Skepticism and Science: An Empirical Construal of Psychoanalytic Experience

This essay seeks a workable reconciliation among three tensions: a belief in the fundamental efficacy of psychoanalytic practice, a commitment to the empirical nature of psychoanalytic theory, and the perception that much of psychoanalytic theory is vulnerable to serious criticism. From a historical perspective, the authors suggest that authoritarian traditions in the psychoanalytic community have caused (1) the distortion and unreliability of the core clinical evidence for theory and (2) conflictual despair in analysts about the integrity and foundation of their work. From a philosophy perspective, however, the authors argue that despite the current popularity of essentially skeptical views, psychoanalysis is not condemned to regard itself as a mere hermeneutical endeavor. The authors propose (1) a sketch of an empirical (but not positivistic) epistemology for psychoanalysis and (2) a short list of psychoanalytic theoretical premises which they believe can be seen and experienced in the clinical setting. They suggest that confidence in analytic theory and practice is impeded by the current structure of the analytic community.