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C Hanly

Publications and source records attributed to C Hanly.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

On subjectivity and objectivity in psychoanalysis.

Epistemological subjectivism has found its way into psychoanalysis along several theoretical and clinical paths. It has developed out of the clinical interest in transference and countertransference and, in particular, from the broadly generalized definition of countertransference now popular. The clinically necessary attention to analyst-analysand interaction has been turned into interactionism or intersubjectivism and a denial of epistemological subject-object differentiation. These perspectives transform a clinical focus on the here and now of the analytic relation into the determination of the past by the present and a teleological reversal of causality. Once this reversal is made, narrative in the analytic situation becomes the co-creation of the analysand's past by the present analyst-analysand relation. Psychoanalysis, on this view, can at best substitute a coherent, novelistic account for the life history of a person. Some of the problems of subjectivism are examined here with a view to restoring to psychoanalysis the epistemology of science and common sense.

Humans↗
PubMed1995

On facts and ideas in psychoanalysis.

An overview of current views in psychoanalysis reveals a controversy between those who recommend critical idealism and those who recommend critical realism as an epistemology for psychoanalysis. Either epistemology offers a consistent and comprehensive but different account of major issues in psychoanalytic knowledge, its disclosure, formulation, demonstration and publication. Since these epistemologies are no less controversial in philosophy than they are in psychoanalysis, psychoanalysts cannot rely on philosophy for a resolution of the controversy. A sketch of a view of the parts played by subjectivity and objectivity in the formation of psychoanalytic knowledge is elaborated by means of an analysis of Proust's exploration of the acquisition of knowledge of other persons, an exploration which illuminates the roles of idea and observation in knowledge of self and others.

Awareness↗
PubMed1994

Reflections on the place of the therapeutic alliance in psychoanalysis.

The connection between the therapeutic alliance and interpretation is examined by means of two distinctions. One distinction is logical and concerns the relation between necessary and sufficient causes, the other is technical and concerns the nature of interpretation. The logical distinction between necessary and sufficient conditions of change is used to help to define the connection between therapeutic alliance and interpretation. It is argued that the therapeutic alliance is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for therapeutic change, whereas interpretation is both a necessary and a sufficient condition. But a logical distinction about the nature of causes can take us only so far in defining the connection between these two aspects of clinical work. A second technical distinction between the explicit and implicit meaning of interpretations is made to further clarify the relative importance of therapeutic alliance and interpretation. It is argued that our efforts to establish and maintain a working alliance work best when they work silently in the implicit dimension of interpretations. Clinical material is introduced to illustrate and test these conclusions.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Inductive reasoning in clinical psychoanalysis.

It is argued that clinical observations can be used to test psychoanalytic theories. Psychoanalysis cannot use controlled experiments but it can use the standard canons of inductive reasoning to test the reliability of conflicting theories. Conflicting hypotheses concerning narcissism and object relations are analysed to identify crucial observations that can be used for testing. If these experiments in theory testing are reliable they show that psychoanalysis is not limited to being a hermeneutic discipline but rather has legitimate claims to be a natural science.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The concept of truth in psychoanalysis.

A philosophical controversy concerning the nature of truth has begun to play an important part in psychoanalytic theorizing. The two major philosophical notions, the coherence and the correspondence theories and their use in psychoanalytic theory making, are examined. It is argued that although coherence is part of the criteria of truth, correspondence is the more essential and fundamental criterion. It was in this way that Freud used these concepts in creating psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic discoveries concerning the psychogenesis of objectivity in perception and thought support the correspondence theory of truth and provide, in addition, an answer to the third party critique of correspondence. The correspondence theory as a basic attitude of mind is a necessary element in the respect for the patient upon which psychoanalytic therapy depends.

Attitude↗
PubMed1988

Metaphysics and innateness: a psychoanalytic perspective.

By taking into account certain aspects of narcissistic ego functioning and the family romance, an attempt is made to account for the psychogenesis of the idea of innateness that is found in various forms in the epistemologies of Plato, Descartes, Kant and linguistic philosophy.

Freudian Theory↗
PubMed1985

Logical and conceptual problems of existential psychiatry.

The author has argued that existential psychology and psychiatry are not consistent with existential philosophy, from which they derive their basic concepts. Existential philosophy treats consciousness as an epistemic and ontological absolute while existential psychology and psychiatry acknowledge the existence of unconscious mental processes. It is not possible to base a viable concept of psychodynamic psychotherapy, the nature of transference, or the efficacy of interpretation upon the radical concept of freedom, which is basic to existential philosophy. If psychiatrists wish to experiment with nonpsychoanalytic dynamic psychologies, then it is the author's opinion that the advancement of knowledge would be better served either by using existentialist concepts and principles consistently or by explicitly altering them in clearly defined ways for stated reasons, or by formulating psychodynamic hypotheses that do not lay claim to any foundation in existential philosophy.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Ego ideal and ideal ego.

A genetic and functional differentiation between the ego ideal and the ideal ego is proposed. This differentiation allows for a more precise characterization and interpretation of ego libido in symptoms and transference. These genetic and functional differentiations of ego ideal and ideal ego can be used to clarify the differing severities of the types of narcissistic disorder: psychosis, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, from normal maturity. It can also be put to work in refining one's formulation of the narcissistic complications of the classical transference neurosis. This usefulness has been demonstrated in relation to clinical material. In neurosis the ideal ego is a source of symptoms and inappropriate transference demands; in culture it finds embodiment in aggrandized concepts of human nature; in mature adults it is the comforting memory of a vanished splendour.

Ego↗
PubMed1982

Narcissism, defence and the positive transference.

Questions concerning the positive transference and its therapeutic use have been raised by the psychology of the self. By drawing upon Freud, Abraham and Sharpe, an attempt is made to test whether classical structural, dynamic and developmental theories still provide an adequate theoretical framework for understanding the vicissitudes of the positive transference in patients with significant narcissistic psychopathology. I propose the concept of a narcissistic mechanism of defence which, relying upon the convertibility of object libido into narcissistic libido (and the reverse), utilizes the substitution of activities and inanimate objects for persons in order to compensate for narcissistic injuries and to carry out unconscious aggression motivated by the same injuries. The case of Mrs M reveals that narcissistic transference phenomena, while requiring specific therapeutic interpretation, nevertheless are intrinsically related developmentally to object libidinal conflicts. The patient's narcissistic injuries were found to be intrinsically related to stage specific traumata at the oral, anal and phallic stages. Thus while the narcissistic aspects of these traumata had to be treated therapeutically in their own right, they could not have been successfully treated without the concurrent or sequential treatment of the object libidinal conflicts connected with them. Finally, it is argued that the hypothesis of a narcissistic defence mechanism supported by the hypothesis of pre-oedipal narcissistic projective and introjective identifications with narcissistically divinized or demonized parents within the framework of classical theory can account for the clinical phenomena of narcissistic neuroses.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

A critical consideration of Bowlby's ethological theory of anxiety.

Freud acknowledged how difficult it is to understand why some people are able to utilize anxiety effectively for the purposes of their lives, whereas others suffer psychopathology on account of it. Bowlby has recently advanced the hypothesis that the cause of the difference is to be found in the relation of children to their mothers and their substitutes. It is upon this relationship that individuals depend for the homeostatic regulation of their reactions of anxiety. This paper is a critical evaluation of Bowlby's theory of anxiety.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1977

An unconscious irony in Plato's Republic.

This study of some psychological themes in a classical philosophical work, Plato's Republic, is an exercise in applied psychoanalysis that attempts to formulate an integrated psychoanalytic and philosophical understanding of certain ideas to be found in that work. It contains an interpretative study of a legend introduced by Plato at a crucial point in the development of the philosophical argument of the Republic. It is hypothesized that his use of this legend can be traced to an unconscious conflict in Plato, which when identified and interpreted can broaden our understanding and appreciation of the humanity of this work.

Greece↗