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The theoretical pluralism of our time has been compounded by the problem of eclecticism in which elements of different theories are blended together as if they were completely compatible. Different theories are also selectively utilized because they are purportedly more applicable to a certain type of patient. Representing expanding psychoanalytic thought, theoretical pluralism and eclecticism have nevertheless undermined public confidence in psychoanalysis as a coherent and cohesive body of knowledge and have raised fundamental questions about the scientific status of psychoanalysis. Given this diffuse discourse, Charles Brenner has most lucidly and logically defended and supported the notion that psychoanalysis is a science. It is a special privilege to discuss Dr. Brenner's paper and to join with him in a shared vision of psychoanalysis as fundamentally a scientific theory of the human mind.
To the question of “one psychoanalysis or many,” Brenner notes that the complicated issues cannot be decided on the basis of charismatic authority, or using the term Freudian to claim approval and validity. Multiple theories have their own appeal and the very multiplicity is then considered more scientific than a rigid orthodoxy or fixation to the past. Over time psychoanalysts have changed their views about the validity of some of Freud's formulations, and it is the evidence and arguments for and against change that are of critical importance. Ideally, the valid and enduring elements of the different