ABSTRACT
In commenting on the Hegelian system, Kierkegaard once said that it was perfectly elegant and complete, except for one minor point-which was, of course, the existing subject. Psychoanalysis, while never as desubjectifi ed as the Hegelian system, has, in its history, a trend of favoring abstract theoretical concepts over patient experience, as one fi nds, for example, in some forms of classical ego theory (e.g., Hartmann, Kris, & Loewenstein, 1946, 1949). But, in recent years, in opposition to this reliance on abstract concepts, the experiencing subject has become the focal point of psychoanalytic discourse and practice, often pushing theory into the background. This historical transformation of the fi eld has received impetus from relational theory, but the movement toward subjectifi cation of analytic thought and practice can be found in most major analytic schools (e.g., Gray, 1973, 1982; Kohut, 1984; Winnicott, 1971; Bollas, 1987; Williams, 2010). The plea to give pride of place to the analysand’s experience can be heard among analysts of a variety of persuasions, many of whom disagree with each other, but all of whom want to return the analytic enterprise to its origins in the experience of the analysand. This book is an exploration of what it means for psychoanalysis to see itself as a process of illumination, engagement, and transformation of the experiencing subject.
