You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
1. The study group on “The Philosophy of Psychology,” studying epistemic and ontological problems relevant to psychoanalysis, is now in its tenth year. The eight members are, as before, guided by the philosopher Lars-Göran Johansson in monthly seminars. Our discussions tend to gravitate to basic and classical philosophical themes, although we try to keep to our reading list. Last year's reading of Edelman's Second Nature (2006) led to miscellaneous readings—for example, Quince's arguments about naturalizing psychology in “things and their place in theories” . This year we have returned to Freud, revisiting “The Unconscious” (1915) and “Analysis Terminable and Interminable” (1937).
2. In September 2008, twenty members from all of the psychoanalytic psychosomatic groups (PAPS), active in three university towns in Sweden (Umeå, Gothenburg, and Stockholm), took part in an international encounter in Perugia, Italy. Colleagues from the Abesturia Institute in Perugia and the Luis Chiozza Foundation in Buenos Aires lectured on the subject of “Soul Drama and Body Disease.” The unconscious meaning of different somatic illnesses, such as anemia, AIDS, hypertension, thyroidal syndromes, and obesities, were presented and illustrated with case material.
The problems of obesity can, for example, range from extreme overweight to “a few kilos too many.” Even if the individual cases have varying background histories, the goal of the research studies is to find a shared unconscious reason, a common denominator, the aim of which is something that, somatically, results in an increase of adipose tissue. Adipose tissues constitute a reserve of energy. Metaphorically it also represents a mental and social energy supply. A person denying a feeling of impotence might increase adipose tissue in a displacement of purpose, unconsciously believing that accumulating energy (fat) will provide mental energy (wisdom). This misconception or displacement, a well-known mechanism in neurotic processes, is