The significance of psychology in studying politics is embedded in philosophical issues as well as behavioural pursuits. For the former is often associated with Sigmund Freud and his followers. The latter is inspired by the writings of Harold Lasswell. Political psychology or psychopolitics has its own impression on political thought ever since it deciphers the concept of human nature and polit...

Psychoanalytic theory has had a controversial history in working with autism, being considered by many, in the light of modern research, to be fundamentally misconceived. This view has been challenged by Hobson’s work and research, which suggests that psychoanalytic theory complements rather than conflicts with emerging theory on autism. Gutstein’s work has been in developing Hobson’s (and othe...

TRYING TO EXTRACT SOME COHERENT view of narcissism from the ongoing controversy in the current psychoanalytic literature is somewhat like trying to chill Russian vodka by adding ice cubes; it is possible to do it, but the soul of the experience is diluted. Levenson's (1978, p. 16) suggestion that "it may not be the truth arrived at as much as the manner of arriving at the truth which is the ess...

Certain problems in defining the psychoanalytic process emerged during the five years in which a COPE study group was attempting to clarify the concept. There was agreement about the bed-rock criteria to be included in a definition: e.g., transference, resistance, a dynamic unconscious, intrapsychic conflict, defense, infantile sexuality, insight which causes change, and change which brings ins...

Cognitive science has incorporated seminal concepts of psychoanalysis without acknowledging this influence. This article covers psychoanalytic ideas already incorporatedimplicitly or explicitly-in modern cognitive psychology, as well as ideas whose inclusion would benefit the cognitive field. These include the emphasis on mental models, mind-body interaction, unconscious processes, dual process...

n Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, the characters ait by a country roadside for a person named Godot, who ever arrives (1). Godot’s conspicuous absence throughout he play has fostered a variety of different religious, philoophical, and psychoanalytical interpretations, and has led o the use of the phrase “waiting for Godot” as an expression or waiting for someone or something that will...

by Victor Tausk. The paper appeared in print in l9l9just about the time of Tausk’s tragic suicide, although an earlier version had been presented the year before to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Group. In many ways this is an odd paper. It reflects Tausk’s great brilliance and at the same time conveys, through its careful and scrupulously documented footnotes, Tausk’s preoccupation with the influen...

Psychoanalysis has benefitted from the application of empirical research efforts to psychodynamic concepts and clinical interventions. One of the most striking examples of research into psychoanalytic concepts is the widespread integration of Bowlby’s attachment theory in developmental and social psychology research (e.g. Cassidy & Shaver, 2008). Other examples include research concerning defen...