Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Agnes Callard's avatar

Thank you so much for this thoughtful engagement with my book--I too have wondered about the relationship between Socratic inquiry and psychoanalysis, and my inclination is to think that the biggest difference is that in the case of the latter there is, strictly speaking, ONE set of desires, whereas in Socratic inquiry there are TWO. That is, if you and I are inquiring together Socratically, we BOTH want to know, and the conversation has to serve both of our needs and interests, whereas if you are my psychoanalyst you are not really allowed to be moved by your INDEPENDENT desire to know. I understand that you are going to say "countertransference!!" but--and correct me if I'm wrong, you're the expert here--my impression is that that is not really a full-fledged independent desire--it isn't ALLOWED to be--rather it's a set of reactions to my desires, and in many ways the point of acknowledging it is to keep it in check. Whereas in Socratic inquiry both of our desires are explicitly allowed to guide the conversation.

Expand full comment
1 more comment...

No posts