Wittgenstein y el psicoanálisis

by John M. Heaton

Sigmund Freud y Ludwig Wittgenstein fueron coetáneos. Freud creó el psicoanálisis y Wittgenstein fue tal vez el mayor pensador del siglo xx. Ambos se ocuparon esencialmente de nuestra invariable tendencia a engañarnos a nosotros mismos. Freud se acercó a este problema desde la óptica psiquiátrica, desde el tratamiento de las neurosis, las psicosis o las perversiones. Cuando escribía, suponía que sus lectores podían mirar a través de los autoengaños de los neuróticos cuyos casos explicaba. Wittgenstein, por su parte, se acerca irónicamente a sí mismo y a sus lectores creyendo que es casi seguro que estamos engañados, aunque nos hayamos sometido a un psicoanálisis ortodoxo. Nos hace sentir que el lenguaje, la comprensión y el conocimiento no son más que una tela delgada que cubre un abismo. Wittgenstein y el psicoanálisis propone un acercamiento entre estos dos grandes y muy influyentes pensadores vieneses en la arena de los encuentros contemporáneos. La cuestión que se plantea ¿Cuál de estas dos filosofías es la mejor como forma de terapia eficaz para nosotros en el presente? ¿O puede ser incluso esto un tema de controversia entre ambos?

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 1996

Reviews

[Paul Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more an essay than a book and although it is quite readable, I wouldn't recommend it. It is quite good at making links between Wittgenstein's method and psychotherapy, but it mixes together early and late Wittgenstein in a not totally convincing way and blurs Wittgenstein's views on life and his philosophical efforts to clarify concepts. There is not really very much about psychoanalysis in this essay except for the author's repeated expressions of hostility to it! He sees it as pseudo-scientific, over-theoretical and dogmatic. He also seems to think that it is about the analyst imposing his mistaken theoretical claims on his patients - not surprisingly, this is seen as misguided, manipulative and detrimental to the patient's living a more real life. So a very negative view of psychoanalysis, but not a very deep or sophisticated critique. I definitely think there is scope for a much more interesting book on the topic of Wittgenstein and Psychoanalysis :-)

[Uğur · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting extremely beautiful book. The author first started writing the book by considering the differences and similar points between Freudian psychoanalysis and Wittgenstein phenomenology, then, by Deciphering Wittgenstein, he re-blended his psycho-philosophical criticism with psychoanalysis in a linguistic context.

Wittgenstein pays special attention to the individual's everyday and general language use, grammatical understanding and comprehension capacity in order to understand memories and processes experienced. Because every word that is preferred to be used in a sentence has great importance in representing the psychotic level of the individual. Since psychology ultimately focuses on the individual's emotional state, the important thing is to reveal the factors that cause the individual to experience emotional states. At this point, it is just as important what is understood from what is wanted to be said as the word that is wanted to be said. Wittgenstein also draws the reader into a different and deep content by conducting philosophical investigations into the topic of explained* and understood* words, that is, ‘linguistics in psychology’. In this sense, this book written by Heaton becomes a very valuable book in terms of approaching Wittgenstein readings and psychoanalysis from a different point of view.

Apart from the subject, in general, I interpret Wittgenstein's psychology studies as looking for an alternative exit door in a hollow, the only entrance exit, the third way that cannot be found on a road that goes on and on. Therefore, the philosophy of Wittgenstein is a rather difficult philosophy. As well as he himself, enough to be in opposition to him…

[Caner Ufuk (Dekreus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a nice little read which reminds us to have a skeptical approach towards anything. Although not a profound analysis, I think it is enough as an introduction to Wittgenstein’s views.

I enjoyed its conceptual nature.

[Yasin Çetin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dil oyunları, dilin dünyası üzerinden bir psikoloji okuması.