PSYCHOANALYSIS TODAY
531
ourous to me-and I never did get too excited by those meetings at
the institutes-but rather the ideas and what they said about things
that were happening.
So it may be that we have to look more critically at the
psychoanalytic paradigm, especially of instinct and defense, as we
look at these cultural issues. And maybe that's the way to be most
true to psychoanal ysis; that is, to offer intellectually sterner stuff.
William Phillips:
OK, Dr. Cooper.
Arnold Cooper:
I'll speak very briefly to a few issues that I think run
through the entire discussion. First, a comment on a remark of Mr.
Phillips. He may be interested
to
know that the city of New York has
already interested itself in the sexual welfare of its populace in
questioning recently whether sex therapy should be reimbursed by
Medicaid or whether it in fact constitutes merely the enhancement of
life. So that kind of issue is with us.
But, more importantly, I'm impressed, and it's perhaps expect–
able in a meeting of this kind, that psychoanalysis is spoken of as
entirely a cultural phenomenon and handmaiden of culture, and
perhaps a leader of culture, and there has been really no mention of
the fact that the psychoanalytic revolution began with what was
essentially a scientific discovery with of course enormous cultural
meanings. When psychoanalysis will again be as exciting as it was in
that era will depend on whether it again makes profound scientific
discoveries. And I think that that as a background puts psychoanaly–
sis into an appropriate perspective with regard to culture. There's a
limit as
to
how much psychoanalysis can be counted on to be the
inspirer of intellectual activity or cu ltural ideas, and it cannot during
every period of its own history provide the kind of leadership that it
does during its periods of greatest discoveries. I'm not sure whether
I'm saying quite the same thing as Dr. Lifton, but it does seem
to
me
that this is a period of particularly interesting ferment in psycho–
analysis, spurred in part by what's going on in neurosciences and
infant observation, and a great many related fields that are not
competitive with psychoanalysis and don't in any way threaten
to
defeat it, but enhance it enormously and have provided new opportu–
nities for psychoanalytic research.
In line with that we do see today for the first time in many
decades a kind of opening up of analytic theory, a willingness
to
try
many new kinds of paradigms. That is the excitement currently in
psychoanalysis which may again become a source of excitement for
intellectuals generally. Thank you.
