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Is psychoanalysis a folk psychology?
1Département Universitaire de Psychiatrie, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Genève Genève, Switzerland ; Agalma Foundation Genève, Switzerland.
Frontiers in Psychology
|March 26, 2013
Summary
Psychoanalysis remains epistemologically challenging from a naturalist perspective. This study defends psychoanalysis as an extension of folk psychology using Dennett's intentional stance, making it experimentally testable.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychoanalysis
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- The epistemological status of Freudian interpretations in neuro-psychoanalysis is debated.
- Psychoanalysis is sometimes viewed as an extension of folk psychology, a stance termed 'extensionism'.
Purpose of the Study:
- To defend an extensionist position for psychoanalysis.
- To address hermeneutic difficulties within psychoanalytic theory.
- To explore experimental testability of extensionist claims.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing Daniel Dennett's theory of the intentional stance.
- Conceptual analysis of psychoanalytic interpretation.
- Review of experimental paradigms (Shevrin et al., 1996).
Main Results:
- Dennett's intentional stance provides a framework to support psychoanalysis as an extension of folk psychology.
- This approach mitigates certain hermeneutic challenges.
- It offers a pathway to experimentally investigate extensionist psychoanalytic concepts.
Conclusions:
- Psychoanalysis can be conceptually grounded as an extension of folk psychology.
- The intentional stance offers a naturalist resolution to epistemological debates.
- Experimental research can bridge theoretical considerations in neuro-psychoanalysis.
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