Freud once placed psychoanalysis in a “middle position between medicine and philosophy.” Yet, the meaning of that position has never been sufficiently clarified. The author suggests that the essence of the psychoanalytic experience is defined by the fact that its clinical practice

operates within a basically relational or intersubjective frame containing the analysand's self-interpreting reflection, which is here identified as ethical in nature. It is further argued that late modernity is experiencing a crisis in the art of reflection, accompanied by a flight from the ethical dimension. A common social response is to fall back on the authority of neo-positivistic science, making psychoanalysis increasingly redundant. To meaningfully connect with the consequences of this state of affairs, psychoanalysis needs to deepen the understanding of its unique essence. Toward that end, Reeder briefly sketches a model for collaboration with philosophy.