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The author somewhat apologizes for this slight book's presumptuous title when he states in the preface that a "psychoanalytic theory of art, in its philosophical implications, should … be readily available in a short exposition …" (p. xi). An attempt to provide a "short exposition" should be reflected in the book's title or at least in its chapter headings, all of which are global in scope.
Richard Kuhns, a professor of philosophy at Columbia University, generally stays within the topographical model (apparently out of lack of awareness of its limitations). His frequent use of the imperfect topographical metaphor "deep" becomes an unfortunate confusion among: intense, broadly based, developmentally early, concrete, and widely affecting.
With the exception of a brief discussion of Winnicott, it is hard to see why the book is subtitled "A Philosophy of Art on Developmental Principles." The book is all but devoid of discussion of ontogenesis and its relation to creativity. Kuhns notes, "The developmental … has two dimensions: in the growth of the person and in the history of each art" (p. viii). Perusal of the book reveals little of either. Although his writing is turgid, when Kuhns is expository, he borders on naïve overinclusiveness. The book, although beautifully printed, contains a surprisingly large number of misspellings.
Kuhns's classification of art closely follows Kant (not so noted). Yet, the book suffers from lack of distinguishing among the plastic, tonal, and linguistic arts. In general, Kuhns addresses only aspects of "linguistic art," probably the easiest to study psychoanalytically.