[Once again: is psychoanalysis a science? Fundamentalism and coherentism as "scientific theories of psychoanalysis"]

Abstract

In accordance with Freud's own conception of a theory of the unconscious, philosophy of science has discussed psychoanalysis mainly in terms of classical empiricism and foundationism. Thus the discussion was focused on the question if the "clinical data", which had to carry the burden of epistemic justification, were "reliable" or rather an artifact of the analyst's suggestions and expectations.--Recent arguments against foundationism have supported the development of a coherentist epistemology. In this paper it is argued that coherentism might allow a more adequate discussion of the theoretical status of psychoanalysis than did classical foundationism. This is shown by a consideration of the conditions of truth, meaning, and justification of psychoanalytical statements.