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Marshall Edelson's eighth book discusses an important question—the conceptual foundations, or philosophy, of psychoanalysis. The
problem, Edelson believes, is timely: "Psychoanalysis is in difficulty. The credibility of its explanations and the efficacy of its treatment are in doubt. Its theoretical ambitions, for example, its ambitions to become a general psychology of mind, are inflated, even grandiose. Indeed, its theory has become so swollen, such a hodgepodge of accretions, that it is almost impossible to formulate so that it can be tested. But that does not appear to matter to it, for it sometimes seems to be suicidally indifferent to the task of demonstrating that its conclusions are methodologically reliable and therefore scientifically credible" (p. 146). Edelson argues that, fundamentally, things are better than they seem. He believes in both psychoanalytic explanations and psychoanalytic treatment, but has problems with psychoanalytic theory. His goal is to reform the theory, and perhaps the profession as well, so that its ideas will have greater status in the community of scholars and its findings can be validated by scientific methods.
The book consists of a series of essays, most of which have appeared in modified form over the past two decades. They deal with major issues, including theory, neuroscience, clinical data, causal explanation, and interpretation. The result is not easy reading. The subject matter is difficult, the arguments abstract, and at times the prose somewhat dense. Edelson is a precise thinker, and he asks the reader to accompany him through forests of parentheticals and dependent clauses, shaping his words to reflect his thoughts, always careful to say exactly what he means, or sometimes more important to him, careful not to say what he does not mean. For example, here is Edelson's description of sex: "The subject brings some region or part of his or her body into relation or contact with, or causes such a region or