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As one examines the epistemological consequences of the discoveries of modern physics, one is immediately struck by many parallels to psychoanalysis. These parallels reflect fundamental relationships that penetrate to the very heart of psychoanalysis. This century has witnessed a revolution of our traditional way of thinking about objective reality and of the descriptive framework we use to gather knowledge about that reality. The awareness of these changes was confined to a select group of physicists and philosophers in the period immediately following the discoveries of quantum physics and relativity, and it is only now that this awareness is beginning to spread to a wider segment of the public mind.
Psychoanalysis has been a happy beneficiary of this revolution. Under the old scientific regime it was grudgingly relegated to a position on the fringe of scientific enterprise. The new way of thinking has moved psychoanalysis right into the thick of a now redefined concept of what is science. It is also my contention that the current evolution of our field is itself a reflection of the new scientific epistemology. Encouraged by finding ourselves full-fledged citizens of the scientific community, we are feeling more free to examine our own methodology.
The scope of this chapter is to examine the relationship between the descriptive frameworks of modern physics and of self psychology. It is my view that Kohut was well aware of the epistemological implications of modern physics and that this awareness shaped his