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If there is any one element that persists throughout the history of philosophy, it is perhaps the affirmation of philosophical inquiry itself. Although the ways in which thinkers have responded to particular inquiries differ, and there is inevitably confrontation between theoretical constructions, what unites philosophers qua philosophers is that commitment to inquiry—it is the central feature of our philosophical heritage. There is a certain eros inherent in ignorance, in our fundamental humanity, and in our desire to render our world comprehensible. Jonathan Lear explores what is at stake in our willingness to submit to inquiry, and the danger in positing that we already know the end of an inquiry.
Central to Lear's project is an analysis of the eros of inquiry—a passion clearly shared by the figures of his meditation, Freud, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Wittgenstein. But Lear's take on the “eros of inquiry” is two-fold: he wishes, first, to defend Freud against contemporary critics, and second, to explore the resonance between early Greek thought and contemporary psychoanalytic inquiry. According to Lear, the desire to raise questions invariably turns back on itself and directs its attention to its own activity: the logos of the psyche. While it is easier to affirm the value of inquiry within the domain of philosophy, Lear responds to the specific critique of psychoanalytic inquiry. It would seem that as long as inquiry remains relegated to the more speculative realm of philosophy its vicissitudes are considered relatively benign. But psychoanalysis has received special attention in its interrogation of the human psyche, and its therapeutic claims.
Part of Lear's text is devoted to a defense of Freud's work and central insights. Contemporary critics find Freud an easy target, given that many of his claims were highly speculative and lacked empirical evidence. Further, the underpinnings of psychoanalysis remain entrenched in the idea of latent meaning, and a mean