The Idea of the Past: History, Science, and Practice in American Psychoanalysis: 1 (Psychoanalytic Crossroads) - Softcover

Lamm, Leonard J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814751393 ISBN 13: 9780814751398

Publisher: New York University Press, 1997

Synopsis

The advancement of psychoanalysis in America has reached an impasse. Scientists are pitted against hermeneuticists, theorists against practitioners, and narrative truth against historical truth, reflecting and refracting the role of the past in theory and therapy through a host of competing approaches. Leonard Lamm argues against the impossible task of unifying psychoanalysis into a homogenous discourse, proposing instead the acceptance of a pluralist model in which different modes of discourse are applicable and appropriate in different circumstances.

This innovative work sets out to unravel the opaque idea of the psychoanalytic past as expressed in countless theoretical voices, from object relations to Lacanianism to ego psychology. Dr. Lamm redraws the map of American psychoanalytic argument and takes a fresh look at current debates on narrative truth, metapsychology, and the role of the past in psychoanalysis.

A thoughtful model emerges in which historical, scientific, and practical discourses and constructions of the past do not compose a hierarchy in psychoanalytic understanding. Instead, they are voices in a conversation in which they may differ without disagreeing.

About this title

About the Author

Leonard Jonathan Lamm received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the New School for Social Research. He also holds advanced degrees from Princeton and the University of London. Prior to his work in psychoanalysis and psychology, Dr. Lamm taught political theory at the University of Texas at Austin. He practices in New York City.

Edition details

• Publisher: New York University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814751393
• ISBN 13: 9780814751398
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 330