Truth

Bion said that the psyche needs truth to grow the way the body needs alimentation. But what is truth in psychoanalysis? To whom does it belong and by what means do we come to know it? Is truth found? Created? Given the ineffable quality of psychic reality, the determination of what is true in the clinical situation is complex and can be very elusive. Both analyst and patient are inevitably confronted with the “essential, constitutive tension at the heart of [psychoanalytic] theory” and must mediate “between a language of force and energy, on the one hand, and a language of reasons, intentions, and meanings, on the other.” This wide-ranging volume offers readers at all levels of analytic experience an encyclopedic and authoritative exploration of the problematics of truth that should prove essential for the continued development of our psychoanalytic theories and clinical models as we move forward into the twenty-first century.

-- Howard B. Levine, MD Editor-in-Chief, The Routledge Wilfred R. Bion Studies Book Series, and co-editor of 'Autistic Phenomena and Unrepresented States: Explorations in the Emergence of Self'

Truth has always been at the heart of psychoanalysis. But given its enigmatic nature and its location in the land of ghostly schemata, can we really arrive at it? What is “manufactured” truth and how is it to be thought of in the clinic where “narrative,” “historical,” and “poetic” truth jostle against each other? Here is a moving homage to this vexing subject by Salman Akhtar, who creates a prismatic meditation by weaving together essays that are as wide-ranging as they are lively and profound.

-- Nilofer Kaul, PhD Training and Supervising Analyst, New Delhi, India, and author of 'Plato’s Ghost: Minus Links and Liminality in Psychoanalytic Practice'

As Salman Akhtar points out in this volume, the notion of “truth” is something we tend to take for granted, but is in fact an ill-defined concept when one tries to pin it down. This volume brings together a number of distinguished psychoanalytic authors who challenge us to reassess our notions of truth, both within psychoanalysis and beyond. In this age of “alternative facts,” such a volume is sorely needed and will be of interest not only to psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, but to those coming from the humanities as well.

-- Dimitris J. Jackson, Training Analyst and Member, Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society, Representative, Europe Region, International Psychoanalytical Associa