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that every dream must be the fulfillment of a wish. Formulae of this
sort have enabled philosophers of science like the neopositivist Karl
Popper to categorize psychoanalysis as a "pseudo-science." Popper
claims that "no description whatsoever of any logically possible
human behavior can be given which would turn out to be incompat–
ible with the psychoanalytic theories of Freud." Thus many of
Freud's theories appear to be untestable and unscientific. This is a
criticism that psychoanalysts find difficult if not impossible to
answer. But if we recognize the case study which gradually emerged
in Freud's work as the locus of the most specifically psychoanalytic
knowledge, then criticism that supposes psychoanalysis to be located
in theories is surely misplaced. That is not to suggest that
psychoanalysis is immune to criticism. But the history of Freud's
case studies demonstrates that psychoanalysis is a science
constituted primarily of examplars rather than theories. As such, it
is a distinctive discourse and a significant form of knowledge.
