This is a timely and stimulating collection of essays on the importance of Freudian thought for analytic philosophy, investigating its impact on mind, ethics, sexuality, religion and epistemology. Marking a clear departure from the long-standing debate over whether Freudian thought is scientific or not, The Analytic Freud expands the framework of philosophical inquiry, demonstrating how fertile and mutually enriching the relationship between philosophy and psychoanalysis can be. The essays are divided into four clear sections, addressing the implications of Freud for philosophy of mind, ethics, sexuality and civilisation. The authors discuss the problems psychoanalysis poses for contemporary philosophy as well as what philosophy can learn from Freud's legacy and undeniable influence. For instance, The Analytic Freud discusses the problems presented by pyschoanalytic theories of the mind for the philosophy of language; the issues which current theories of mind and meaning raise for psychoanalytic accounts of emotion, metaphor, the will and self-deception; the question whether psychoanalytic theory is essential in understanding sexuality, love, humour and the tensions which arise out of personal relationships. The Analytic Freud is a critical and thorough examination of Freudian and post-Freudian theory, adding a welcome and significant dimension to the debate between psychoanalysis and contemporary philosophy.

For many therapists it has replaced previous action terms such as acting in and acting out. Something new has been captured by this concept: a recognition of a process that may involve words but goes beyond words. For some, enactment addresses a continuous undercurrent in the interaction between patient and therapist in the realm of intersubjectivity. Others ask whether this concept adds either clarity or a new perspective to the clinical situation. This volume addresses the questions: Does the current focus on enactments entail a shift in our model of therapeutic change? Are enactments essential? Can they be dangerous, and if so, under what circumstances? Enactment is essential reading for all psychotherapists.

The analytic attitude" ranks as one of Freud's greatest creations. Both the findings of psychoanalysis as a method of investigation and its results as a method of treatment depend on its being consistent to a high degree. Yet Freud offered no concise, complex, generally acceptable formulation of what it is: his ideas, or a version of them, can only be derived from his papers on technique. Taking these ideas as a starting point, and with due regard to the contributions of other analysts over the years, the author rises to the challenge of defining the "ideal" attitude that he come to aspire to in his work as an analyst. To this end the author discusses not only the analyst's empathy, the need to establish an "atmosphere of safety" in relation to the dangers the patient perceives when facing the possibility of insight and personal change, but also the concepts of transference and resistance, and the nature of psychoanalytic interpretation and reconstruction.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: PART 1: Technique. 1 Some Problems of Psychoanalytic Technique. 2 The Economic Viewpoint in the Theory of Analytic Therapy. 3 On the Technique of Interpretation and Of Resistance Analysis. 4 On the Technique of Character Analysis. 5 Indications and Dangers of Character Analysis. 6 On the Handling of the Transference. PART 2: Theory of Character Formation. 7 The Characterological Resolution of the Infantile Sexual Conflict. 8 The Genital Character and the Neurotic Character. 9 Childhood phobia and Character Formation. 10 Some Circumscribed Character Forms. 11 The Masochistic Character. 12 Some Observations on the Basic Conflict Between Need and Outer World. PART 3: From Psychoanalysis to Orgone Biophysics. 13 Psychic Contact and Vegetative Current. 14 The Expressive Language of the Living. 15 The Schizophrenic Split. 16 The Emotional Plague. Index.