Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge

"This book is an innovative study of the mechanisms that explain the vitality and robustness of Psychoanalysis as an intellectual enterprise. Using a unique methodology of critical analysis and the philosophy of science, Govrin illuminates the dynamics of psychoanalytic communities, transforming schisms and latent struggles over images of knowledge, into essential dialectics of fascination and loyalty on the one hand, and troubled criticism and doubt on the other. Arguing that both are necessary, Govrin does not only describe the major ideational currents in contemporary psychoanalysis but charts a possible future which he calls a post-postmodernist phase, in which dedication to psychoanalytic dogma and pluralism can co-exist. This lucid comprehensive and ambitious book will be of great interest to scholars of psychoanalysis and the history of ideas, as well as to practitioners and members of psychoanalytic communities." — Chana Ullman, Ph.D.,President of The International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP), Training Analyst, Tel Aviv Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis

"In Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge: The Fascinated and the Disenchanted, Aner Govrin treats the communities of psychoanalysis the way an anthropologist treats culture. We have never imagined Govrin’s perspective, but instantly we grasp its immense potential. This book is nothing less than a new way of thinking about the field of psychoanalysis in general, and the pluralism of psychoanalytic theories in particular. Govrin is confident that psychoanalysis is not only enduring but growing, and he makes an excellent case for why that is, and how it all works. This book is so significant that anyone interested in psychoanalysis will want—and need—to read it" —Donnel B. Stern, Ph.D., William Alanson White Institute, New York City

"This is an important contribution to the intellectual history of psychoanalysis. Integrating philosophical, sociological and historical sensibilities with a remarkable breadth, Govrin delineates how the interplay of two types of analytic communities—'fascinated' and 'troubled'—has sustained the continued vitality of the discipline. He gets underneath the usual shibboleths to describe the structures through which analysts think their theories—'images of knowledge,' 'inventors, tinkerers and implementers,' and more. This book deepens our perspective on our own professional identities. It will change the way that you look at psychoanalysis."— Stephen Seligman, DMH, Psychoanalytic Dialogues: International Journal of Relational Perspectives, Joint Editor-in-Chief, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Perspectives & Training and Supervising Analyst, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California