The quality of the mind / / Luigi Longhin ; Translated by Caroline M. McFarlane and Marco Bacciagaluppi.

• Superior document: Contemporary psychoanalytic studies ; 13
• Author: Longhin, Luigi.
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Rodopi,, [2012]
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies 13.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (404 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Society and contemporary culture unquestionably assign much importance to the search for quality. So can this kind of research include the mind? In his analysis, Luigi Longhin examines the causes of mental illness and psychic-mental suffering, the notions of individuality, social violence, and utopia; and he suggests a collaboration between the neurosciences and psychoanalysis, within a correct epistemological approach. The relationship between epistemology and psychoanalysis is examined. The objectivistic and relativistic shift in contemporary epistemology, and the problem of the responsibility of the techno-scientific system are emphasized. Why such a privileged connection with philosophy? The contribution of philosophy is primarily epistemological. However, both epistemology and psychoanalysis run a risk; whilst epistemology runs the risk of being a knowledge which does not know, psychoanalysts run the risk of pursuing scientific knowledge without knowing its foundations. Hence there is a need for collaboration between the two forms of knowledge: the philosophical-epistemological and the scientific-psychoanalytic. Psychoanalysis works in two directions: on the one hand, it tries to eliminate the negative components of the mind, on the other hand, it tries to develop the trusting and creative parts of the self.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- In search of the quality of the mind -- The twentieth century: A century of terror, war, and hate -- The mind also becomes sick: how? when? why? The problem of “normality-anormality” -- Psychic-mental suffering -- Which epistemology for psychoanalysis? -- The objectivist and relativist shift in epistemology: Objectivity and reliability in psychoanalysis -- The three features of psychoanalysis and the psychoanalytic “laboratory” -- Symbolism and dreams in psychoanalysis -- Kant: investigator of the mind and the first epistemologist -- Charles Taylor: a philosopher who interacts with psychoanalysis in the search for authenticity -- Aesthetic quality and creativity in psychoanalysis: music as a special pathway of the mind -- Ideology and utopia: negative qualities of the mind -- Psychoanalysis and social and political conflicts -- Psychoanalysis and philosophy -- The positive qualities of the mind: happiness and creativity -- About the Author -- Bibliography -- Index.