PAUL RICOEUR'S THEORY OF INTERPRETATION AS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR PSYCHOANALYSIS (HERMENEUTICS, FREUD).
Item
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Title
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PAUL RICOEUR'S THEORY OF INTERPRETATION AS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL FOUNDATION FOR PSYCHOANALYSIS (HERMENEUTICS, FREUD).
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Identifier
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AAI8614655
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identifier
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8614655
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Creator
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BEAUDOIN, MARGARET CHERNACK.
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Contributor
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I. H. Paul
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, General
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Abstract
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This theoretical study examines Paul Ricoeur's epistemological analysis of Freudian psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis presents particular epistemological problems which impact upon its character as a science. The scientific status of psychoanalysis has been the subject of considerable dispute. Many theorists have insisted that psychoanalysis should be regarded as a purely hermeneutic enterprise. These theorists have been forced to repudiate all causal claims made by psychoanalysis as inappropriate to the field of study. Equally many theorists have attempted to show that psychoanalysis is a natural science like any other. These theorists have been forced to dismiss the differences between psychoanalysis and the natural sciences as ambiguities in need of clarification or signs of scientific weakness and immaturity. However, some theorists have recognized that psychoanalysis partakes of aspects of both the hermeneutic disciplines and the natural sciences. These theorists have recognized the need for an epistemological foundation which would account for this dual nature of the science of psychoanalysis. The thesis developed in this study is that Paul Ricoeur's Interpretation Theory provides such a foundation for psychoanalysis. The problems entailed in maintaining that psychoanalysis is a pure hermeneutics or a pure natural science are explicated. Ricoeur's theory is shown to provide solutions to the difficulties engendered by either of the two polar positions. Chapter one presents the basics of Ricoeur's position as well as his interpretation of Freud's theoretical works. Psychoanalytic theory is seen to be a mixed discourse which combines a hermeneutics and an energetics. In chapter two the differences between psychoanalysis and empirical science as well as those between psychoanalysis and linguistic analysis are discussed. Psychoanalytic practice is seen as having a parallel, mixed epistemological nature. The relationship between psychoanalytic theory and practice is explicated. Ricoeur's criteria for the validation of psychoanalytic hypotheses are presented. Ricoeur's theory of interpretation as applied to psychoanalysis is shown to entail a dialectical integration of hermeneutic and causal explanations. Chapters three and four take up the criticisms that have been levied against Ricoeur's position. It is shown that Ricoeur's critics have largely misrepresented or misunderstood his position as a purely hermeneutic one.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
