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This paper appears to have been written for—and included in—a book whose title is not given, but the basic theme of which is ‘the teaching of psychoanalysis should be put on the same footing as that of the other teaching professions, albeit this can apply only on the intellectual level’, since personal analysis remains the essential preparation. The title of the paper is optimistic, and Pignatelli wryly notes that the ‘modest’ aspiration of psychoanalysis is the teaching of that happiness which stems from psychological integration. His statement might raise some eyebrows, but he is not talking about teaching qua authoritarian imposition of Truth but as communication of thoughts and experiences by one person to another, a crucial difference which he discusses at length. It is not possible here to do justice either to his lucid handling of a vast subject or to his survey, from Socratic to modern times, of the changes in concepts of teaching and authority and their dependence upon the Weltanschaung prevailing at any given period: suffice it to say that he sees the wheel having turned full circle, with the psychoanalyst as a teacher in the Socratic sense of the midwife who assists, without didactic intervention, in the psychological development of the analysand.
With regard to training, the aims and functions of an Analytical Association which Pignatelli sets out are the same as those of the S.A.P. He advocates communal, residential psychological retreats providing ample time for the study of a particular theme, to which the occasional study weekends organised here and with German colleagues may perhaps be likened. Further, he maintains that an Analytical Association should keep in touch with the collective and its demands, should establish an interdisciplinary forum and attend to socio-political issues. Jung's ideas are undoubtedly disseminated in many fields by our members, but entering into socio-political contestation is not, I think, a specific aim of the S.A.P. and