1st Edition
Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis Attachment, neuropsychoanalysis and integration
Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis redresses faults in Freud’s original conception to develop a coherent theoretical basis for psychodynamic theory. Simon Boag demonstrates that Freud’s much maligned ‘metapsychology’, once revised, can provide a foundation for evaluating and integrating the plethora of psychodynamic perspectives, by developing a philosophically-informed position that addresses the embodied, interconnected relationship between motivation, cognition and affects.
The book centres upon the major concepts in psychoanalysis, including the notion of unconscious mental processes, wish-fulfilment, fantasy, and repression. Both philosophical considerations and empirical evidence are brought to bear upon these topics, and used to extract the valuable insights from major approaches. As a result, Boag’s revised general psychology, which stays true to Freud’s intention, addresses psychoanalytic pluralism and shows it is possible to develop a unified account, integrating the insights from attachment theory and object relational approaches and acknowledging the rightful role for neuropsychoanalysis.
Metapsychology and the Foundations of Psychoanalysis will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, philosophers of mind and psychologists, as well as anyone concerned with neuropsychoanalysis or psychoanalysis and attachment theory.
Introduction 1. The Metaphysics of Metapsychology 2. The biological foundations of personality: drives and affects 3. Repression and the metapsychology of defence 4. The metapsychology of the unconscious 5. The metapsychology of the self 6. The metapsychology of object relations Conclusion
Biography
Dr Simon Boag is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Macquarie University. He has published extensively on the topics of psychoanalytic and psychological theory, personality and unconscious processes, and is the author of Freudian repression, the unconscious, and the dynamics of inhibition. He has also co-edited two volumes on the philosophy of psychoanalysis (Philosophy, Science & Psychoanalysis, and Psychoanalysis & Philosophy of Mind).
'Simon Boag presents an even handed and thoroughgoing assessment of psychoanalytic metapsychology, making a strong case for re-vitalizing its fundamental importance to psychoanalysis. This work is a "must read" for all those who study and value the foundational nature of psychoanalytic theory.' - Linda A. W. Brakel, Associate Professor (adjunct) of psychiatry and research associate in philosophy at the University of Michigan. Author of Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, and the A-Rational Mind, Unconscious Knowing and Other Essays in Psycho-Philosophical Analysis, and The Ontology of Psychology: Questioning Foundations in the Philosophy of Mind.
