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It has often been the case that philosophers and psychoanalysts—despite their manifestly common interest in understanding the nature and vicissitudes of the human mind—look warily upon the approaches taken by one another's discipline. Psychoanalysts tend to chide philosophers for their intellectual aridity, while philosophers often cite psychoanalysts for conceptual obscurity or logical imprecision. In this rich, thought-provoking book, Jonathan Lear—himself both a philosopher and a practicing psychoanalyst—bridges the chasm of division with ease and grace.
The book is aptly named. It demonstrates the value of being “open minded” (in the sense of being receptive to what the varied approaches have to offer), while it elucidates our understanding of the human psyche (it investigates the mind, “opening it up” for study) in a manner which sacrifices neither emotional depth nor intellectual rigor.
In this collection of essays, several of which have been previously published—including Lear's popular New Republic piece in defense of psychoanalysis, “The Shrink Is In,” as well as other articles which originally appeared in academic journals or anthologies—Lear engages the reader in an exploration which is, at times, disarmingly simple, yet profoundly evocative of both thought and feeling. Yet at other times Lear abandons his straightforward, eminently readable, almost