RAPHAEL-LEFF, J. (ed.). Ethics of Psychoanalysis. Colchester, UK:  University of Essex/Psychoanalytic Publication Series, Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, 2000. Pp.  v + 76. Pbk.

This is a book of five essays to emerge from a series of interdisciplinary, open seminars organized by the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University. Its aims are ‘to bring the perspectives and insights of other disciplines into dialogue with those of psychoanalysis’ (p. i), and this small volume on ethics was produced after a roundtable discussion which took place in October 1999. Of the five essays, some are edited transcriptions of the presentations from the day (Samuels, Figlio, Stavrakakis); one has been edited and expanded after an improvised presentation (Critchley) and one, although not presented on the day, has been included as it deals with relevant issues (Hinshelwood).

I began the book with a feeling of anticipation and excitement arising from a personal interest in ethics and its shadow, unethical behaviour. The subject of ethics and its origins has absorbed philosophers and theologians since the Greeks in the 5th century BC, and debates about the roles of nature, nurture and society in ethical behaviour continue today. There have been many attempts to make ethics objective and universal but now, in a postmodern age, it is difficult to be certain about anything, and the discovery of any universal and objective moral truths becomes less likely. However, for analysts and therapists, ethics is a hot topic, and this accessible book with its interdisciplinary emphasis and academic debate about ethics keeps our thinking fresh and flexible.

In her introduction, Raphael-Leff considers that psychoanalysis provides an excellent conceptual framework with which to explore ethical issues. This proves to be true and all the authors, irrespective of their discipline and value systems, use the central theme of relationship and the effect we have on each other as the foundation stone of their essays.

Samuels's paper explores the origin of ethicality from a Jungian perspective. Samuels points to the growing consensus amongst psychoanalysts and analytical psychol