PSYCHOANALYSIS TODAY
517
phy. This is the level about which the general public knows the
most. "Civilization and its Discontents" and "The Future of an
Illusion " have become classic texts. Much less is generally appre–
ciated of Freud's revolutionary contribution, namely, psychoanalysis
as a scientific method for studying the human mind.
It
was Lenin
who said that it is the fate of great revolutionary thinkers to be
reviled for their ideas and attacked during their lifetime but to be
revered in the next generation while their ideas and teachings are
diluted and adulterated. This has, in fact, happened to Freud's
scientific concepts. As far as Freud's philosophy is concerned,
psychoanalysts, it seems to me, should be able
to
give a comprehen–
sive account of what psychoanalysis is about but should not be called
upon to defend any philosophy or
to
emulate Freud's espousal of a
particular philosophy.
The structure of psychoanalytic theory today is by no means as
monolithic as is supposed. Even the most superficial acquaintance
with the current literature of psychoanalysis will demonstrate the
many divergent and different theoretical positions. There are at least
three principal stimuli to these developments. The first rises from
the attempt to integrate findings relating to the borderline states and
the narcissistic character disorders. The second stems from the long–
range investigation of child development. The third can be traced
to
some dissatisfaction with the prevailing theoretical models and with
an attempt
to
correlate the data of analytic observation with other
fields , particular! y linguistics, neurophysiology and communica–
tions systems. In the past six years, at least ten new English-language
psychoanalytic journals have appeared. This plethora of contribu–
tions may be a mixed blessing, but it is hardly a symptom of
scientific stagnation.
Psychoanalysis may not be in the forefront of popular or even
academic interest today.
It
has, at least, been relieved of the burden of
omniscience foisted upon it by enthusiastic converts anticipating
miraculous transformation. While the practice of psychoanalysis as a
profession has been caught up in the turmoil that has overtaken
medicine and the other healing sciences, the science of psychoanaly–
sis continues
to
make steady and by no means undramatic progress.
It is a safe statement that psychoanalysis remains and will continue
to be a reliable source of insight into man and the human condition.
William Phillips:
Before introducing the next speaker, I would like to
say that I suspect that somebody might challenge what might seem
to be a contradiction in Dr. Arlow's presentation, that is, his
