Quickly in response to Eric: I am not claiming that the psa community is
always willing to debate new claims, etc., etc., just that the situation
is not a monolith. Sometimes new claims, new issues, etc., catch the
community's attention, sometimes not. I expect that we are not much more
unresponsive than any other community in that respect, not now anyway (the
situation may be been worse in the time of the autocratic father -- and
mother -- figures, but I wasn't around then). One more example of a new
idea that attracted enormous attention: the hermeneutic turn, with its
recent dive into relativism. Lots and lots of ink is being spilled on
those issues. On the other hand, sexual abuse and all other forms of both
child and adult environmentally-induced trauma received little attention
till recently, when the twin engines of better information about child
abuse and a handful of high profile revelations about sexual acting out on
the part of some analysts (and other caregivers) forced the issue to the
centre of the analytic stage. Now Eric's question.
 
ERIC GILLETT writes:
> ... I have a
> question that I hope Andrew will try to answer: From the statement that when
 "it
> became clear how bad his work had been, the community was not remotely shy
 about
> trying to pin his hide to the wall" can I logically infer that "the community"
> is unable to discover any flaws in my ideas?  Is Andrew claiming that
> psychoanalysts are only willing to discuss "bad work"?  If so, how are new and
> better ideas ever to succeed in finding a place in psychoanalysis?
 
No, of course you cannot `logically infer' that; it does not follow at
all. This sort of logic chopping makes dialogue impossible. It is, surely,
blindingly obvious that the quality of an idea is only one of many factors
influencing the extent to which it will capture attention.
 
Best, Andrew
 
--
 
Andrew Brook, Professor of Philosophy
Director, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies
Member, Canadian Psychoanalytic Society
2217 Dunton Tower, Carleton University
1125 Col. By Drive, Ottawa, CANADA   K1S 5B6
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