The fact that man is a social being is self-evident, but this self-evident fact has not always been seen as pertinent to psychoanalysis. The idea that human beings can be defined partially by their social context and relationships is one of the “great ideas” in the evolving history of psychoanalysis. Certain other “great ideas” or central premises and dimensions of psychoanalysis appear to ignore the social aspect of human nature. To the extent that each of these “great ideas” in turn has been seen as the definitive or final model of the psyche, a disservice has been done to our first principle of “many truths.” Instead, each central idea in psychoanalysis has relevance to and provides a unique framework for the understanding of every other central idea. A brief outline of some of the “great ideas” developed during the history of psychoanalysis will help to amplify this point.
Early psychoanalysis was based upon a biological model, and on the primacy of instinct in the development of human behavior and experience. Social