Freud's psychology. Can it survive?

Abstract

The increasing diversity of, and disparities between, psychoanalytic theories raises the question of whether, and to what extent, these various formulations remain firmly rooted in Freud's basic psychoanalytic concepts. Many analysts believe that these theories exemplify "unity in diversity." This view is contested in this paper. It is argued that Freud's basic concepts are his metapsychological concepts which, although capable of modification in the light of fresh clinical and theoretical findings are, in their fundamentals, indispensable. It is contended that it is precisely these fundamentals that are dislodged or put at risk by a great deal of current psychoanalytic thinking, and that it is in this (negative) respect that many diverse approaches are in concert. The argument is pursued with special reference to infant observational research, contemporary affect theory, and the neuroscience of Luria.