| Abstract: | Psychoanalysis started out as a unitary theory to encompass disparate observable phenomena. Symptoms, dreams, character traits, psychopathology, and normal psychology all rested on the same explanatory intrapsychic base. Since then, theory has grown by accretion and by the creation of alternative theoretical systems. Various fallacies and flaws in logic have played a part in this development. The current state of pluralism, in my view, has resulted in a theoretical fragmentation that reduced the power and inspiration intrinsic to a unified, coherent psychoanalytic theory. I describe a total composite unitary theory, cumulative over the century, in which all valid and enduring elements of competitive psychoanalytic theories are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
