Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Psychoanalysis and objectivism

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

Is psychoanalysis compatible with objectivism’s epistemology, metaphysics and conceptualization of human nature? I ask because the group  Psychoanalysts Like Carl Jung, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Sigmund Freud, James Hollis etc. seem to contradict the objectivist view of Tabula rasa human consciousness.

Edited by HappyDays
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Is psychoanalysis compatible with objectivism’s epistemology, metaphysics and conceptualization of human nature? I ask because the group  Psychoanalysts Like Carl Jung, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Sigmund Freud, James Hollis etc. seem to contradict the objectivist view of Tabula rasa human consciousness.

With regard to knowledge of the outside world and the acquisition thereof there is no necessary contradiction between much of psychoanalysis and claiming we start as a tabula rasa with respect thereto.

If one were to hold that the human mind is structureless, bereft of any instinctual predispositions and absent any hard wired basic traits one would be wrong…. But as to “concepts” those are not formed and cannot be held or maintained in the same way as the “content” which we come with by default.  Concepts are formed afterward where there were none.. ie on the blank tablet of conceptual knowledge which we spend the rest of our lives accumulating.

Edited by StrictlyLogical
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Writings by Objectivist philosophers and clinical psychologists working within that philosophical framework reject the Freudian version of (and all other versions of) instincts in humans. They think, and Schopenhauer and I agree, that in man instincts were replaced by intelligence. A sensation of hunger does not amount to a Freudian instinct, and humans characteristically are able to alleviate the hunger through elaborate contrivances not explicable by instincts.

Objectivists accept the idea of (the preconscious and) the subconscious, but not Freud's conception of the unconscious which seems to have will and mind of its own. They accept with Freud the idea of repression and the benefit of getting those out in the open for oneself. 

Suggested reading: The Psychology of Self-Esteem a book by Nathaniel Branden. 

Also, by a distinguished philosopher not Objectivist: Jonathan Lear

Edited by Boydstun
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreeing with SL’s point, note that tabula rasa assumes the existence of a slate, which has a nature, and also for the metaphor to be sensible, has to assume chalk or charcoal, either of which has a nature. No cognitive scientist say that humans have an “instinct” to breathe, digest or see. We have abilities, some of which are under volitional control and some of which are automatic. Digestion is not a form of knowledge.

In order to answer the actual scientific question about whether humans have pre-experiential knowledge, you must first define “knowledge”. Part of human nature is that if you stab a person, they will experience pain. This is an automatic neural response in animals, it is not a form of knowledge. The term “instinct” is typically used by cognitive scientists to refer to a particular kind of knowledge, and is distinct from a reflex (which does not involve the brain), however it is metaphorically applied to learned responses to experiencing the world.

As far as I know, psychoanalysis does not deal with unchosen automatic body functions, it deals with emotions and subconscious reasoning, especially causal factors that a person is not merely “not focused on”, but factors that a person has chosen for some reason to reject. Objectivism does have something to say about that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...