Psychoanalysis and the sciences

The relationship between science and psychoanalysis has long been tense, critical, even hostile. Andre Haynal addresses this relationship by examining three questions: how is psychoanalytic "knowledge" established? what methodology and epistemology underlie psychoanalytic theory? and what are the historical circumstances that have shaped psychoanalysis? Haynal is familiar with the full spectrum of analytic thought and begins with a systematic discussion of analytic theory. The second part of the book covers a series of historical topics and includes discussions of Freud and his relations with his followers. A chapter on Freud and his "favorite disciple", Sandor Ferenczi, is an engrossing account of the complex intellectual and personal connection the two men share. Reminding us that psychoanalysis was born out of a fertile exchange between the sciences in the melting pot of late nineteenth-century Vienna, Andre Haynal has set out to encourage a better dialogue between analysts, and between analysts and the representatives of other scientists today. Such communication, he maintains, is essential both for the future of psychoanalysis and of the human sciences in general. His wise and learned study will greatly further the development of this dialogue.