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It had been the hope of the friends and colleagues of Silvano Arieti to present to him a Festschrift in honor of his seventieth birthday. The proposed volume was to have described the deep personal impact that Silvano had made on those fortunate enough to have known him, as well as the wide influence that his writings and lectures had exerted on the larger intellectual community. Unfortunately, this felicitous project was not to be realized. His untimely death tragically deprived us of his warm camaraderie, wise counsel and keen intellect. While we mourn the loss of the man, however, we are thankful that his ideas endure. And how alive and provocative these ideas continue to be! Silvano initiated so many seminal concepts and formulations in so many different areas of knowledge that it may take generations to integrate and develop his contributions to their full potential. This special issue of the Journal of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis, which is sadly a memorial rather than a Festschrift, may be seen as testimony to the breadth of Silvano's intellectual legacy.
This opening paper will concern itself with orienting the reader to the pages that follow. We may best accomplish this by first presenting a brief overview of Silvano's theoretical framework and basic approach to psychology and psychiatry. Throughout his career, Silvano grappled with fundamental philosophic issues concerning the nature of the human psyche. His numerous clinical papers and case reports may best be seen as vehicles for tackling the larger questions of mankind. He continuously used the particular to reveal the abstract, seeking broader concepts to demonstrate the relationship of cognition, emotion and volition. Silvano was dissatisfied with the model of mind as presented by orthodox