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.
This article argues that there is a very extensive relationship between the problems encountered in contemporary philosophy and those encountered in contemporary psychoanalysis. Indeed, psychoanalysis encounters virtually all of the problems that modern philosophy deals with. Conversely, philosophers are interested in using many of the results psychoanalysis has supplied. I illustrate this general point by using a limited number of examples. The philosophical complexity of psychoanalysis has been obscured by excessive preoccupation with the scientific standing of psychoanalysis.
The general claim of the article has been structured to facilitate its application to other specific problems which researchers in theoretical psychoanalysis might encounter. It is suggested that a systematic topic-oriented approach, in contrast to an author or
Professor Massicotte holds a Ph.D. in the philosophy of psychoanalysis from McGill University. He has been a lecturer in philosophy at both McGill and Concordia.
This is an expanded version of an invited address given at the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association in 1989. The commentator was Edwin R. Wallace IV, some of whose comments have been incorporated into this version.
school orientation, would be more useful for the advancement of psychoanalytic knowledge. This approach is at odds both with the hermeneutic approach extrapolated from philosophy and the division of psychoanalysis into schools.