Is Psychoanalysis Therapeutic Technique or Scientific Research?

Abstract

Larsson accuses me of being imperspicuous and presents himself as a spokesman for the great majority of ordinary, average psychoanalysts. But my paper was not at all specifically geared to such an audience (even if the current version was indeed presented before a psychoanalytic congress). Most psychoanalysts are inclined to reject, isolate, and ignore the work of theoreticians, partly because the topics are difficult and partly because they prefer the performance of monologues over participating in well-integrated discussions. According to Larsson, what makes the content of my paper difficult to comprehend is primarily that my terminology is borrowed from Continental rather than from Anglo-Saxon philosophy and that I presuppose concepts and viewpoints drawn from a multitude of different areas. Presumably, this presents difficulties for the average psychoanalyst; however, in my ears this sounds more like laus stultitiae (praise of stupidity).