Editors' Introduction

When Freud in his Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1916-1917) wanted to convey to his audience a clear exposition of the psychoanalytic theory of neurotic symptoms, he chose for his example the obsessional neurosis, because this “has … become more perspicuous and familiar to us than hysteria, and we have learnt that it displays certain extreme characteristics of the nature of neurosis far more glaringly.” He noted that in obsessional neurosis “the puzzling leap from the mental to the physical plays no part” (1916-1917, p. 258)

This rather casually introduced phrase, “the puzzling leap,” has, since its utterance by Freud, lodged itself firmly in the metaphoric repertoire of the psychoanalytic literature. It seems to express for psychoanalysts an instinctive confusion, or uncertainty, about the mind-body connection. Uncertainty about this topic has even extended to the proper translation of Freud's term, with some authors, notably Felix Deutsch (1959) preferring the adjective mysterious instead of puzzling. Psychoanalytic interest in solving this riddle has waxed and waned in various periods of psychoanalytic history, but it has never died out, and may now be reviving due to the increased sophistication of neuroscientific investigations.

We are pleased to participate in this revival of interest by introducing in this issue the work of Mark Adair who, building on the prior contributions of Theo Dorpat, has developed a novel and valuable perspective on the connection between hallucination and conversion. Dr. Adair's paper is discussed by Drs. Theo Dorpat, Norman Margolis, and Leo Rangell. Dr. Rangell contributes to this issue, in addition to his discussion, a previously unpublished paper entitled “Psyche and Soma: Leaps and Continuities” which serves as a general introduction and historical survey of the mind-body question in psychoanalysis.

We are particularly pleased to include in this issue the contribution of Dr. Norman Margolis who combines his discussion of