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.
What a lovely surprise - Thank you so much for reading my post!
I agree that the difference is something about psychoanalysis being ONE person’s ’journey’ towards the truth, and motivated by their desire to know. But I wasn’t actually going to bring in Countertransference! I too see CT in the narrow sense as the response to the patient’s transference, so not independent.
But, I do think the analyst’s own desires (e.g. for the patient to find their way, and intellectually to better understand what might be going on) play an important & often ignored role in any therapeutic endeavour! (Mitchell Wilson makes a related claim in his book The Analyst’s Desire, something like: ‘the analyst’s desire is a desire for the new within the session’.) Though I’m sure many analysts would align more with your point that they aren’t allowed this independent set of desires, I just find this hard to believe in practice... I personally think that the analyst’s desires are there, at times even fuelling the process, while many other desires must absolutely not be acted upon.
But yes, I agree with you that the two processes are not the same. I'm always aware that I can’t switch roles with my therapist and ask HIM to start talking, which is a big shame!
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.
What a lovely surprise - Thank you so much for reading my post!
I agree that the difference is something about psychoanalysis being ONE person’s ’journey’ towards the truth, and motivated by their desire to know. But I wasn’t actually going to bring in Countertransference! I too see CT in the narrow sense as the response to the patient’s transference, so not independent.
But, I do think the analyst’s own desires (e.g. for the patient to find their way, and intellectually to better understand what might be going on) play an important & often ignored role in any therapeutic endeavour! (Mitchell Wilson makes a related claim in his book The Analyst’s Desire, something like: ‘the analyst’s desire is a desire for the new within the session’.) Though I’m sure many analysts would align more with your point that they aren’t allowed this independent set of desires, I just find this hard to believe in practice... I personally think that the analyst’s desires are there, at times even fuelling the process, while many other desires must absolutely not be acted upon.
But yes, I agree with you that the two processes are not the same. I'm always aware that I can’t switch roles with my therapist and ask HIM to start talking, which is a big shame!